Cappodocia
Göreme
With Sultan (I liked to call her "sultana") and one of her little ones. Reminded me of Tippy, our dog when we were growing up. What a great dog he was.
After hearing everyone in Turkey rave about the spectacular scenery in Cappodocia ("the land of beautiful horses"), we were keen to get there. Cappodocia is the land of fairy chimneys, caves & rock-cut temples & churches (not just beautiful horses - didn't see many of them). The weird moonscape was actually caused by volcanic eruptions 3-9 million years ago, that eroded over time into amazing rock pillars. These soft rock formations were then carved by the local people into houses to create their villages. It was really strange and beautiful!
While we were in an amazing new place, the first thing on our agenda was NOT the scenery, but the rugby. Our first morning in Göreme was the first game of the Bledisloe Cup (Australia v. New Zealand Rugby) - a classic rivalry and not to be missed if we could help it. So after a big Turkish brekkie, we started searching around town for a pub with Sky Sports.
It was looking pretty hopeless until we walked by a bar called Fat Boys which had a big sign out front advertising the game. Woo hoo! We found it!! We had a half hour to spare before the start of the game so we bolted back to the hotel and were back in time to order genuine meat pies and sausage rolls (made from scratch by the Aussie woman that was married to the owner). Good one!
Kyle was very excited about the delicious sausage rolls!
Our Aussie cheering squad
We were pleased to see that other Aussies came out for the game (as well as Mitesh, our new friend from Olympos, who had just arrived in Göreme at 7am), and for a moment, it didn't feel like we were in a little bar in the middle of Turkey at all. Weird!!
Unfortunately, the game was being live-streamed from the internet (rather than from satellite) and we experienced some technical difficulties (the owners of the website, who were also doing half-time commentary - claimed it was being caused by storms in NZ). As such, we ended up only seeing a quarter of the game in choppy fits and starts. But, we were still there for the final score....
(AU) Wallabies 34 - (NZ) All Blacks 19
All right Aussies!!
All right Aussies!!
With that out of the way, we thought we should probably try to see something around town. Having met up with Mitesh and Tamsie (who was starting to feel a bit better after a nap), we set out up the hill to the Open Air Museum.
Göreme Open Air Museum is the most visited site in central Turkey (a tourist hot-spot). With more than 30 churches & chapels carved into rocks, some with amazingly vivid frescoes from the 9th-11th centuries, it was a must see.
Arriving late in the day when it was finally getting a bit cooler, we had very few tourists to fight our way past. A good plan! Unfortunately, my Havaianas (actually from Brazil) broke on the way up the hill. Damn! However with Mitesh's quick MacGyver-thinking, I was back on my way with an almost good-as-new thong (as in flip-flop, not undies) repaired with dental floss! :) Good thinking!
Back on track, we got to walk around the old churches, and dining rooms even, cut right into the rock walls. Probably the most spectacular part were the frescoes inside - absolutely amazing!
Exploring the amazing rock caves
Some truly impressive frescoes
Now that's a big dining table!
A few rather small graves. The people must have been quite skinny or they only buried their bones...
A stunning church
After walking back into town via a couple of lookouts with good views, we headed out for a couple cold beers at our new local, Fat Boys. An added bonus was that earlier in the day, we had by chance bumped into Morgane (from Paris) whom we had met in Selcuk! We had agreed to meet her and her partner, Julien, at Fat Boys as well. This was very lucky for us, as they also owed us a round from when we had some beers at the ANZ Hostel!
Once we had our group assembled, we decided on a nice, candlelit restaurant for dinner. A romantic dinner for 6! :) Julien was meant to take Morgan there for a quiet dinner, but ended up with the 4 of us tagging along. What a great evening! We had a bottle of red and nice food despite the snobbiness of the staff. While it's true that we may not have been their normal clientele (couples out for a romantic dinner), they acted as if we were planning an all-night keg party. Only when we laughed at something would anyone really have even noticed we were there. Oh well. You've just cut your tip in half! Either way, we ignored them and had a nice night with our new friends.
