Happy Independence Day!

Derinkuyu is Cappadocia’s largest excavated underground city, and a portion (about 10%) of it is open to tourists. Today we explored its labyrinthine tunnels and stairways, descending about 55 meters (180 feet) underground. What a way to live! In one area, we were crouched way down -- actually bent in half -- while climbing a long stairway, as the tunnel around us got smaller and smaller. I thought, “Hmmm, I’ve had this experience before…in a  nightmare!” Seriously, claustrophobics should steer clear of this place!

The inhabitants of Derinkuyu were Christians, hiding from religious persecution. Between the Romans and, later, the Arab raiders, they spent a lot of time hiding and praying. The city was fully equipped for life underground, with a winery, kitchens, stables, churches, storage houses, and wells. There were about 11 floors, and passage between different sections could be blocked by a round stone door rolled into the entrance. It is estimated that the city could accommodate up to 50,000 people!

This was a pretty interesting visit, although a bit crowded. The entrance fee is 10TYL. Bring a sweater, it’s cool down there!

After Derinkuyu, we went to Uchisar “Castle”, which is the highest fairy chimney in Cappadocia. It is completely carved out with caves and tunnels, and was once home to many people, who have moved out due to the dangers of collapse. This is the highest point and the best viewpoint in all the land. We once again admired the landscape from this new vantage, and identified the many valleys and trails we have visited here in Cappadocia. Everything is visible from Uchisar. Recommended.

We picked up groceries and ate lunch on our balcony, and then we went back to Pigeon Valley to visit Hasan and his Shade Tea Garden. We had tea with him yesterday, but no money to pay…today we settled our debt. When we got there, Hasan was busy at work … setting up new seating. I guess he is expecting a rush? Please go visit Hasan…he needs your business!

In the evening, we had a very quiet Independence Day celebration, with dinner at Alaturka, in Goreme. This place was recommended by both Fodor’s and Lonely Planet. It is a beautiful setting, and we enjoyed the gorgeous weather on one of their outdoor balconies. We started with meze, a collection of various small dishes of vegetables and cheese spreads served with hot bread. Yum! This was great. Then I had a huge green salad (good) and Steve had a terrible-looking dried out chicken dish served with cold mashed potatoes and canned peas. He reported that it was every bit as bad as it looked! A big disappointment.   

And that pretty much wraps up our time in Cappadocia. Tomorrow we will head east to Mt Nemrut and the quiet town of Kahta. But... I really don’t want to leave here! What a wonderful place this is… I think I could stay forever.

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Between all the great sights here in Cappadocia, the plentiful hiking trails through these bizarre valleys, and our wonderful hotel… I don’t think I will ever want to leave! We are thoroughly enjoying this weird and wonderful region. My recommendation for anyone planning a trip here: don’t cut it short…stay as long as you can!

Our first order of business for the day was the Zelve Open Air Museum. This is a sprawling cave community that was actually inhabited from the 9th century up until 1950s (when erosion and cave-ins caused everyone to move out). So whereas Goreme showed us many churches, Zelve was a chance to see how people really lived. Really interesting!  

We arrived just before 10am and found that we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Zelve is a less structured visit than Goreme, which has paved paths and signage leading you through a loop. At Zelve, you can just explore on your own, although you must avoid the areas that are roped off due to safety issues. The caves homes really varied in design, size, and shape. One "Deluxe Model" had a winding staircase up to a loft. Kitchens were full of nooks and crannies, dug out of the wall and used, I presume, for storage. Some of the homes had outdoor cooking areas and patios -- quite nice, for a cave. In some cases, light was brought into the home through skylights designed to keep water out while letting light in. It was all really interesting and we really enjoyed this visit.

Next we stopped at an area called Pasabaga. We hadn’t planned this one, but saw it from the road and decided to stop. I can’t find information on it, but it’s basically just a walking path that winds through some very phallic-looking fairy chimneys. Again, we found ourselves just amazed by our bizarre surroundings…this landscape is mind boggling and so interesting!

For lunch, decided to check out Avanos, a cute village located on the Irmak River. The town was neat-as-a-pin, clean and cute, and very quiet. Where is everyone? There were several shops selling pottery, the town specialty. I wasn’t in the shopping mood, which I kind of regret now. They had really nice pottery, with beautifully intricate designs. Our lunch was at Tafana, where I had a tasty salad plate and Steve had a local-specialty flatbread pizza called lahmacum. It was all served with thick, chewy bread that I couldn’t stop eating, it was so good.

