Cappadocia I

The next morning we awoke on board the train to discover that we had been delayed during the night so were running two hours behind schedule.  Trying to pass time by reading up about what we should do while in Cappadocia we cursed the fact that we had packed the wrong adaptor and weren't able to listen to music or use our laptop.  We finally arrived in Kayseri in the mid afternoon, and still had to catch a taxi to the nearby bus station and then get a bus from there to Goreme, the town we were going to be based in for the next few days.  Everyone we spoke to who had been to Turkey had raved about the buses, and we soon realised our mistake of catching trains, the service on the buses is excellent, they even have an attendant who regularly douses you with a lemon scented hand refresher and serves tea, coffee and soft drinks throughout the journey - better service that Ryanair!  As I mentioned in the last post, our train didn't have a dining carriage or even an attendant selling hot drinks, meaning we had to survive on our meagre supplies of bread and cheese which we had picked up at the station in Istanbul!  Despite our long and tiresome journey, all that was soon forgotten once we arrived in magical Goreme.

Cappadocia has to be one of the most amazing places in the world.  In a nut-shell, thousands of years ago several major volcanoes in the area erupted leaving behind a landscape covered by soft sandstone beneath a harder ash layer, which gradually eroded away to leave behind weird cone shape structures which the first inhabitants then carved out to create a system of cave dwellings.  It is really hard to do justice to this amazing place using words alone, so hopefully some of our pictures give you a better idea of what it was like.

Arriving in Goreme we were picked up from the bus station to be driven all of 150 metres to our hotel!  The hotel owner, Sergio, showed us to our atmospheric and spacious cave room, and then invited us up onto the amazing roof terrace for a welcome drink while he explained all there was to see and do in Cappadoccia.  Sergio was quite a character, an excellent host and very knowledgeable, advising us of how to make the most of our two night stay.  He was quite a good salesman as well as we ended up booking several activies through him, which no doubt he received a decent commission for!  Suggesting that we had time to check out the open air museum before it closed, he dropped us off at the entrance.  One of Turkey's World Heritage sites, the museum was once a monastic settlement, then a pilgrimige site from the 17th century. With a cluster of probably 15 or so rock-cut churches, chapels and monastries it really is a most amazing place.  We were glad to pay the extra fee to enter the museum's most famous church; the stunning, fresco filled Karanlk Kilise, although many of the biblical scnes had been victims of Muslim vandalism, meaning the eyes of many of the characters had their eyes crudely scratched out.  Visiting the museum and the surrounding area at sunset was pretty amazing, with the sandstone being tinted with pinks and reds.  Casually wandering back towards Goreme we checked out a couple of the bars for a drink or two and some dinner, before heading to bed at a reasonable hour in preparation for our tour the following day.

After breakfasting on the roof terrace (our first typical Turkish breakfast of sliced tomatoes, cucumber, olives, strong cheese, bread and hard boiled eggs), we were picked up from our hotel.  Sergio had recommended that we did a day tour of the region, which worked out to be excellent.  There was a real mixture of cultures in our group, including a lovely Canadian couple who we ended up spending quite a lot of time with during our time in Cappadocia.  First stop on the tour was a drive up to a spot where we had a panorama of Goreme village, whilst our tour guide explained to us the geographical history of the area.



Then it was on towards the Derinkuyu Underground City.  During the 6th and 7th centuries, when Persian and Arabic armies set off to vanquish the Christians, beacons were lit and the warning could travel from Jerusalem to Cappadocia fairly quickly, indicating to the Byzantine Christians that it was time to escape into secret tunnels leading to vast underground cities.  The city we visited would have been home to some 10,000 people and seven levels of it are now open to the public.  Our guide warned us that it was not the sort of place for people who suffer from claustrophobia, and he was not joking!  Having to stoop down almost double to get through lengthy tunnels accessing some of the rooms was a little freaky, as was the feeling of being so far underground as we looked up the ventilation shaft at the bottom to realised just how deep we were!  I for one was pretty happy when it was time to emerge from underground into the sunshine for a calming cup of tea!

Next stop on our tour was the Ihlara Valley, where unfortunately the weather began to turn, meaning we had a two hour hike in the rain.  The Ihlara Valley was a favourite retreat of Byzantine monks, who cut churches into the base of the towering cliffs.  Following the river which snakes between the frescoed churches, piles of boulders and beautifully autumn colours meant for an enjoyable walk despite the rain.  After our hike we were herded into a homely restaurant at Belisirma which overlooked the valley, with a crackling fire to warm up and dry out over a tasty lunch of trout fresh from the farm further up the valley.

After lunch it was on to explore the amazing Selime Monastery, an astonishing rock cut structure which includes a vast kitchen, church and dining rooms, complete with stone table where it is easy to imagine several dozen monks sitting around for meals.  The rain continued to beat down meaning it was a bit of a slippery climb to the top, but well worth it, despite the at times scary lack of barriers over some pretty significant drops, who needs health and safety anyway?

After that it was on to Uchisar Pigeon Valley, where not so long ago farmers owned caves which were built in the cliffs to house pigeons where the droppings were collected to fertilise the surrounding land.

Our last stop of the day was an onyx factory where we watched a demonstration of the polishing process and were of course encouraged to browse in the shop while being offered apple tea and being watched by the way too attentive sales staff.  I think they were a little disappointed with our group as only one person made a purchase, the rest of us were way too captivated by the beautiful sunset over Urgup village!

That evening after being returned to our hotel Tim and I headed out for some dinner, discovering a fabulous spot overlooking Goreme village, where we sat outside on the terrace next to a roaring log fire, and enjoyed the most fabulous meal in what has to be one of the most magical places in the world.