Cappadocia (meaning 'land of the beautiful horses) is the name given to an area frequented regularly by tourists due to it's collection of amazing 'fairy houses' and caves that are dotted all over the landscape.
We were relieved to arrive after a grueling twelve hour ride having been prevented from sleeping due to the regular stopping of the coach.
It was a spectacular entrance to Goreme as the bus wound down the hill, and as it was the morning, we watched the hot air balloons rising above the horizon with the sunrise in the background.
Having dropped our stuff at the Star Cave Hostel we then departed on our first tour. Over the following few hours we were shown various different sites in the area including the Uchisar Fortress, the Pasabaglari (Monk) Valley, the Derrent (Imagination) Valley and the Carusia Village to observe the unusual caves and fairy chimneys and hear about their history. We visited the Goreme Open Air Museum where we viewed churches that date back to the 7th century. The part I found most interesting was the fact that on the murals that lined the interior walls of the churches, all of the eyes of the Christian figures had been scratched out due to the hostility between the two religions.
The last few hours of the day were spent observing local men and women making pottery at the Aranos Handicraft Centre and tasting a few local wines produced in the region.
For dinner we sought out a warm spot to escape the freezing cold wind that had worsened as the evening wore on and the sun had long disappeared. Amazingly, we stumbled upon a place that was serving sausage rolls, meat pies and most shockingly, VEGEMITE on toast! This is in a village of about 200 permanent residents in the middle of Turkey! Curious as to how they sourced the Vegemite, we questioned the waiter who explained he has a friend that goes to Australia annually and brings him back five jars each time. I can only imagine it the restaurant would be a welcoming shock by many other Australian tourists passing through the village.
Pigeon Valley was the first stop on the tour the next day. We drove to a lookout with a panoramic view of the valley where we saw the creative little houses built into the caves for the pigeons. Unlike everywhere else in the world where pigeons are despised, they are held in high esteem by the locals of Cappadoccia. They were often used as messengers, their droppings make for a perfect fertiliser and they can also be eaten if food is scarce and the people desperate.
We then had a very beautiful walk along the bottom of the Ilhara Valley where we followed the winding river and observed the cliffs that stood on either side of the path. After 8km we arrived at a local restaurant serving some delicious vegetables and amazing Turkish bread (of which I could only imagine Tom's jealousy) for lunch.
After a quick visit to an old monastery in the afternoon we were then back on an overnight bus to Pamukkale.
Pamukkale defines the World Heritage site that contains the spectacular water travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals.
The very picturesque travertines are on the side of a mountain on the edge of the town. From a distance they can be mistaken for a snowy mountain due to their stark white colour. Overflowing with warm water these pools were once used for bathing, however sadly many have dried up and now there is a big effort to protect those that remain.
After wandering bare foot through the water to the top of the pools, we had a look through the ruins of the city that was once situated behind the travertines. Nina then spotted a little turtle which seemed rather out of place and that I endeavoured to save, only to have it wee on me.
We then went back to the hostel and had a delicious lunch made up of all different foods we had taken from the buffet breakfast. As the tour cost more than we had budgeted for Turkey, we made up for it by living on a mandarin and bread diet for the five days we were away.
That afternoon we had a beautiful drive through the country where we were able to observe the people going about their farming without the disturbance of tourists. We arrived that evening in Selcuk, the town closest to Ephesus where we would spend the following day exploring.
Ephesus is a 2300-year-old ancient city that was once Roman and was apparently visited by both Mary and St John. We had a little tour through the city and saw the very much intact remains of ancient buildings such as the library and ampitheatre which has since been used to host concerts of U2, Pavarotti and many other famous musicians.
After a few hours in the city we were then taken to a restaurant for a huge buffet lunch filled with different Turkish delicacies. As we had been living off next to nothing over the past few days, we definitely made the most of the fact that it was a buffet and second and third rounds were welcome!
We had a hilarious half hour after lunch where we were unexpectedly taken to a leather warehouse and forced to watch it's very own runway show. The whole group was taken to the gift shop, however after no one showed any signs of wanting to purchase anything, we were soon rushed out again.
We had a quick visit to the supposed 'House of Mary' where she apparently lived for part of her life and then got back in the bus and drove to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven (and one of two in Turkey) Ancient Wonders of the World.
Despite it being labelled a Temple, these days it is a rather sad site as it appears more like a rectangular piece of grass with a few big pieces of stone on it. There is one column that stands on the grass, however it is not an original and was reconstructed to be almost the height of those that once comprised those of the Temple. Almost all parts of the temple were stolen and taken to Istanbul to build the Aya Sofya and to the British Museum where they remain to this day.
The last stop for the day was at a local Turkish carpet factory. It was the most fascinating stop of the whole day as we were able to watch two women use incredible skill to weave the wool and silk into carpets. They continue to use ancient techniques that take them about 4 months to produce just one carpet.
The silk is extracted from the silkworms and the dead worms are then sold to major factories and used in the production of facial moisturisers.
We had a few hours to kill in Selcuk before we were to get on a bus back to Istanbul and so we visited a local fruit stall and stocked up on delicious fresh produce. This put an end to our five day tour and we were off to Istanbul to enjoy another three days in the city.