From Avanos, we set off for an underground city called Ozkonak. Fodor’s claims it is the largest underground city in Turkey, but that isn’t open to tourists. We saw brown tourist signs for it, so we hoped to prove the book wrong. We followed the signs and then saw some vendors at what could have been an entrance, but couldn’t find where to go in. Foiled. I guess Fodor’s might be correct on this one.

Back to the hotel for a little break, and then we went out again for a late afternoon hike in Pigeon Valley. This hike did not start well, as there is an ugly construction dump site near the entrance and we nearly turned around. But we kept going and it got much better. About 15 minutes in we saw a lean-to structure and an old man, and we thought we might be strolling into someone’s yard. As we walked by, he called to us, “Hello! Look! I have made a tea garden!” and he waved his arm with a flourish, as though welcoming us to a 5-star restaurant. The tea garden was a collection of rugs and cushions and a lean-to where he had an optimistic rack of about 60 hopeful teacups. No customers though. A cute handmade sign announced we were at the Shade Tea Garden. The area was indeed shaded, breezy and very pleasant. He had picked his location well, except for the dearth of clients…we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

We made our apologetic excuses to the old man (“No money! Sorry!”), and then had our hike, which was very nice and brought us through a valley with more of those weird mushroom-shaped formations.  On the way back, a combination of guilt and curiosity caused us to stop for tea with the old man, whose name was Hasan. He insisted “No money, no problem!” I suppose it gets lonely there in the Pigeon Valley with no customers, so maybe he just wanted some company. (We will return tomorrow for more tea and to pay him!)  Hasan speaks five languages and was once “a rich man who owned property,” but he said his life has gone downhill a bit. (“But I am still rich here,” he said, fist on his heart). A friend has loaned him the land for this new enterprise, and after three years he will pay rent, if he can. I hope this goes well for him, because he is a really nice man. And he serves a mean cup of Apple Tea (apple cider), too!

For dinner we drove to Goreme, which seems to be the busiest of all the little towns in the area. We just wandered into a place that looked good -- I didn’t notice its name. They served me a vegetarian plate of sautéed vegetable and rice, which was really good. Steve had mixed grill, which was a plate of unidentifiable and slightly scary looking meat.

Back home then to rest up for another big day of weird wanderings here in Cappadocia.  Tomorrow is our last day so we must make the most of it!

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Today we explored a bit of Turkey’s otherworldly Cappadocia region, and at times I felt I was a visitor on another planet. It was a completely fantastic (and fantastical) day. Words seem so inadequate.  

The day got a pre-start at 4:30am. I woke up and noticed things were looking a little pink. Popped my head up and…whoa! that’s a nice sunrise. So I staggered out of bed to take a picture. Unfortunately it was a 4-second exposure, which doesn’t work well when you’re holding the camera. I didn’t think to try again, as I was half asleep. Maybe I will get a better one tomorrow.  

I then tried my hardest to sleep in, but the best I could do was 6am. It was so bright out, with birds chirping like crazy, I just had to get up and start the day. I was greeted by the ethereal sight of about a dozen hot air balloons in various stages of inflation, and some were already drifting off down the valley. Beautiful!

After breakfast we hopped in our car for our first activity, a visit to the man-made caves of the Goreme Open Air Museum (10TYL entrance fee), which is only about 2 miles from the hotel. This large valley area is filled with hundreds of cave dwellings and churches (the oldest is from the 4th century), some with frescoes that date back to the 8th century. We explored for about an hour, sharing the site with a few tour groups. It was sunny out, and very dry. The breeze kept us very comfortable -- the weather here is just terrific. It was a good visit.

We then headed back to our town of Uchisar for lunch at Center Restaurant. We sat outside surrounded by flowering bushes and had a really nice lunch. I had a plate of salads that included greens, a salty sort of cole slaw, feta cheese, roasted eggplants, and tomatoes. Loved it! Steve had lamb shish, served on French fries, which he reported was a little bland.

After a little break back in our wonderful room, we set off again for a hike in the Rose Valley. We found this without a problem, thanks to detailed instructions from the front desk lady, and good signs along the way. Rose Valley is a popular destination for sunset viewing, and we had to pay 6TYL to get into the main parking area. There were only a couple other cars there. We set off on one of the well-marked paths.

How can I describe Rose Valley? It’s like the Badlands of South Dakota grafted onto Canyonlands of Utah, re-interpreted by Dr Suess. On acid. It’s an incredible, beautiful, head-shaking fantasy land. Our path took us along the ridge of a stunning valley where the fairy chimneys and odd formations spread out forever. Then we walked down in the valley, where we could see caves cut into the cliffs. Along the way, we snacked on apricots that we picked ourselves from the trees we came upon every so often. We also saw pears, olives, and grape vines on the path. A tasty hike!

