Well, five days in, we’ve blown our daily budget, been ripped off in Istanbul (but so nicely it made it seem less outrageous) and are still talking to one another! For the last four days we’ve been in Gȍreme which is a simply enchanting place. The landscape cannot fail to amaze and we now have more photos of rocks than we would have ever imagined (or you may wish to see!).
View from our pension balcony (with the Uçhisar citadel in the distance)
Places of note were the “fairy chimneys” of Pașabagi and the incredible frescos in some of the churches in the rocks that dated back to around 11th century.
The towns in Cappadocia are certainly more up market than I remember and the Turks have put a lot of money and effort into the infrastructure but this hasn’t detracted from any of the charm in our view. Arranged marriages are still the norm in this area (one chap we spoke to spent 10mins with his 15yo wife before he married her) and Gȍreme is not growing in size – there is apparently some ban on building and the population is no larger than around 2000 people and declining apparently! We couldn’t resist taking a hot air balloon flight and even though it was cloudy and raining (we got a bit wet – hot air balloons provide great water catchment – just like a big funnel!), we weren’t disappointed.
Same day we headed off to the Derinkuyu underground city which is a pretty amazing place - eleven ‘floors’, 85m deep and covers an area of about 2 square kilometers. It was built by the Hittites to escape the Assyrians around 500BC and very spacious compared to the underground tunnels in Vietnam. Also stopped off at a caravansaray from the 13th century on the Silk Road.
Euan in the entrance to where the camels slept
Me sitting on the steps up to the prayer room in the centre of the caravansaray courtyard
We did a very short and easy hike through the Ihlara Valley and (to Euan’s dismay) I befriended a strange looking and rather large dog that was scared of sticks but seemed to enjoy playing chicken, so we ran around like idiots for while with me chasing the dog and vice versa until it nearly took out Euan rushing past behind him so the dog and I had to calm it down a wee bit.
At the top of the Ihlara Valley (I think I was meant to be looking at the camera but hey ho)
We did some more hiking (how can you not in a place like this?!) and headed up into the the Rose Valley which was among the highlights for me thus far. Some of the small holes in the rocks off the beaten track led to beautiful cathedrals carved out of solid rock. Stunning.
Pigeon holes that led to amazing caverns with pigeon houses and cathedrals. Cathedral entrance is the hole bottom left.
..and this is what was inside
Views of the Rose Valley
We both hiked up to the rock citadel in Uçhisar about 3km from Gȍreme (fab views) and on the way back took a ‘short cut’, got lost and ended up two valleys away from where we wanted to be.
Rock citadel in Uçhisar
View on the way to the citadel
Once lost, its not just a matter of walking down one valley and into another – the rocks are so smooth and curved, it might look like you could just slide down the side (I did contemplate it but thought better of it) but you knew that there would be a huge great drop off… and there was!
From the top, it looks like its just a gently sloping hill … but its not…
We found a way down but there was quite a drop onto a steep hillside. I said to Euan that I’d go first and he threw the bags down to me. I was shouting up at him that if you’re going to do something remotely dodgy, then you should do it with gusto…..
…so he gave it some!! Brilliant!
The rock formations are truly amazing…..
But the inevitable photos follow.... (no offence intended but it is taken to send to a friend who described herself as a d*ckhead for missing our departure date)
This is another sheepdog but he was only four months old. Look at the size of his paws! Unfortunately he decided he liked me and followed us, blatantly ignoring his owner.
That night we headed off on an o/night bus to Syria but had a three hour wait in Kayseri in the flashest bus station I’ve ever been in (more evidence of the money that’s been pumped into the tourist industry here). We met up with two Polish chaps and a Japanese chap who are heading to Aleppo. You meet some interesting people doing this sort of stuff – that’s one of the best things (the other is only having two/three choices of what to wear each day which suits me down to the ground). We spent some time talking to a chap from Iran who was working in the area and described himself as an asylum seeker (hopefully soon to be refugee). A bit of a tragic tale really. He was kicked out of his country for refusing to conform and is now moving from place to place waiting to hear from the UN who will take him.
View from our pension balcony (with the Uçhisar citadel in the distance)
Places of note were the “fairy chimneys” of Pașabagi and the incredible frescos in some of the churches in the rocks that dated back to around 11th century.
