Cappadocia Day Two part 2

You should never take a long break from blogging. Not only does it get harder to remember the details - and the things that made you laugh - but your will to blog about past events diminishes greatly. There's probably some mathematical law about it. Geno?

So back to Sunday.. After the underground city (which was incredibly cool, did I mention that?) we were off to hike the Ilhara Valley. Ilhara was *not* what I was expecting. An admission fee was charged, but it was more like a park nature trail than the hike I was anticipating. The whole length of the valley runs some 14 km, but we only did 3 km on a rails-to-trails-like path. There may have been more challenging terrain, but we stuck to the girly route which was flooded with Turkish families out for a Sunday jaunt. Of course it was pretty, but it was a Turkish Shubie Park. (I did get a cute shot of a very proud little boy who'd just caught a big trout... And we saw frogs mating. But those were the highlights, lol.)













































































We also had the good fortune to meet a nice Ohio pastor with whom we shared some of the walk. Ken was a cheerful companion, clearly delighting in his walk, and we enjoyed his brief company.

We lunched at Belisirma village at the end of the walk. A nice little spot on the river where the poplar trees molted right into your food and all over your table! Lunch was, as always, excellent. Home-cooked village food and lots of it. The bread in particular was fantastic. A ring of hot crusty bread, with which they were very generous, as I think geno ate 2 loaves (rings) by himself!





























<< NOT TRUE. We had a total of 2 loaves. We left a bit. I ate most of it. They looked like tires. I can show you when I get home, I think I may be wearing one of them. Ed. >>

<< loaf pictured above at left, see, they ain't that big. Ed. >>












(these tasty morsels usually don't look me straight in the eye)


Following lunch we drove to one of the coolest places we've seen to date- Selime monastery. Rock cut churches and living quarters high in the tufe rock dating back to the 8th century. The most important of the churches is known as Selime cathedral. Inside there are two rows of rock columns, and remnants of brilliant frescoes can be seen on the walls. Amazing. (However, this was where we had to tell Tahir that we didn't need to examine all the frescoes and hear their stories one by one... He's very knowledgeable and clearly loves to share information. A very welcome trait in a tour guide, but enough with the frescoes already, LOL.)

























































































Not a lot is known about Selime, and again, much of what is known is no more than intelligent speculation. A fantastic place to explore nonetheless, and we were fortunate to beat most of the tour busses for the first 45 minutes or so. It becomes a bit of a schnozzle with so many people on site. It's steep and occasionally precarious footing to begin with, and crowds make the navigation tricky. We saw several older folks of clearly limited mobility being assisted up by their friends and/or guides, with several bailing half way.* We actually worried a bit about them getting safely down and offered to help, but they chose to wait for their group.

(* "bailing half way": a perfectly honourable action engaged in by such luminaries as Lisa, see tomorrow's blog)

Next stop was Agzikarahan caranvanserai - the ruin of a waypoint - almost a hotel - along one of turkey's silk roads built by the Seljuk empire. These caravanserais were built and sponsored by the government to attract trade along the route. Merchants with camel caravans could stop there for 3 days without charge; they and their animals would be fed and their safety was guaranteed. The doors would lock at dusk and open again at dawn, and a mosque was built inside so that the visitors did not have leave their haven to pray.


















To ensure the safety of the caravans resting there, the government would punish any caravanserai town where thievery occurred by doubling their taxes for the year; a caravanserai town where no thievery took place gained an exemption for the year. A very clever carrot/stick example of governance, I think.

Seljuk Caravanserais








Last stop for the day was wine-tasting. Cappadocia has some fabulous wines, most sold under the Koçabag appellation. We had already drunk several varietals but tasted them, and a few others, anyway. Kalecik Karasi is my favourite.














A little light-headed and completely exhausted, we headed for home. And that's when I opened the Koçabag the hotel gave us upon arrival, and started this blog entry... We've come full circle.

#1 Reason people come to Cappadocia - Balloon Ride.

We've been up since 4am and drinking wine for the past 1/2 hour (it's now 6pm)... the sun is still shining, the swallows are chirping, the view is breathtaking - life in Turkey is good. (Yes it's Lisa, guest blogging. The wine was a give-away wasn't it?). While Geno decodes yesterday, which he skipped in favour of trying to get some sleep (epic fail BTW), I have taken on today. And what a good day it was.


