We walked in for about 90 minutes, hoping to find the perfect sunset-viewing area. Along the way we saw only a few other people, and most of the time it was eerily quiet. Then we turned back and hiked back another hour, not wanting to get stuck too far from the car after sunset (no street lamps there!). We ended up at a place high up, somewhere in between the Rose Valley and the Red Valley, and we had it all to ourselves for the sunset. From our smug vantage point we could see the tour buses pull into the parking lot, way off in the distance. Just in time for a stunning sunset. I guess that’s one way to do it, but I sure like our way a whole lot better!

It was 9pm when we got back to them room. We had a nice candlelit picnic dinner of white wine, peanut butter sandwiches, and olives (yes, I agree that is weird) on our balcony before I crashed from sheer exhaustion. Moon walking is damn hard work!

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In the afternoon, we drove from Konya to the Cappadocio region of Turkey, an area famous for its crazy (and completely indescribable) rock formations. Along the way, the scenery changed from softly rolling farmland (golden wheat and dark greens), to more pronounced hills and jutting rocks, and then we got to the incredible Ihlara Valley. I don’t possess the correct words to describe it, but suffice to say there were soaring cliffs with caves carved out of them, and rock formations shaped like giant witch’s hats, all surrounded by ribbons of dark green trees and bright green mini farms. It was just incredible. I stopped to take pictures, but of course photos never properly communicate the awe-inspiring nature of a sight like this. Yet, we always try…

Our final destination was the Museum Hotel, located in the village of Uchisar. We had no problem finding the town, as everything was very well posted (Jordan’s highway department could learn something here…) We arrived in the long shadows of the early evening, and the town looked like a movie set, with stone buildings and cobblestone streets. The people milling about looked like characters straight from Central Casting. I think the average age was around 95, so no one was moving too fast. OK everyone, we got some tourists coming in: look old, quaint, and Turkish! Men and women alike were wearing their traditional garb, which is probably the same thing people were wearing 500 years ago…amazing. I immediately fell in love.

The hotel is carved from the side of a cliff, and for the last couple weeks I have been super excited about our stay in a real cave! How cool!  Unfortunately, reality set in soon after we were settled in our cave/room. It was, well…DARK. And musty smelling. I know, you are probably saying, “DUH! It’s a cave!” But you see, this is a luxury cave, and pretty damn expensive. I was expecting something else entirely. So I paid 200 Euros to sleep in a cave…what a fool! To top things off, the hotel’s free wireless Internet couldn’t penetrate the 8-foot thick walls, so there was no connection either. I became immediately depressed. Four days here? Waaaah!

The sound of the screaming, playing children right next door to us was absolutely the last straw… I went off to the front desk to inquire about a different room. I am so glad I did! We are now ensconced in the most delightful hotel room that ever existed. We are on the side of a cliff in a gorgeous setting. The structure is stone, but our room (which is actually a suite with a bedroom and seperate sitting/working area) is filled with light and a nice breeze from our many quaintly mullioned windows. We are facing a gorgeous valley filled with “fairy chimneys,” which are tall, pointed rock formations I could stare at all day. The view goes on forever. Best of all is our private balcony, furnished with a small wooden table and chairs. LOVE IT! I could spend all day here, but of course we won’t have time for that… there are so many things to see and do in Cappadocia!  

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We arrived at the hotel comfortably using their airport transfer service. An unbelievable hotel, the service and staff were outstanding! The hotel is impeccable and very clean. Beautiful interior and clean. Location couldn't be better. All major sites are in walking distance, yet on a quite street. Staff were always smilling and no request was denied. The bed was very comfortable and there are extra pillows in the wardrobe. Highly recommend it.

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We spent a week in Turkey in September 2007 travelling between Istanbul, Cappadocia and the beaches. Of all the places we stayed, sofa hotel was the best. Not only were the rooms stylishly designed, but the service from the staff and the owner was exceptional. My wife and I travel often on both business and pleasure and can definitely say that this place is in the top 5 places we have stayed "anywhere" and the definitely the best small hotel. What makes it so charming is the boutique feel and great service. The owner, pulls out all of the stops to make each guest comfortable. The decor is especially nice like a museum. In addition to the design the homemade breakfast is excellent......we want the recipe for the apricot turnover "great". Check out the website as it speaks for itself.