It was so nice to have friends to do some sightseeing and stuff with, so we were keen to book in a couple of fun activities to do together over the next few days before Min and Tamsie headed back to London. The next day, we had a lazy start then met up with Min & Tamsie for a tasty lunch at a restaurant called Dibek.
We had a cozy little lounge to ourself and a lovely waiter named Mehmet looking after us. Later that afternoon, when the steamy heat of the afternoon had eased up, Minesh had booked us in for our next adventure... 4-wheeling around the valleys. We arrived at the agency, got "fitted" with helmets that were either 2 sizes too big or child size (for Min, haha). Well, safety isn't really the most important thing, is it?
As Turkey was already very expensive, Kyle and I shared a 4-wheeler to save money and took turns driving. Once everyone had been given their driving lessons, we were off. It was the four of us, a British family with 2 sons (one around 5 and the other a very big 14ish), and a French racer on a motocross bike. Kyle and I were the only ones that had driven before so it took a little bit for everyone to get the hang of it. Once Min was confident enough to hit the gas (and no longer looked like he was “driving Miss Daisy”), we were tearing up the dirt trails in the Valleys.
We stopped at a couple points along the way to take in the views which were fantastic. Luckily, we got up to points that it was just too hot to hike too, so we were happy. At the second stop, we hiked up to a little church carved in the rock for a closer look. We had walked less than 5 minutes up to the lookout, had a water break then headed back to the 4-wheelers to continue on, however, we had a little problem.... We lost half our group!
Admiring the scenery before on a search & rescue...
Somewhere in the short walk up, the British man completely lost his wife and young son and didn't even notice until we were getting ready to pull away. Oh, for Christ's sake! We literally walked for less than 5 minutes. Probably best that they not go hiking.... Our tour guide went off in search of her and returned with them both in tow about ten minutes later (while we patiently waited and enjoyed freshly picked apricots from a couple of nice farmers that had walked by). With our group intact again, we were back on the trail.
After blasting down the road and veering off onto a different, smaller path, the tour leader continued on while the rest of us were watching out for the others. It was Min & Tamsie that noticed that we'd misplaced the British man (riding with his young son) as well as the older son (who had his own bike). This guide was completely crap.!
On our urging, he went back in search of them. They were both fine, but were having some trouble maneuvering and keeping up. We actually felt really bad that they were being left behind.
Some of the weird rock formations in Love Valley. I think I know why they named it that!
At the next stop, we decided that we'd have the older son go in front of us so that we could watch out for him. Watching him trying to drive, he looked so tentative as if he didn't really want to do it anymore. As Kyle had taken the reins again, I asked if he wanted help and he seemed overjoyed that someone else was willing to drive him. Poor kid just wanted to go for a fun ride but I think he was petrified of driving the thing. That's all right.... hop on and hold on tight. We're gonna hit Mach 2! Hee-hee.
Poor Kyle had to give up his driver... ;)
Luckily, after that, we made it up to a lookout in time to still catch the sunset. The colours on the rock formations were stunning. After getting a good eyeful, we made our way back into town.
What a fun way to spend the afternoon!! We were ridiculously dirty but had too much fun.
Feeling too lazy to bother going back to our respective hostels for showers, we went right out to Red, Red Wine for a couple drinks while we waited for Morgane & Julien. They had a nice selection of Turkish as well as non-Turkish food so we stayed and had a great dinner together. Another really fun night!
Kyle loving his special Ottoman Kebab
Kyle finally found it... the closest yet to his first car, a bright yellow Renault 12
A night out with our new friends... Minesh, Julien, Morgane & Tamsie
The next day, Min was feeling a bit under the weather, so while he rested, Tamsie, Kyle and I hopped on a shuttle to the next town. We had a walk around around then headed up to Turasan Vineyard for some wine tasting.
After catching the shuttle back to town, and not feeling quite satisfied with the wine tasting, we stopped into our local for a couple glasses of wine and discussed the plan for tomorrow.
