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Turkey May 2005 - Cappadocia
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Slept very well on the train, and woke early to a glorious sunrise as we went through farmland and misty valleys. We arrived in Ankara and had the usual breakfast of bread, tomato, cucumber, cheese and honey - the bread is really good here. We then visited the Ataturk Mausoleum - fantastic building and museum, with some interesting insights into his life and it's influence on the Turkish people and nation. We then got back on the bus to head for Lake Tuz (a salt lake that provides most of Turkey's salt requirements) and had lunch at a roadside restaurant on the way. Drive to Cappadocia
We then went to the hotel - the Sofa hotel in the little town of Avanos. The hotel combines three really old houses, and the rooms were beautifully decorated. To get to my room was quite an adventure - you went down into the basement of the first house, then up a lot of stairs to the top floor of the next house. There were beautiful terraces throughout the hotel, with great views over Cappadocia. Sofa Hotel
That day we went for a walk down a hill overlooking the main valley in Cappadocia - really stunning scenery. The so-called fairy castles were really amazing - they reminded me of a pile of salt or sugar in form, but were much larger than I'd expected. We encountered a lovely old couple in a cart drawn by their donkey - we all took Photos of them, and they wrote their address down, so I have posted some of the Photos so they have their own copies. Hopefully they get there.
Cappadocia
That night we went to a Turkish night, with traditional food and dancing - the men in particular were amazing, the dancing required huge amounts of strength and dexterity. There was also a belly dancer, who danced non-stop for over half an hour, then grabbed men out of the audience to have a go as well - incredibly fit woman. Excellent evening all round. The following day was a free day, so Barbara and I, who were ready early, caught a bus to Goreme open air museum. We walked from the bus stop up the hill to the museum - don't believe the guide books when they say two kilometres, it's at least three, and uphill most of the way!! We hit a few massive bus tours, which was interesting, but some of the churches carved into the rock were very impressive, particularly the Dark Chapel. Woman in a field on the way to Goreme
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Sunrise
We went to Kaymakli underground city after Lake Tuz, an amazing and claustrophobic city carved out of the strange volcanic extrusions. We had an excellent guide, who apologised everytime he had to mention toilets, and said "Mind your head" a lot- he needed to, some of the ceilings and paths were very low and narrow! After this we went to a pretty good pottery demonstration and shop, where a lot of people bought various plates, bowls etc. Sofa Hotel
The following morning I had a fascinating shower - the shower head in my bathroom shot water out at 90 degrees, so if you held it directly above your head you stayed completely dry, but the bathroom got drenched. After a bit of experimentation, I figured out that holding it sideways in front of me achieved the best results, although the bathroom still got drenched! After this excitement, I went down to breakfast - really good food, they made a pastry dish with a kind of filo pastry, cheese and herbs - really tasty. Cappadocia
We went to a few other lookouts, then to Zelve open air museum. Parts of this were severely damaged by earthquakes, and are now sealed off from visitors for safety, but still much of it is open, and pretty impressive. We then went to Urgud to see a carpet demonstration - it was fascinating for me to see carpets like the ones we'd had growing up and find that they all had stories behind their designs. Some of us then went for a Turkish Bath - like a massive marble sauna. I didn't go for the body scrub and massage at this one, as we were running late and I had a slight touch of ecszema. Dark Chapel
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