The towns in Cappadocia are certainly more up market than I remember and the Turks have put a lot of money and effort into the infrastructure but this hasn’t detracted from any of the charm in our view. Arranged marriages are still the norm in this area (one chap we spoke to spent 10mins with his 15yo wife before he married her) and Gȍreme is not growing in size – there is apparently some ban on building and the population is no larger than around 2000 people and declining apparently! We couldn’t resist taking a hot air balloon flight and even though it was cloudy and raining (we got a bit wet – hot air balloons provide great water catchment – just like a big funnel!), we weren’t disappointed.
Same day we headed off to the Derinkuyu underground city which is a pretty amazing place - eleven ‘floors’, 85m deep and covers an area of about 2 square kilometers. It was built by the Hittites to escape the Assyrians around 500BC and very spacious compared to the underground tunnels in Vietnam. Also stopped off at a caravansaray from the 13th century on the Silk Road.
Euan in the entrance to where the camels slept
Me sitting on the steps up to the prayer room in the centre of the caravansaray courtyard
We did a very short and easy hike through the Ihlara Valley and (to Euan’s dismay) I befriended a strange looking and rather large dog that was scared of sticks but seemed to enjoy playing chicken, so we ran around like idiots for while with me chasing the dog and vice versa until it nearly took out Euan rushing past behind him so the dog and I had to calm it down a wee bit.
At the top of the Ihlara Valley (I think I was meant to be looking at the camera but hey ho)
We did some more hiking (how can you not in a place like this?!) and headed up into the the Rose Valley which was among the highlights for me thus far. Some of the small holes in the rocks off the beaten track led to beautiful cathedrals carved out of solid rock. Stunning.
Pigeon holes that led to amazing caverns with pigeon houses and cathedrals. Cathedral entrance is the hole bottom left.
..and this is what was inside
Views of the Rose Valley
We both hiked up to the rock citadel in Uçhisar about 3km from Gȍreme (fab views) and on the way back took a ‘short cut’, got lost and ended up two valleys away from where we wanted to be.
Rock citadel in Uçhisar
View on the way to the citadel
Once lost, its not just a matter of walking down one valley and into another – the rocks are so smooth and curved, it might look like you could just slide down the side (I did contemplate it but thought better of it) but you knew that there would be a huge great drop off… and there was!
From the top, it looks like its just a gently sloping hill … but its not…
We found a way down but there was quite a drop onto a steep hillside. I said to Euan that I’d go first and he threw the bags down to me. I was shouting up at him that if you’re going to do something remotely dodgy, then you should do it with gusto…..
…so he gave it some!! Brilliant!
The rock formations are truly amazing…..
But the inevitable photos follow.... (no offence intended but it is taken to send to a friend who described herself as a d*ckhead for missing our departure date)
This is another sheepdog but he was only four months old. Look at the size of his paws! Unfortunately he decided he liked me and followed us, blatantly ignoring his owner.
That night we headed off on an o/night bus to Syria but had a three hour wait in Kayseri in the flashest bus station I’ve ever been in (more evidence of the money that’s been pumped into the tourist industry here). We met up with two Polish chaps and a Japanese chap who are heading to Aleppo. You meet some interesting people doing this sort of stuff – that’s one of the best things (the other is only having two/three choices of what to wear each day which suits me down to the ground). We spent some time talking to a chap from Iran who was working in the area and described himself as an asylum seeker (hopefully soon to be refugee). A bit of a tragic tale really. He was kicked out of his country for refusing to conform and is now moving from place to place waiting to hear from the UN who will take him.
4 comments:
Hi guys, this looks brilliant! I especially like the photo of Euan jumping off the rock. Keep it coming! Katrinax
Love the dickhead pic! Great blog guys, well done. Fantastic photos too, keep it coming! pipx
Hi Guys,
Those in-stone cathedrals are absolutely amazing, it makes you wonder whom they were built for and how many people actually went there to pray.
simply awesome.
keep it up, this blog is fab
Ladi
We loved Turkey and did that exact balloon ride, Doug only told me afterwards that he didn't like heights, must have been trying to impress me.... I did wonder why he wouldn't come to the edge and peer over the side. Look forward to the next update.
Kirsten
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