The children got their hands on the map of the area one night and discovered that perhaps not so very far away - since it seems that everything on the local map is "not so very far away" - were "Hot Springs."
With that, we had a plan for the next day. However, internet research in our cave that night (don't you love a cave with internet access?) revealed exactly no information about these alleged Hot Springs, other than that tour agencies, and mostly those involving horseback riding in the area, would arrange trips.
We quizzed our Cave Proprietor in the morning, a local man who confirmed that, yes, there are hot springs, and no, they were "not so very far," and if we followed the map, we would be sure to find them. So, we set off.
The map could best be described as "approximate" and clearly not to scale. We drove the couple of kilometers you might think it would be given the length of the line representing the road, and then drove more. And more. And kept driving. There was no signage, but we were following geological features (like, a river) that were on the map, and since the children were pretty determined not to turn back, I was also very determined not to turn back.
We stopped to ask directions twice, which might lead you to believe that we were driving through the sort of area where you might see humans. That was not the case. I think we were just grateful the road was paved.
We finally drove through a small town, and flagged down someone who spoke German and Turkish, so we managed with "Therme?" (does it surprise you that my limited German includes the word for hot spring?). And then we stumbled on a run-down hotel in the middle of no-where. One hopes for the proprietors sake that there is a busy season and that this was not it, but he was also able to encourage us to continue. And we did continue. Undeterred!
Until, that is, we reached the Hot Springs. And suddenly, I was feeling very deterred. Maybe even quite deterred.
Hmmm. Dodgy.
Dogier. But, and here's the kicker, the kid was totally undeterred. The shady environs, the utter lack of any other humans, the weird vibe, none of that slowed his desire to soak in a hot spring in the least.
Me, on the other hand. I was not loving this. In fact, I was as close to asking Jeff to get us the heck out of there as I could get without the words actually leaving my lips. Luckily for the more determined members of our band, the proprietor appeared at that moment. And after some negotiation, we arranged for a soak. They had an indoor pool and an outdoor.
These are the changing areas. Out of doors, but at least sheltered from the wind. The temperatures had been steadily dropping all day, so by now it was around 6C (around 40F), and there was a definite wind chill.
We started off indoors. There weren't any thermometers around, so it wasn't possible to know the temperature of the water before we hopped in, but it seemed warm enough. And it was. Delightfully warm. Although, frankly, I have been in, shall we say, better appointed thermal pools.
It wasn't long before the adventuresome decided that we should check the temperatures outside, which also turned out to be delightful. And a diving board! By this point, my opinion of the place had changed. With the huge benefit that we were the only people using the facility, it was turning out to be a great afternoon.
The diving board was great entertainment,
And although for the most part, I was hanging out in the warmer section on the opposite end of the pool, I was eventually persuaded ("taunted" might actually be a better word to describe what went down) to swim on over and take a leap off the board.
Rather glad I did; the view from the top was lovely.
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