Hey Back Home!
 |
| My bunk at the Nirvana Cave Hostel. |
Woah! Cappadocia
is incredibly beautiful, full of rocky nooks and crannies you can get lost
in... or sleep in as the case was with my hostel! The bus was not too bad, and
I actually met myself a companion in the Istanbul travel agency. David has been
around South-East Asia the past 5 months and only hit Europe 2 days ago, and
has basically been moving ever since. It's funny because neither of us had
really done our homework regarding Turkey's sights and history, though my
schooling has helped!
 |
| David ready to see some rocks! |
 |
| Cavusin Rock Dwellings. |
The breakfast was
scrumptious, with cold cuts, olives, honey, tea, cucumbers, tomatoes, and for
the less food-touchy, feta cheese and crusty bread. David didn't have a hostel
reservation yet, so he tagged along with me, and we gorged ourselves in
anticipation of a full day of sightseeing on a budget, i.e. no stopping for
lunch. We rented a scooter for a mere 55 TL, roughly $27 between the two of us,
and set off with a sketchy map and Turkish directions, which I have quickly
learned are never quite accurate and are not to be trusted! We did find our way
however to Cavusin, an area with a huge amount of cave dwellings to climb in
and out of, and of course we paid no attention to any of the signs... bad
tourists! We slipped and slid around the shale on the ground, and I had quite a
few near spills, but held it together except one spectacular fall which left a
bit of a booboo on my forearm. Ah well, battle wounds are bound to happen to
explorers! David was a superb driver of our little vespa, being a veteran of
the motorbike/scooter variety from his time in the East, and we made sure to
wear helmets too, though mine was a poor fit. Better some protection than none
at all right?
 |
We kept on driving
to an area called Pasabag, which essentially means "sultan hats." It
was easy to see why, as it's full of columns with little mushroom tops. I think
David was glad to stop pretending to be a mountain goat, as he has a minor fear
of heights... I was loving the throwback to my climbing months though,
scrambling around and pulling all kinds of fancy moves (shout out to Elijah,
who better be ready to start again when I return!) We hit a few other areas
around, deciding to skip the open air museum at Zelve as I'd heard from others
that it wasn't worth the money. I managed to ditch my camera down a slope
though in one spot, and though it bounced a few times, my little trooper is
still as good as ever, though the screen has a few more scratches. Ah well, it
almost makes it like the old days of developing - I have to wait until I get
the photos on a computer to really decide if I like them or not!
We went to the
town of Urgup, picking up some dried fruit and nuts at a little market and
settling into a rock church for a picnic. We left in search of the underground
cities nearby, whole complexes that housed thousands of people during the
Hittite's occupation of the region. Without a warning however, a storm had
crept up, and followed us out of the tourist town, letting fly huge hail
stones!!! I have never been so cold, so battered or so miserable from rain...
seriously, it was awful! Poor David had to keep his eyes on the road, but the
hail kept pinging off of us, and it was not easy going.  |
| perched up high! |
 |
| best rainbow I've seen! |
A brief let-up found us
in what seemed like the right spot, and we were approached by Ahmed, a member of
the archaeological team who offered to take us around for a small tip at the
end. We agreed, seeing as we had no light and only the first few rooms are
lit... very little choice in the matter actually! Turns out though, this was
not the caves of which we had heard, but a brand new section being hollowed
out! We saw no other tourists while we were there, and paid far less than we
would have had to at the more established sites. It was really neat to see
where they would have stabled horses, slept, cooked and defended their
homestead from. There were huge circular doors that could be rolled into place,
and tiny passages that served as a phone system of sorts to communicate with
other areas of the complex. We found ourselves climbing up 4 levels and down
another few, all through chimney-ladders, which was a new and fun experience.
According to Ahmed, over 10,000 would have lived where we were, and they have
not yet uncovered even 25 percent of the labyrinth! The tour also gave us a
chance to dry off and warm up a little, which was much needed.
 |
| David and I under a tree hung with "evil eyes" at Pidgeon Valley. |
As we drove back
towards Goreme, the small town where the Nirvana Cave Hostel is located, the
most complete and beautiful rainbow I have ever seen was out. It wasn't quite
enough to make up for the demon rain we'd gone through, but it certainly lifted
my mood! Back home, the showers were blessedly hot and powerful, and we changed
from our muddy gear into presentable dinner attire. The Goreme Restaurant
served great kebabs and tea, and was decorated with pillows and low-lying
tables, so we ate cross-legged. For David this was old hat, apparently it's
done all the time in certain areas of Asia, but I enjoyed the novelty, and the
building was so old that the gimmick didn't seem to kitschy. After a long day,
and with the best intentions of waking up and seeing all the balloons launch
the next morning, we hit the hay.
 |
| close up of the evil eyes... just trying to be artistic! |
Fail. My stupid
self had forgotten to change my phone back from Dubai time, an hour behind
Turkey, and so we stumbled out into the darkness, anticipating the reward of a
nice sunrise and a spectacular show of balloons carrying camera-happy tourists,
and instead found once we reached the look-out, that it was 5 am... and they
weren't due to launch for an hour and a half! It was freakin' cold too!
Profusely apologizing to a forgiving David, we got back on the scooter and got
back into our dorms. The alarm an hour later turned out to be too late, and we
never did get our sunrise or balloon shots... shame.
 |
| outside a little niche on the trek. |
We were determined
not to let it ruin our day, so we took the scooter to be filled with gas, and
then mapped out a 3 hour trek around Goreme. Again, Turkish directions being
what they are (in my experience), it took longer than that, and we missed a few
things we had wanted to see, but we did get some great scenery regardless! We
went through Rose Valley, Love Valley and White Valley, snapping evidence all
the way. We caught the tail-end of the sunset, before embarking on our first
ever hitchhiking experience. Yes, I know, not safe, but it was a tour bus that
picked us up 3 kilometers away from Goreme right before another rain storm hit,
and we were pretty grateful. Turns out that's done quite a lot in Turkey, and
many people take advantage of the free, easy and cheerful opportunity.
 |
| A good example of the kind of "directions" that one gets in Turkey... |
 |
| contemplating the formations... |
We had a 10 pm bus
booked to Pamukkale, which boasted WiFi on board. I was stoked, because I
wasn't crazy tired, though I'd done more exercise than I had in a while. I took
the time and connection and put them to good use, figuring out the whole next
part of my trip, and booking a flight from Budapest to Berlin in the process,
and getting a fantastic deal. I researched bus and train prices, and I think I
should be smack on budget by the time I hit Athens on the 18th! yahoo! I did
catch a few winks though, and caught up on some correspondance too. All in all,
a productive journey!
Night buses are
for sure the way to go... wish I hadn't left my sleep mask at home though! I
was less happy with them partway through the trip when my buttcheek fell right
alseep and then painfully reminded me that it existed… but they provide tea and
coffee, so that’s nice after all!
Love you
all,
- the Happy
Traveler.
No comments:
Post a Comment