Min was feeling a bit better and hoping to be in better condition the next day. Crossing our fingers, we decided it was time for some touring around Cappodocia... Avoiding being part of a big tour group like the plague, we decided to rent a car and do a self tour.
Feeling like adventurers
"Powder Blue"
We must have been quite a sight driving through the Turkish countryside as we got lots of stares and waves. We felt like celebrities!! How fun!! Other than renting the scooter in Marmaris, it was the first time that Kyle and I had really got out on the open road so it felt great to just cruise around and take in the scenery at our own pace.
The first stop on the Powder Blue Tour was at Agzikarahan Caravanserai – one of the roadside stops on the Silk Road. When merchants were traveling the Silk Road with their wares, these were places where the traders could keep their goods safe for the night (from bandits) while they enjoyed some food, drink & sleep before carrying on the next day.
We carried on along the long road to Selime in the Ilhara Valley (known to be very picturesque). Just before Selime, there was a "must-see" monastery that we wanted to catch before heading into the valley for a little hiking around to see the cave churches.
Considering that our map wasn't all that good, we were very happy that the landmarks were pretty obvious. As we drove through town, it was impossible to miss the monastery as it rose up sharply from the road.
We were thrilled that while there was one bus parked next to the road, there didn't appear to be a soul in sight. A good half hour later, we finally ran into the group of Chinese tourists on their way out, but we were happy to be enjoying the beautiful sight in relative peace with very few other people around. Considering it was high season in Turkey, it was a minor miracle!
Exploring inside one of the caves in solitude
A lovely view from the top
Next, we turned off onto the winding roads down into the valley to look for a nice spot for lunch and then to explore the walking paths. The drive down into the valley was beautiful – winding with hair-pin turns. A great view!
We found a lovely little restaurant along the river to have some lunch and relax. It had very cute little cabanas in the river, so we made a beeline for one and dangled our feet into the cool water. How nice.
As we sat down to order, I was unfortunate enough to sit on a hornet and got a nasty sting right on my bum. Man, did that hurt! Of course, I couldn't sit properly for the rest of the day, and then the bite started to itch constantly the next day... I tried so hard not to scratch my bum in public as it definitely did not look very nice, but the sting was driving me mad.
Anyways, after lunch, we started up a dirt track in search of a couple of the cave churches described in the guide book. They were all completely empty as we really felt like we were on our own. There were some cool frescoes inside, but they were definitely in their original state, not like the nicely restored ones in the Open Air Museum. While covered with a find layer of black soot from hundreds of years of fires in the caves, they were still visible and great.
Trying to find the right cave church
There were a couple other cave churches further down the path that sounded interesting, so we set off down the river to find them. After walking for 20 minutes or so, we thought it might be better to walk on the other side of the river to look for the church in question. Taking off our shoes and crossing tentatively, we quickly found out that the churches were much further away than we'd thought and there weren't any good walking paths on this side of the river. Bugger.
Realizing that the scale on our map was probably a bit off, we had to abandon the search for the churches in order to ensure that we made it to one of the Underground cities before closing.
We headed back to Powder Blue and sped off toward Derinkuyu's underground city. Once we realized how far away we were and how close we were getting to closing time, we really had to get a move on! When we arrived to the Underground City 1 hour before closing, we were quite surprised to see the parking lot empty. We bought our tickets, negotiated a good rate for a guide and went in.
There are several underground cities in Cappodocia that were built by early Christians for defense. Using the maze of tunnels and passageways, the entire town was able to virtually disappear and remain hidden below ground for, in one case, three months straight due to some ingenious planning (this was when Genghis Khan's army invaded the region). Amazing.
Having a look around the classroom and teacher's altar
Trying to stay warm in the cool caves - this picture shows the "millstone" doors, used to keep the invaders out!
They had cleverly built lots of vents and long, horizontal air ducts that would slowly disperse smoke from a fire without revealing their location, and they even had places for all their livestock in the underground cities. With makeshift refrigerators and wine cellars, they lived fairly comfortably in their subterranean world. There were even long tunnels connecting different towns with perfectly spaced hand grips so that city dwellers would be able to make there way for many miles through the pitch black tunnels.
