Pamukkale (The Cotton Castle) from TURKEY. A beautiful and sleepy town in Turkey, Pammukale is one of my favorite places. The name Pammukale means Cotton Castle in Turkish and it gets it name from lovely travertines that flow down the hillside from hot springs, leaving behind a soft white snow of calcium carbonate and bisodium carbonate. You can bath in the pools as you walk up to the ancient city of Hieropolis, with its own Necropolis.