Notwithstanding another lousy's night's sleep, the day for us began at 4am. First call to prayer was around 4:30am, which was a surprise, since it didn't look like daybreak to me, but my eyes may not have been open. Scheduled pickup for the BALLOON RIDE was 4:50am. There was a little confusion about us because our room number changed and they had me down as "Muroney", but ultimately all was sorted and Geno and I and a busload of Germans headed off to Voyager Balloons.

































































































































































(view of our castle hill hotel top right area)











"They" say that the choice of balloon company - and pilot- is critical to one's safety and enjoyment of the ride. Well I think Mehmet at Argeus Travel knows what the heck he's doing. We had chosen the deluxe ride - longer ride, fewer people, smaller basket - and that was definitely worth the extra bucks. Typically the ride is 1 hour shared by 15-20 people; ours was 1 1/2 hrs and 8 people. Our pilot was Piotr, who is a Polish airplane engineer, retired, who found a second career/hobby as a balloon pilot. He's piloted balloons for 17 years and holds a very high qualification. He offered a few choice words about the skill & courtesy of some of the other pilots at other companies. Fascinating guy - he's flown balloons all over the world, including around a Japanese volcano. I think he said he's only been 3 or 6 months in Turkey




























Anyway you'll see the pictures. It was an amazing experience. "They" say it's not-to-be-missed in cappadocia and again, "they" are on the money. Geno had his doubts but he's a convert.









Ballon was down by 7:30, despite the "canadian couple" flunking the landing position practice test... apparently we pulled it off when the crunch came. We descended at a speed of 13x an elevator! But one would never know. On the ground and out of the basket, we shared sparkling wine and cherry juice, a cappadocian tradition, and were returned to the hotel by 8am. Breakfast, then a little lie-down for me until pick-up again at 10am.

Let me tell you a little about weekends in turkey. It's the time when Turkish families go to tourist sites...along with all the tourists. And children go crazy. My attempt at a nap was completely done in by screaming Turkish children visiting and playing on the nearby fortress and rock formations.

And now let me tell about why we didn't sleep last night. Krishna! these beds are hard!!!!!! (The "krishna's a little joke for Tahir, apologies to anyone offended.) And it's so hot at night without aircon - especially when they turn the radiator and the towel warmer on. That was a shock. We were both wondering why the heck we were so uncomfortable after dinner, when the outside air had cooled, when we discovered the towel warmer and front rad blasting hot air. Had to call maintenance to come turn 'em off. The rad had a knob we could have found, but the towel thingy was on a timer and needed to have the master switch switched. Unfortunately it was too late by then to manage to cool the room before sleep. So.... I slept on the couch near the open window. Geno boiled in the bed alone. Tonight we've asked for a fan.

I know you'll all say we're fussy but Argos Hotel has been a disappointment. It's spectacularly situated, wonderfully appointed, the guest services manager has been hospitable and accommodating, but overall service has been indifferent, and the food merely average. This place is way too expensive to be average in any respect, and its good reputation will suffer, I think, if they don't pick up their socks. I think they're resting on their Martha Stewart / Nicholas Cage laurels.

Enough bitching...on we go.

Pick-up was scheduled at 10am, and Tahir and "Happy" were early. No surprise there after yesterday's Goreme debacle. Only surprise is that they didn't sleep in the car park! First stop, Kaymakli Underground City. There are several underground cities in the area, but this one apparently presents the most diverse collection of "rooms". Four of seven floors have been excavated and are open to visitors, and it's remarkable. There are several theories about why the underground cities existed, but all are intelligent speculation - or 'common belief' as Tahir says - since no written record exists. I think the most prevalent is that the cities were carved into the tufe stone by early Christians to provide them a hiding place from Roman persecution. Animals and humans alike could abide in these cities for months, as functionally different areas were created (stables, kitchens, storehouses). As well, door-stones - which look like very large millstones - can be found, which one imagines were used to block the passage of enemies.




















Perhaps the most interesting thing we saw - and experienced - underground was the ventilation shaft. The chambers underground apparently maintain a constant 15-ish degree temperature and fresh air is continually circulated.
The latter is accomplished by means of a large ventilation shaft, running the "height" of the city. Interestingly, to conceal the city from enemies, the kitchen vent shafts were run in elbows back to the main shaft, so no smoke could be seen from outside.

Speculation is that communities lived in the cities for months, rather than years, at a time since enemies were unlikely to be able stage a seige in winter. Still, astounding to think of.

... There is more to today, and Lisa will continue shortly ...