They had several points of defense in the depths including a plethora of tunnels leading in all directions to confuse possible invaders as well as huge rocks that would be released in times of danger sealing off all entrances & and were unable to be opened from the outside.
Deinkuyu was a particular large city going down eight stories. Not for the claustrophobic... From the bottom level, there was a vertical air shaft that we could look 60+ meters up and see a speck of daylight. Pretty freaky.
Winding up and down the tiny little stairways and passages, we were so happy that we had arrived when we did. We couldn't imagine being down there with a couple busloads of tourists. So lucky.
The sun was quickly setting on our day with the most amazing, fire red sun and pink sky. Wanting to enjoy every moment left, I hopped in the back with Tamsie and we pretended to be old-time Hollywood starlets with our head scarves and big sunglasses. We couldn't stop laughing. What fun!
In the fading light, we made our last stop in Uchisar for a glimpse of Pigeon Valley. With not enough time to go in, we were happy to just explore the storybook view from the outside. Absolutely stunning.
After getting over the sticker shock, we met up with M & T for a last dinner together. They were heading back to London the next day and back to work... We were sad to see them go, but we had lots to look forward to the next day when Kurt and Laura arrived!
Kurt & Laura pulled up to Flintstones the next morning where we'd been sitting and waiting, watching the clock like little kids. Yeah!! They finally arrived!! We hadn't seen any of our friends from Sydney since December so we were thrilled to see Kurt & Laura and know that we were quite close to seeing the others in Fethiye next week.
We had planned months in advance to meet up with Kurt & Laura for a couple days in Goreme to hang out, of course, and to do one of the highlights in Cappodocia—hot air ballooning. Kyle and I booked us all in for a ride the next morning (bargaining 15 Euro off the price - still 110 Euro pp, though) and planned the rest of our excursions around it.
We walked into town to get some Turkish pide for lunch and a good catch-up chat.
Catching up over pide and Efes
And watching Laura put on a show for the locals... ;) (Sorry Laura... it was too good to pass up!)
Kurt playing "dress up"
Trying out a traditional Turkish head covering & then giving the Hollywood "over the shoulder" look
It was so hot that day that we headed straight back to the Flintstones and hopped in the pool. Kyle and I hadn't actually gotten in the pool the whole time we were there, but had noticed that there was rarely anyone in it. The day that we decided to go though was packed out! Standing room only. Still so necessary for a cool off though.
A heavily decorated pottery tree
Kyle balancing precariously on the top
We poked our head into one of the caves in the church, saw a very dark little tunnel and immediately headed in. Yeah, without torches, it's not quite the same... We couldn't see a thing (although the boys were using their camera flashes to light the way), so we turned back. Around the corner, we paid for our ticket and entrance fee and were given a couple torches. Haha. Oh, we were meant to come here first, I think.
Being a bit off the main path, it's unlikely that the church sees many visitors, so the caretaker was happy to take the time to show us around and explain everything. It was really nice. There were a few tunnels leading into secret passages below the church, steep staircases leading up to a room full of pigeon holes and a narrow ventilation shaft that you could carefully climb up, if you so desired. Of course, Kyle hopped right in and we all took photos and shined our torches in as he went up the back shaft. Good lord, be careful!
Coming down a particularly steep staircases & peeking around corners
The caretaker invited us around after for chay (tea) and biscuits. He was telling us about his family and life in Goreme. His English was a bit shaky, so he was tough to understand at times but it was really nice to just sit down and have a cup of tea with a local. The Turkish people are very hospitable.
Having chay and biscuits
Giving Laura a little massage with my yarn balls. Haha.
Laura guiding us on a hike through the fields and pumpkin patches
After seeing the views and church, we went back to Flintstones to get ready for dinner and headed back into town to a restaurant we'd been to before, Dibek. It had really nice food, and we were keen to try their specialty-- pottery kebabs. They serve kebabs that have been slow roasted for 3-4 hours in their own, single-use clay pots. It's a specialty of the area, but they are the only ones in town that do it the authentic way, so we had to reserve the kebabs a few hours before.
