Day 74 - Touring Cappadocia

I woke at 6.45am to the sound of big gushes.  Since I have heard it before when living with Bernie, I knew what it was so jumped out of bed and grabbed the camera.  One of the favourite things tourists do is have a hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia.  So, when I got out of bed and out of my bedroom, I was thrilled to find many hot air balloons floating in front of my hotel.  It really was a wonderful sight.  I’m not tempted to do it myself, it is expensive, and I really don’t think I could cope with the height.  Anyway, a great start to the day.

My stomach still wasn’t the best so I had a light breakfast (yoghurt with Pekmez – molasses, made of grapes) and apple tea (elma cay) before going on a tour that was the least strenuous of the two options. 

Overall the tour was good, but it really made me appreciate the tours I did with Intrepid.  Communication and coordination was lacking, so we wasted time at a couple of places which was unfortunate, and all the tours went to the one restaurant for lunch (rather than smaller groups supporting a variety of restaurants). 

Cappadocia means “land of the beautiful horses” as it was famous for the good quality horses that were used on the silk road during the Hittite Empire, and Goreme is a town in the Cappadocia region and the word means “hidden place”.  The area is famous because of the lunar looking landscape that came about after the eruption of 3 volcanoes at the same time, many millennia ago.  Ash then volcanic lava has led to layers over the area have been gradually eroded by wind and rain, resulting in huge stone mushrooms and fairy chimneys, soft ridges and deep valleys.  People carved out homes in these mushrooms and chimneys, and dug underground, to protect them from invaders.  Although it is really sad to see an obvious lack of building restrictions in some places (huge hotels being built), in some areas it really has retained a fascinating aura.  Against this backdrop is Mt Erciyes, which is snow-capped.  Because of the volcanic soil, the area is very fertile so there are many crops and vineyards in the area.

Yes, giant penis's

Wild iris grow everywhere in the area

If any of you come, or if I come back, I will definitely allow about 4/5 days for this place as there are a lot of hikes in the area, to get away from the tourist buses, and Goreme Open Air Museum deserves half a day, not the hour I had. 

The tour I went on had about 16 people, half Italians so there was an Italian guide, and the rest were Turkish except for myself and a girl Wendy from Hong Kong.  

After the tour I walked down to the town to buy water and go to the ATM (credit card wasn’t working).  I caught up with a couple from the tour, both from Istanbul, and they invited me for a beer.  They were lovely, and it was great talking about travel and Turkish life with them.

After a shower and a rest I then was taken by a driver (about 60, called “Black Snake”- very funny man), to a place to watch the Whirling Dervishes.  There were a lot of demonstrations available in Istanbul but always at a restaurant – this seemed a lot more traditional.  There were a lot of tourists at the performance, not photos allowed.  12 men came out in white capes and strange hats, 6 played music, 5 whirled, 1 supervised.  They started off with chanting, then music, then whirling, and it really was fascinating to watch.  How they don’t get dizzy I really don’t know, but it was so lovely watching the serene expressions on their faces as they turned, especially on 2 of them.  The music was really relaxing, and the whole event was quite spiritual. Some people looked bored stupid, I really enjoyed it.  As it is a religious ceremony, people aren't allowed to take photos which is fair enough.