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Well, where to start… And where to finish. And, while I'm pondering, where to go in the middle. Istanbul, Istanbul, Istanbul. Is Turkey the most incredible country on Earth? Yes, I know, I have a bad habit of falling in love with countries, but this place is amazing. The sheer size of this city would blow you away. So, let me start from the start. Got the bus from Canakkale, about 6 hours later we arrived in Istanbul. The city is colossal. Arriving at the bus station was like arriving at an airport. And from there we had to find a way to get to Sultanahmet (Old Istanbul). I don't know how it happened, but we ended up in a minivan on the way to the hostel. ??? Must've been a courtesy van. I guess. Oh well, it was free. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got there, so we sat and had dinner and a few beers. Met a whole heap of randoms, and crashed for the night. Intended on getting up early and going to see Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya, but that didn't happen. Slept in a little, just made it to breakfast, and headed to the Blue Mosque, just in time for the place to close for prayer time. Oops. So, we figured we'd go for a walk until prayers were over and the mosque reopened to visitors. But we kinda got distracted, the pull of the Grand Bazaar was too strong, I couldn't fight it, so next thing you know we're wandering around the 4700 or so shops at the market. I bought a shisha (they call em something different here, nagila I think…), man, then I had to figure out how to post it home without it getting broken.. Oh well… It's very pretty. I wonder if customs will confiscate the apple tobacco I sent… Hmmm… Hung out at the Bazaar and bought some other bits and pieces, traded kisses for discounts (ok, now just to set the record straight, it wasn't me that was trading kisses, it was my mother, selling me off so she could save a few bucks…) then, after dinner spent hours in the bar drinking far too much beer with a bunch of randoms at the hostel… Ugh… Beer is evil… The next day we were determined to focus and get some stuff done, instead of spending the whole day at the market again. Headed to Blue Mosque again and waited for prayers to finish so that we could visit, and then went across to Aya Sofya. Both are spectacular - I've never been in a mosque before. Aya Sofya used to be a church and then was converted to a mosque, but underneath the plaster walls all of the mosaic work was intact and it's now a museum. Went to visit the overrated Koptapi Palace. Not much to tell. Reading about it is more interesting than seeing it really. Surprise, surprise, spent the evening drinking beer by the kegful with a bunch of randoms at the hostel. Istanbul is amazing, and I think it may be slightly addictive… I didn't really want to leave. Spent another couple of days seeing the sights, posted another box of stuff home, drank loads of beer, then Saturday morning after 2 hours of sleep had to get up and go to the airport to see Ma off on her way to Austria. It was happy and sad, I mean, saying goodbye was hard knowing that I won't see her til next year, but I'm glad to be on my own starting a new adventure. Met a couple of Canadian boys, Justin and Reuben, and have decided to head south together to see a little more of Turkey. They're crazy, Justin is determined to teach me to speak "Canadian" and is suitably humoured by the way we pronounce beer, tomato, and banana. Ok, so it passes the time on long bus rides. Found a travel agent who put together a plan for us, so now I've extended my stay in Turkey to 3 weeks! So much for a week per country… Oh well. At this point I'm wondering whether I'll make it home on schedule, but I severely doubt it… Eeeek… I'll figure it out later…

So, I have no idea what day it is, or was, but we headed to Cappadocia on the overnight bus (ugh, 11 hours on a bus is never gonna be a good thing) but arriving in Goreme was worth it - the scenery is amazing. It's absolutely freezing, (I'm waiting for it to start snowing!) but as far as you can see there are houses carved into the rocks. Wait til you see the pics (if I ever manage to upload them).

Our room at the hotel there was a cave, like really, literally a cave. It was awesome. Central Turkey is freezing cold, they're waiting for the snow to hit in the next couple of days. But it was so amazing to live in the cave, and we spent our evenings making dinner (crappy instant soup was all that we could afford…) then sitting by the fire (and drying my socks on the stove!) playing backgammon and drinking Turkish Tea. The people there were lovely, and as usual I didn't want to leave at the end of our stay. We spent 3 days there, and did 2 massive tours. One day was North Cappadocia, where you see the caves, fairy chimneys, and so many other fantastic sights that I don't think I'll ever be able to explain. I know, I know, as soon as I get a chance I'll upload some pics, I haven't done any since Malta…! The second day we saw an underground city and heaps of other cool stuff. The boys have been endlessly picking on me, from jumping out of caves to scare the shit out of me, to grabbing my ankle in the underground city from below (I jumped so high I smashed my head on the roof and have a nice bump now). Bastards! They're funny though, but don't tell em I said that! They found it incredibly funny when we were in Istanbul when there was a spider near me and I freaked out and knocked over the bench we were sitting on, taking down the signs with me, and won't let me forget it. So yeah, I've continued to do dumb things that are a constant cause of embarrassment, but I'm kind used to making a fool of myself by now. From Cappadocia we got another overnight bus (4 buses, 14 hours, Ugh!) to Olympos where we were living in a treehouse next to the beach. Where in the world do you get to live in a cave and a treehouse?!? Olympos is on the south coast, so we've come back to summer weather, and I spent my first day here sleeping on the beach.

