
I spent my last year in Turkey because I was an exchange student there. I lived in İzmir with my host family. İzmir is located in the Aegean region. There are a lot of nature attractions around which are not very far. The Butterfly Valley, Ölüdeniz(the Dead Sea), Kazdağı (Mount Ida) National Park, Cunda Island, Pamukkale (The Cotton Castle), and Olympos are only some of them.
Moreover, I got a chance to visit natural wonders in other regions of Turkey. For instance, I went to Cappadocia and Ihlara Valley by myself. Discovering places alone was a great pleasure for me. I want to share my experiences with you. First of all, I can say that I fell in love with Turkey. Both İstanbul and the cities in Anatolia affected me deeply. Here is a natural site that Byzantines built, Hierapolis, also known as Pamukkale (The Cotton Castle). I think, the “Cotton Castle” is one of the most attractive wonders in Turkey. It contains hot springs, travertine, terraces, and minerals. We had a bath in the pools that include rich minerals to relax. I felt like Cleopatra. Some historians say that she came here for the special, unique, and refreshing water. I didn’t see another site like this anywhere else. You see the beautiful Butterfly Valley in this photo. We took a boat to get there. We started to walk to a waterfall. Amazing butterflies in different colours accompanied us along the way. When we arrived there, we drank clean fresh water coming from the waterfall. Then we started our climb. After some hiking we turned back our starting point. The next day, we went canyoning that made me so thrilled. We finally went to the top of the Mount Babadag for paragliding. Watching the Deadsea was one of the
most exciting experiences of my life. Then, we left there with unforgettable memories. On the way to Cappadocia, there was another amazing stop. The Melendiz River formed this valley thousands of years ago. Ihlara Valley is pretty deep. I suffered from leg ache for a week after climbing the stairs you saw
in the photo. It was very enjoyable to walk through the valley. The river was so cold that I could stay in it for only 5 minutes. I saw many extraordinary cave churches. However, it was worrying to see most of the drawings on the walls began to vanish.I enjoyed myself during the year inTurkey. I'm looking forward to visiting there again.