Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts

Cotton Candy Land, Pamukkale


Aaaand when I said ".. in a quick glance", I really meant it. 
Pamukkale is one of those places I've been dying to visit for a long time. I always dreamed about this cotton castle ever since I found one of the picture on Tumblr a few years ago and I was like, "What??? What is this??? Snow??? Not??? Why is there a pool there????" and honestly Pamukkale was the first thing I was hoping would be on the itinerary since I went there with a travel group and when knowing that we would be visiting it also, I was so so so excited!!!

Eventhough it was already dark when I was there, because of winter days *sigh* I still remember how excited I was when I finally saw this massive hot spring at the top of a hill which people called Travertine Terrace from my bus window.

"Muuuum, it's there! It's there!!!!" 

My mum looked at me like she was looking at me back in 2000 when I was 5 years old.

Then once I got off from the bus, I ran like there's no tomorrow. Because I just didn't want to miss any chance since it was already dark. You can see from the picture how grey it was and you could guess it that I worked hard enough to increase the exposure haha.




As everyone probably had known, this hot spring is getting more and more famous for the past years. I heard from my local guide told me that day, this massive pool often called as Cleopatra's Hot Spring nowadays because of the history.

And for everyone who is curious what is actually the white thing that covered the terrace; it's actually an incredible reaction between water, air, calcium carbonate and carbon dioxide. And voila! It happened to be a cotton-castle! Haha sorry I was so excited I didn't listen to the whole thing.

A major dream. 

Myself, in my own dream.

HOW CUTE IS THIS WHITEY WHITEY THING

Nobody bathed when I was there. The water temperature was so warm, but I think it was because winter time and nobody wanted to wear a bikini in such a freezing temperature.


It's not life if we don't have things we regret not doing.
I was beyond thankful that I finally had the chance to visit and witness all of these beauty creation of God with my own eyes, but I still had this guilty feeling deep inside my heart: why didn't I walk down hill? Why was it so late when we arrived? I only had less than an hour when I was there and obviously I wanted to stay longer, but I just couldn't since the hotel we were gonna stay at was still 2-hours drive away. 



But then I think, it's okay! It's perfectly okay!
The thing is, I have the reason to come back soon. In spring, hopefully.
Pamukkale, Cappadocia again, and with the whole family.

After London, Turkey is probably the first place I really want everyone to know. This place is beyond everything you can imagine. I'm usually more a city wanderer, as I love hidden alleys, cobbled-stones streets, people-watching and city skyline. I'm almost never a nature wanderer. I think this is the reason why this place is so special to me as I witnessed such a weird and strange landscape like Cappadocia and Pamukkale for the first time (but really, both are strangely incredible).

And you can guess that Turkey has led me into a long-list of new places like New Zealand, Switzerland, Vietnam and the very close ones, Gili Trawangan and Pulau Komodo for the next destinations to feed my thirsty nature-soul! 

Hot Air Balloon Cappadocia

We left very early in the morning that day, and really, the sky was so pretty it almost made me cry






Hari itu tidak ada kata adjective lain selain satu: bahagia. I was so, so, extremely so happy that day. Saya sangat sangat sangat bahagia sekali sampai yang katanya kami terbang selama satu jam tapi yang saya rasakan hanya sekitar 20 menit. Saya bahagia sekali. Is that terms enough to ensure you how happy I was that day? 

Even only in my dreams, I've never dreamed about trying Hot Air Balloon. My ultimate goal was skydiving. Yes, yang lompat dari pesawat itu terus jatuh terjun bebas beberapa detik terus baru parasutan. Sok berani lol. I don't know when it's gonna be true, yang penting aku mau sky diving!!! As soon as possible! 

Tapi, manusia memang bisa berencana, hanya Tuhan-lah yang bisa menentukan :')

Wait, this is how I express my feeling for Turkey from the deepest of my heart: OH! MY! GODNESS! TURKEY IS BEYOND EXPECTATION I TELL YOU. SKIP ENGLAND, SKIP EUROPE, SKIP AMERICA, SKIP SOUTH KOREA, JUST COME TO TURKEY AND WITNESS EVERYTHING. Turkey is blessed, really.

I was only there for a week. I went there with a group tour so I didn't expect much, since everything is already set up. "Ah, there won't be anything spectacular then," pikir si Nerissa yang polos.

Manusia memang sukanya berperasangka, namun Tuhan selalu mempunyai banyak rahasia yang luar biasa hebatnya.