Ugh, I'm so slack. I wrote the last paragraph almost a week ago and never got around to finishing my stupid blog. Ugh. So, we lived in a treehouse for 3 nights, drank far too much beer (again, I know, what's new right?). Day 2 was pouring rain, so we spent the day bludging at home (yay for living in treehouses) playing backgammon, cards, checkers, drinking beer and eating mega huge sandwiches. Oh yeah, and drinking beer. Danced away the night with all of the other randoms at the place, fought off the urge to join them all on the boat that was leaving in the morning. Then, day 3 was beautiful, so chilled on the beach and went for a massive walk around the coast and up the cliffs. Ahhhh, life is fabulous. In Olympos they have the Chimera flames, these eternal flames in the mountains, either because the hills are full of methane, or, if you prefer Homer's version (Greek mythology, not simpson you idiot…) then it's the breath of a mythological savage beast with the head of a lion, tail of a snake, and goat in the middle (hmmm…?) you can choose whichever you like (but anyway, focus Seh, you're rambling again…) So, we wanted to go up and take a look. They do a tour which takes you up on a bus at night, but it costs 15 Lira, and we figured that's like 5 beers each, so we could take the tour, or we could walk and take some beer with us. There was a bunch of us that are staying at the same treehouse place, so we decided beer is more important than laziness. It was a beautiful night, and like the dumbasses that we are, we didn't leave until after dinner when it was officially very dark. Officially. We got as far as the beach (a few hundred metres from home) before we stopped to the beach to sit and have a beer, but then we got our act together and started the trek. 8km later (most on a very steep incline, ugh) we arrived with our new canine friend trailing behind. I was kinda expecting a tiny little flame seeping through the ground, but it was spectacular. There were dozens of fires burning, so we all huddled around with our beer(s) and spent a couple hours giggling. One of the kiwi guys there was absolutely hilarious, and decided he wanted a naked pic beside the flames (?!?) and next thing you know he's standing by the fire wearing nothing but his hat for modesty. Then the other boys joined in and stripped to their boxers. Very random, I still don't really know what inspired them. Needless to say, the girls stayed huddled by the fire shielding our eyes and keeping warm. When the beer was dried up, we started back, I can't believe we were crazy enough to walk 16km voluntarily, just so we could afford beer. Backpackers, huh? Next day was more sad farewells, met some awesome people there but hopefully will catch up somewhere along the travels. Another long bus ride, and we arrived in Fethiye. I'm so over sitting on buses, but the boys keep me entertained. Justin and I have found some crazy ways to keep entertained, and I'm sure everyone else thinks we're mad. Today, we made an artwork featuring all of the insane things that have happened in Turkey, it's a masterpiece!!! Then there was the hour that we spend staring at the rock walls that were flying past. At one of our stops I ran to the bathroom, and the bus was leaving without me so I had to run to catch up with it. Jumped on the bus and smashed my head so hard the whole bus was laughing at me. I'm such a klutz (even worse than usual, I've had public stacks almost every day… Ugh). So yeah, here I am in Fethiye, can't wait to hit the beach tomorrow, and I think that's all I got to say for now.

Thanks for listening.

Love you all, miss some of you! Hahaha.

Until the next episode, don't forget me!

Seh

xox

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It was an early a.m. once agaın and I sure dıdnt want to get up but Im glad that I dıd!

We went all over today...place to place....Its honestly a bıt of a blur.

Fırst off we went on a two hour hıke through what looked lıke the Alberta badlands.  I loved ıt!  I serıously love to hıke....we saw so many cool rock formatıons etc.  They had one church that they say ıf you can clımb to...your sıns wıll all be forgıven.  I guess I am now a saınt sınce I was the only one that could do ıt..woo hoo!

We also went to a pottery studıo where I trıed throwıng some clay on a non electrıc wheel...not so easy. But fun!  One of the guys ın the studıo was very frıendly to me and ended up gıvıng me a free dısh and an evıl eye for good luck.  Everyone was laughıng at me...ın a nıce way.

We next went to see some rock formatıons ın a dıfferent area and guess who was there...the same guy.  He got me some turkısh ıce cream for free because he knew the people.  It was really good made out of goats mılk.  Yum!

Next we went to a turkısh carpet place.  It was awesome!  I never realızed how ıntrıcate and amazıng turkısh rugs are.  I apprecıate my parents turkısh rugs so much more.

Tonıght we are off to a belly dancıng and turkısh folk musıc show...cant waıt!  Should be great so I am off!

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