Down, Down & Below... The Lunar Landscape

It was sure nice to not have a 4:30 AM wake up knock and be able to enjoy the dark cool environment of our cave that allowed us to sleep like babies. We had a lovely breakfast on our hotel terrace and loaded up in a minivan for a day tour of Cappadocia. 

The tour was nice and small consisting of only us two, a guide, and three other people. We began with a scenic hike through the Rose Valley. The region is scattered with ancient cave dwellings, modern day small family farms, and radical natural landscape formations. Below (and to the right) you can see the small pigeon caves the ancient natives dug to gather the birds maneur, the lush greenery in the valleys, Jennifer after having to rock-climb into one of the church caves, and lastly one of the small local farms.

The hike ended at one of the regions longest inhabited cave colonies. The mountainside pictured below with its numerous cut-out homes and chapels was occupied by natives until the mid 1960’s when erosion resulted in the collapse of large face of the community.

Our next stop was to a national park known for phallic geological formations that resulted from millions of years of erosion breaking down different layers of volcanic ash deposits. You can see in the pictures how the mushroom tip spears have a darker stone on top held up by a lighter color rock below. Over time the lighter stone succumbs to the wind, rain and snow quicker than the darker top rock that is more tolerant to these environmental elements.

Wilma's potential replacement when we get home!!!

Stop number four was to a family run pottery business that provided us with a personal tour of how they make their colorful handcrafted pieces. On our tour we learned how the clay was made, kiln fired, hand painted, and re-fired again. We also had the opportunity to watch a master at his trade create a vase on a traditional “kick” propelled pottery wheel. It was fun to see how easy he made it look to take a glob of clay and within five minutes form it into a beautiful vase ready to be dried and created into a finished piece of pottery.

With our busy morning, we were anxious for lunch and were pleasantly surprised by the feast the tour provided us. The highlights from lunch were a delicious chickpea soup and a dessert that tasted like a sweet corn cake served in the small little balls at nice Mexican restaurants.

After lunch we headed for the climax of the tour… a stroll thru the underground city of Kaymakli that was once inhabited by as many as 5,000 – 10,000 people. The city was massive with multiple layers of tunnels, stairways, and rooms carved into a mountain side. We went down about 45 meters (4 levels) and were told it may go another 50-100 meters but due to collapses, excavators have not gone further. The underground city was fully operational at the time (6th and 7th Century AD) with bathrooms, sleeping quarters, kitchens, wineries, and even stables. Walking the city was quite impressive as its scale was truly massive and the complexity of the planning rivaled our modern cities.

On our way home from the underground city we stopped to taste some local wine. Both of us were quite surprised with what Turkey, and specifically Cappadocia had to offer. While Napa Valley should by no means feel threatened, some of the wines were quite delightful. We bought a nice bottle of red and took the opportunity to take some final pictures of Cappadocia’s lunar landscape from our hilltop tasting location.

Once back at the hotel we washed up from our long day, enjoyed a quick bite to eat, had a beer, and said our good-byes to the numerous friends we made in this really great town. We definitely encourage all those who go to Turkey to make the trek out to Cappadocia, and specifically Goreme, as it is a really special place.

Up, Up & Away

Our morning got off to an early start with a wake-up knock at 4:30 AM. Getting up wasn’t too tough though as we were very excited for the day ahead of us. By five o’clock we were in a van with 6 other couples and headed for a morning of hot air ballooning over the valleys of Cappadocia. The weather was spectacular with clear blue skies… which was a great relief as the weather is supposed to be turning for the worst over the next couple of days making ballooning less enjoyable or not even possible.

By 7:00 AM we were weightless, floating high above the beautiful moonscape volcanic formations of the valley. Although our pictures below don’t do the scenery justice, take our word that the ride was quite amazing.

 Shortly after our basket safely touched ground, we were enjoying a glass of champagne to toast our Turkish flight. We made some good friends along the way and both enjoyed our first flights in a hot air balloon.