When we arrived, Mehmet, the nice waiter we had the last time, showed us up to a huge room upstairs that we had all to ourselves. Must have thought we were going to cause trouble... ;) Well, they would be right! We ordered their homemade wine by the jug, served & drank from goblets made of the same type of pottery as the kebabs were cooked in. Very unique.
We ordered a great assortment of gozleme (Turkish stuffed pancakes), their special sour cream topped ravioli, different dips and roasted eggplant. And then they brought out the pottery kebab. It literally is brought out in a pottery jar, which has to be smashed to get to the kebab. Not going to let the opportunity pass, Kyle jumped in to lend a hand. We ended up with a couple bits of pottery in the kebab, but it was a great effort for a first time "smasher".
We had a great meal and, overall, a fantastic night with Kurt & Laura. By the end, we had drunk probably a little too much wine and, feeling a little tipsy, had to drag ourselves back home to bed in preparation for our 0430 pickup!! Oh boy... Hopefully we all wake up....
Hot air ballooning
As the ballooning is government run, a decision is made about the conditions, and all companies are bound to abide by it. We all stood around like that for about 30 minutes as the sun rose, and suddenly, we had a decision. We were on!!
After what seemed like a really long time, our balloon was ready to go and we would be second off the ground. We were in a large basket holding 20 people (in 4 sections of 5 people each) and a separate center section for the pilot. It was definitely a tight fit but we all got in, and after a few happy snaps, we were up, up and away.
On our way up
The liftoff was so gentle that we didn't even notice until we were a few feet off the ground. We didn't shoot right up, but rather hovered quite close to the fairy chimneys and rocky peaks so that we could get a close-up view.
After talking to Min & Tamsie about their ballooning experience just a few days ago, we expected a gentle, uneventful landing right onto the trailer hooked onto the back of the truck. They had a perfect, (in retrospect boring) landing after their lovely ride. However, we were in for a different experience....
About 10 minutes before landing, the pilot went through the landing procedure and emergency positions that we would have to assume in the event of an emergency landing. We listened, practiced “making like toast” -- everyone facing toward the back, in the same direction with the heaviest people in the back --- and then went right on taking pictures.
As we neared our intended landing sights, we could see the chase vehicles racing around the windy roads through the hills trying to get there before us. A couple minutes before landing, our pilot instructed us to all put away our cameras and get in position. We were so proud... we looked and felt just like toast. :)
But as we were just above the ground, it was quite obvious to most of us that we were coming in “hot”. Really cruising along, we realised that this may not be the gentlest of landings! The pilot started talking about a ”tree landing” (basically crashing into a tree to stop) which was a bit worrisome, and then just as we were about to touch down, he yells “Emergency Position!” Oh shit.
We all sat as far down into the basket as we could, but with 5 people in a tiny compartment, that isn't very far at all. All of the big, burly men on our landing crew had grabbed onto their respective ropes and were being dragged along behind the balloon. The first touchdown was a good hard bounce and everyone letting out a surprised “Wooooh”. Amused but not scared.
As we were all facing backwards, we watched our crew being roughly dragged and trying to dig in their heels for a good 50 meters before we bounced hard again. Everyone let out another big “Wooooh.” We were slowing down a bit, but by no means stopped.
The third bounce was the one that did it.... after sailing along another 30 meters or so, we were about to cruise off the ledge we were hovering over onto the next ledge down, a good meter lower when we hit a big rock on the edge of the ledge. Hard. Everyone let out an 'Oooooohhhhhhhh” (as in shit, definitely not amused and a little scared) as we caught on the edge of the rock and started leaning until the entire basket toppled and landed very solidly on the front side. We're stopped now....
Me crushing Kyle in our overturned basket. I'm smiling, he's not.
Happy to be alive
With our pilot
After a couple hours sleep and a shower, we were feeling rejuvenated and ready to go back to our favorite place, Fat Boys, for another go at watching the Bledisloe Cup as Kurt was keen to see it and Kyle wanted to re-live the victory without jerky missed bits. Third time's a charm! We showed off with pride Kyle's ability to hunt down meat pies, sausage rolls and an important rugby game in the middle of Turkey. Very proud.