We were relieved to arrive after a grueling twelve hour ride having been prevented from sleeping due to the regular stopping of the coach.
It was a spectacular entrance to Goreme as the bus wound down the hill, and as it was the morning, we watched the hot air balloons rising above the horizon with the sunrise in the background.
Having dropped our stuff at the Star Cave Hostel we then departed on our first tour. Over the following few hours we were shown various different sites in the area including the Uchisar Fortress, the Pasabaglari (Monk) Valley, the Derrent (Imagination) Valley and the Carusia Village to observe the unusual caves and fairy chimneys and hear about their history. We visited the Goreme Open Air Museum where we viewed churches that date back to the 7th century. The part I found most interesting was the fact that on the murals that lined the interior walls of the churches, all of the eyes of the Christian figures had been scratched out due to the hostility between the two religions.
The last few hours of the day were spent observing local men and women making pottery at the Aranos Handicraft Centre and tasting a few local wines produced in the region.
For dinner we sought out a warm spot to escape the freezing cold wind that had worsened as the evening wore on and the sun had long disappeared. Amazingly, we stumbled upon a place that was serving sausage rolls, meat pies and most shockingly, VEGEMITE on toast! This is in a village of about 200 permanent residents in the middle of Turkey! Curious as to how they sourced the Vegemite, we questioned the waiter who explained he has a friend that goes to Australia annually and brings him back five jars each time. I can only imagine it the restaurant would be a welcoming shock by many other Australian tourists passing through the village.
Pigeon Valley was the first stop on the tour the next day. We drove to a lookout with a panoramic view of the valley where we saw the creative little houses built into the caves for the pigeons. Unlike everywhere else in the world where pigeons are despised, they are held in high esteem by the locals of Cappadoccia. They were often used as messengers, their droppings make for a perfect fertiliser and they can also be eaten if food is scarce and the people desperate.
We then had a very beautiful walk along the bottom of the Ilhara Valley where we followed the winding river and observed the cliffs that stood on either side of the path. After 8km we arrived at a local restaurant serving some delicious vegetables and amazing Turkish bread (of which I could only imagine Tom's jealousy) for lunch.
After a quick visit to an old monastery in the afternoon we were then back on an overnight bus to Pamukkale.
Pamukkale defines the World Heritage site that contains the spectacular water travertines, terraces of carbonate minerals.
The very picturesque travertines are on the side of a mountain on the edge of the town. From a distance they can be mistaken for a snowy mountain due to their stark white colour. Overflowing with warm water these pools were once used for bathing, however sadly many have dried up and now there is a big effort to protect those that remain.
After wandering bare foot through the water to the top of the pools, we had a look through the ruins of the city that was once situated behind the travertines. Nina then spotted a little turtle which seemed rather out of place and that I endeavoured to save, only to have it wee on me.
We then went back to the hostel and had a delicious lunch made up of all different foods we had taken from the buffet breakfast. As the tour cost more than we had budgeted for Turkey, we made up for it by living on a mandarin and bread diet for the five days we were away.
That afternoon we had a beautiful drive through the country where we were able to observe the people going about their farming without the disturbance of tourists. We arrived that evening in Selcuk, the town closest to Ephesus where we would spend the following day exploring.
Ephesus is a 2300-year-old ancient city that was once Roman and was apparently visited by both Mary and St John. We had a little tour through the city and saw the very much intact remains of ancient buildings such as the library and ampitheatre which has since been used to host concerts of U2, Pavarotti and many other famous musicians.
After a few hours in the city we were then taken to a restaurant for a huge buffet lunch filled with different Turkish delicacies. As we had been living off next to nothing over the past few days, we definitely made the most of the fact that it was a buffet and second and third rounds were welcome!
We had a hilarious half hour after lunch where we were unexpectedly taken to a leather warehouse and forced to watch it's very own runway show. The whole group was taken to the gift shop, however after no one showed any signs of wanting to purchase anything, we were soon rushed out again.
We had a quick visit to the supposed 'House of Mary' where she apparently lived for part of her life and then got back in the bus and drove to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven (and one of two in Turkey) Ancient Wonders of the World.
Despite it being labelled a Temple, these days it is a rather sad site as it appears more like a rectangular piece of grass with a few big pieces of stone on it. There is one column that stands on the grass, however it is not an original and was reconstructed to be almost the height of those that once comprised those of the Temple. Almost all parts of the temple were stolen and taken to Istanbul to build the Aya Sofya and to the British Museum where they remain to this day.
The last stop for the day was at a local Turkish carpet factory. It was the most fascinating stop of the whole day as we were able to watch two women use incredible skill to weave the wool and silk into carpets. They continue to use ancient techniques that take them about 4 months to produce just one carpet.
The silk is extracted from the silkworms and the dead worms are then sold to major factories and used in the production of facial moisturisers.
We had a few hours to kill in Selcuk before we were to get on a bus back to Istanbul and so we visited a local fruit stall and stocked up on delicious fresh produce. This put an end to our five day tour and we were off to Istanbul to enjoy another three days in the city.
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