Our next stop of the day was the Goreme Open Air Museum. As the name implies, the museum is an outdoor, self guided tour of a cluster of caves that once made up an ancient community filled with housing quarters, dining halls, and numerous beautiful churches… all built into the volcanic rock formations. As you can see, the structures burrowed into the rock are quite elaborate and the craftsmen were extremely talented in hollowing out spaces that reflected vertical construction counterparts such as the beautiful basilicas of surrounding communities.

In addition to the impressive structural aspects of these cave dwellings, the frescoes painted upon them were also quite a sight. We found it amazing that not only had these caves stayed in tact for the past 1,000+ years, but the depictions of Christ, the apostles, and various biblical references have also been preserved through the years.

After our walk through the outdoor museum we headed back and took the rest of the day off from sight seeing. We laid out in the sun (and unfortunately got a little burned), planned future stages of our trip, laid out some more and mingled with some of our new friends.

Our evening was capped off with a nice restaurant at an authentic Goreme restaurant. We enjoyed two different variations of dinner pastries filled with potatoes and vegetables. The meal was enhanced by nice conversation with a newlywed couple from Colorado and entertainment from our goofy and quite friendly waiter

Cruisin' to Cappadocia

Our morning started out fast and furious, as we wanted to make it to the Dolmabahce Palace and over to the Grand Bazaar one last time before heading off to the airport. After packing our bags and grabbing a bite to eat we hustled over to the Palace.

 

The palace, built in a French Baroque style, sits on approximately 25 acres of prime oceanfront property that is beautifully landscaped with gardens, ponds and ornate gates.  We were forbidden to take pictures inside the palace so unfortunately we won’t be able to share with you some of the exciting sights inside this massive structure that was home to six sultans during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The highlight of the tour was the Ceremonial Hall. The room has a very tall beautifully decorated ceiling supported by massive columns.  In the center of the room hung a 9,000 pound crystal chandelier (the largest of it’s type) that was a gift from Queen Victoria of England. The chandelier can only be turned on by prime ministers or presidents who enter the room.  The one exception was Sean Connery, who was given the great honor of flicking the light switch due to the fact that he is considered royalty in England after being appointed a “sir.”

After our tour of the palace we ventured out to find a pastry shop that we were told was a short distance from the palace and known for the best Baklavah in town. I guess in Turkey “short” is relative because we were speed walking (due to our time constraint) and it took us much longer than we were led to believe. Regardless, we were happy to have the exercise because if the taste of these treats were any indication of how unhealthy they were, we would have had to walk a few miles to burn off the two little pieces we each devoured. 

After our treats we hastily continued our walk across the river and back to the Grand Bazaar that we visited two days prior. This time we were on a mission to get Sam an Istanbul t-shirt. Our brisk stroll brought us through the Spice Bazaar and other local markets where we were the only tourists and stood out like sore thumbs. The spice market was a happening place and was a little reminiscent of the New York Stock Exchange with people screaming at one another and pointing fingers trying to make sales.

The shirts were finally located and bartered down to a reasonable price before heading back to our hostel to pick-up our backpacks, say farewell to our kind hostel hosts, and scurry on to the airport via the metro. Our flight was quite pleasant, leaving early and only lasting slightly over an hour. Upon arrival our chauffer was there to greet us and drive us to our hotel an hour away.

 

The hotel was even nicer than we anticipated. Our room is built into a lava rock cave and the views surrounding the property are breathtaking. The manger of the hotel gave us a warm welcome and was quick to help us plan our time in Cappadocia. We have some exciting events planned for the coming days that we are eager to experience and share with you soon.

Lounging about the hotel terrace and sipping on some beers while exchanging stories with fellow travelers consumed the remainder of our late afternoon and early evening. We then went out for a nice traditional meal consisting of vegetables and chicken cooked in a pot that they broke at the table. The views of the sunset at dinner were quite appetizing to the eye and suitably capped off our first evening in Cappadocia.