Pigeon Valley
With no definite plans for the afternoon, we grabbed a walking map and headed for the nearest valley. We headed into the Guvercilnik Valley, in the direction of Uchisar and Pigeon Valley. We had heard it wasn't very well marked so we hoped for the best. We were pleased when we saw a sign pointing toward Pigeon Valley, but that was the first and last sign. Dervis (at Flintstones) said that the path was fairly well marked, so we should be fine.
The view over Givercilnik Valley from Pigeon Valley
At first, there was a definite path taking us through two tunnels, one of which was nearly blocked off by a car-full of teenagers smoking a bone. If they weren't so stoned, maybe we could have asked them the way...
Luckily, we only lost our way once as Kyle tried to weigh up which of the two paths was likely to be the right one. When the one he chose took him up along the side of a small mountain and to a cliff edge, he thought he could see a clear path. We all climbed down the steep and windy path until we ended up in a clearing where the trail ended. Hmm, guess not. Guess it was the one on the right...
"Now, I know it's a big cliff, but I'm sure this is the right way..."
Not much further along the path, we could spot the castle at Pigeon Valley in the distance. Phew. It was a nice hike, with trailblazing Laura leading the way. Christ, she sets a fast pace!!
Ducking and weaving through trees to keep up Drill Master Jeston
A lovely walk through the valley
Though there wasn't much to see inside the castle, the view of it from the outside as well as the views from the top were spectacular.
Some more fantastic rock caves -- It was difficult to not be awed by them every time!
Our favorite hiking partners - the Jestons
Another view from the top
Me in another one of my pastimes that Kyle pays me out for... taking pictures of pretty flowers that I haven't seen before.
Without too much time to spare, we needed to get back on the trail back to Flintstones to get ready for our evening plans.... We were heading out to “Turkish Night.” A couple different restaurants in the area organized a fairly cheesy Turkish cultural night with dinner, a dance performance by whirling dervishes, traditional dancers, as well as a belly dancer with live music. Laura had been to Turkey before and seen it all, but since it was Kurt's first time here and he didn't have nearly as much time to see all the cultural bits, it was a must do.
Kyle enjoying the "cultural experience" that is Raki
From the moment we arrived, the traditional music started and we quickly got into the show. The dancers doing the traditional folk dancers performed for a long time, spread out in segments from the time we arrived until we left. The women's dance parts were pretty basic, but the male dancers were obviously the stars of the show and they were superb. Really talented!!
The dervishes were good if you haven't seen them before, but compared to the more traditional, spiritual presentation that we had experienced, this one seemed like the Disney version. Dark room with blue lights, weird techno music (that part was a little strange). Considering that they believe that their ritual of spinning actually brings them closer to God, I don't know how techno fits in.....
Then there was the belly dancer's performance. She was very good, but as with all bellydance performances, she wouldn't end the show without embarrassing as many people as possible. I don't mid watching bellydancing, like at a Turkish restaurant, but I have no interest in being part of the performance.
So at a table with 8 people at it, somehow both people got picked out of our side... Kurt and me. Oh fantastic. I am not a performer and the idea of getting up to show off my lack of bellydancing skills in front of well over 100 people gives me sweaty palms. I would easily do something silly like that just in front of my friends, but not in front of a big group of people. Kurt didn't seem to be too fussed, but I wasn't very happy about it at all. I sometimes forget that I used to be shy, and when in that situation, I revert to feeling like a shy girl on the first day of school. Yikes.
Kurt shaking his money maker
Showing how pathetic my belly dancing skills really are!
Luckily, we got to Ankara on time and were able to catch public transport to the Embassy with plenty of time to spare. And then back to the bus station for a 10:30 overnight bus to Fethiye. The overnight buses in Turkey are nothing to write home about (compared to our luxury bus to Iguazu), but we were very excited to get to Gocek in the morning to board the luxurious gulet for a week with all our friends from Oz!!