On my fourth day, after such a long, long bus trip from Kusadasi to Cappadocia the day before, we finally witnessed another amazing masterpiece that ever created, that ever existed by The One and Only The Greatest. 
Pagi itu kami berangkat dari hotel pagi-pagi buta, dingin membeku. Sekitar -5 meskipun salju tidak turun. I was well-prepared with quarter layers of clothes. Empat lapis dan teteup membeku dong. Di jemput sama operator balon udara jam setengah enam dan harus nunggu di stasiun beberapa saat, tunggu kabar dari pemerintah apa kami diizinkan untuk terbang atau enggak. 
Only around 10 minutes, we are informed that we are finally able to fly!

Langsung jalan ke TKP lagi with the mini van, dan it felt a bit weird how the view, the ground, the nature, basically everything, looked like.

Like, what are they made of? Why it feels like we are in the deserted land? Wait, what are those again? Rocks? Massive rocks? That makes they look like mountains of rocks? Seriously. Turkey's nature is blessed by God.


Waited for around thirty minutes until balonnya selesai ditiup, atau dikembangkan. Entahlah. We finally went inside the giant basket and super ready to fly!
 

Alhamdulillahirrabillalamin. I can say that Cappadocia is definitely one of the biggest things that ever happened to me in my entire life. Saya nggak akan pernah lupa senyuman yang nggak pernah lepas dari kedua sudut bibir saya sepanjang hari itu. Saya nggak akan pernah lupa rasanya melihat semua kebesaranNya yangs saat itu sedang terpampang di depan mata saya. The dream I don't have to close my eyes for. Dan ditambah lagi, I could witness this with my mom. She was so happy too :') This has been one of her dreams for so long and the last time she went to Turkey she didn't come to Cappadocia.


"Which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?" (QS Ar-Rahman)

This is our balloon! And I think Mr Sedo, our local guide, did such a great job taking this picture with his phone! 




Buat saya, setiap kali saya pergi ke tempat yang baru, saya nggak pernah berpikiran cuma untuk pamer-pameran. Bukan cuma datang, foto sana-sini supaya bisa di upload dan yaudah selesai.
I always want to learn at least one new thing in every journey.
Dan kali itu, I learned one simple thing. Saya belajar satu hal sederhana. Sederhana dan kayaknya sih sering dilupakan semua orang.

My pilot was a young brave woman, her name is Saphira. I don't know much about hot air balloon, but I'm pretty sure this is also a difficult job once can handle. She was asked, "Aren't you afraid? This isn't easy, right, driving a hot air balloon? Only depends on wind movement and the fire there?"
Then she answered, "No, honestly. This has been my dream job and I'm so happy that I finally made it."

Klise banget, nih. Tapi, emang semuanya berawal dari mimpi yah. Dan bukan gengsi. Her actual dream that she's been dreaming for years isn't only a dream anymore. And she said, she is so happy.

Then, what did actually I learn from her?

Happiness starts from ourselves. we choose your happiness. We are the only one who can choose between being happy, or being pathetic. And also, we are the only one who can build our own dream. Ourselves. Not everyone else. And that soon will bring the happiness into our life.

I remind myself again, for not to live by the opinion of other people. Not to impress people. Live happily, like, very very very happy. And make the people you love happy.


well, for this one, the pic is pretty blurred but still... he took one really great shot :')

 
Akhir-akhir ini, kata bahagia itu yang paling sering saya gunakan ke orang-orang terdekat saya. "Jangan lupa bahagia, ya."
Karena, menjadi bahagia itu penting. We deserve to live in this world peacefully, and happily. Dan bahagia nggak hanya bisa di dapat dari hal-hal yang besar aja. Because most of people think happiness comes from one big thing, so they forget the tiny little things around us matter too. 

Morning air. Read Holy Quran. Praying and talking to your God. Walk. Good books. Cozy blanket. Conversation with the loved ones. Hot chocolate or coffee. Meeting old friends. Writing. Your mother. Your father. Your family. Your pet. 

They're happiness too. :)

Buat saya, melihat tempat baru itu seperti belajar. Kita ini cuma butiran debu kecil ditengah padang pasir yang ditiup juga udah hancur, kita nggak tau apa-apa, dan dunia ini begitu luas, luas luaaaas sekali sampai-sampai setiap kita datang ke tempat yang baru, kita malah merasa makin banyak hal yang kita nggak tau. 

Love,


 the happiest me.

Postcards from Turkey





ISTANBUL
Topkapi Palace
Hagia Sophia
Taksim Square

BURSA

EPHESUS

PAMUKKALE



CAPPADOCIA
 Bracing the frozen morning of Cappadocia; wearing three layers of warm clothes lol
 This is literally the highlight of my life!!!!!! The dream I don't really have to close my eyes for. I have no idea how Turkey could be THAT beautiful and amazing.