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Published: August 11th 2011
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Peri Cave Hotel
Yes, we did indeed stay in a cave, and here it is. So the story paused with us being ushered into a travel agency by Not-a-Guide.
We had thought that Istanbul was a big enough place for us to explore for the two weeks we would be in Turkey, and that during that time I might drop my resume off at an ESL site or two. But the persuasive travel agent had much bigger plans for us. Upon finding how many days there were till our flight to London, he drew up an ambitious itinerary which included our major interest--Ephesus--and many other attractions as well. He decided that with our limited time we should fly hither and yon, first inland to Cappadocia and then to Kusadasi on the Mediterranean coast. No time for 10 hour overnight bus rides. (Thank goodness for that!)
We had the presence of mind to insist on thinking time, but after we sat through another coffee trying to be rational when faced by an Olympian Turkish salesman, we eventually shrugged and said, "Why not? We don't know if we'll ever get back to Turkey..."
Our first stop: Goreme, in Central Anatolia, in the famous surreal landscape of Cappadocia, where part of a Star Wars film was
Peri Cave Hotel room--Happy cave dwelling scene
I can just hear them now: "My sister always was a bit odd, but now she's living in a cave in Turkey!" shot. And yes, indeed, we were booked into a cave hotel! The Peri Cave Hotel, to be exact. It was a mistake because we thought we were going to the Shoestring Hostel, but we followed our printed itinerary instructions and arrived where we really weren't supposed to be, we were booked in by mistake, the young man in charge thinking we were a Brazilian couple who were expected (actually, I've never been mistaken for a Brazilian before--but lots of them seem to be touring Turkey) and when the Brazilians arrived, who did indeed have a booking for a balloon ride the next morning, which we had energetically denied, they were also accommodated--I hope as well as we were.
On our first day in Cappadocia, we went on the “Green Tour”, a guided bus tour which made a loop to the south of the central city of Goreme.
Cappadocia is famous for its “fairy chimneys”, towers left from the erosion of hardened volcanic ash. We were told they’re called fairy chimneys because they don’t look like a structure humans could make. They’re soft enough to carve, though, and many people have lived inside them.
The first stop was
Even space for a guest!
I loved the wall tapestry and other decorations in the room. at Pidgeon Valley, to have a look at the unusual local landscape and the valley which was home to thousands of pigeons. Pigeons have been very important to the people of Cappadocia. They were used as messengers, their scat was good fertilizer, especially for grapes, and the pigeons and presumably their eggs were also eaten at times.
In the early centuries AD, Christians were persecuted and many of them hid out in the valleys of Cappadocia where they could live secretly in caves and practice and teach their new religion. After quite a long drive we stopped at the Selime Monastery, which was a center for Christian worship and instruction—all hidden within caves which had been hollowed and carved in the most amazing ways.
We had no idea what to expect as we scrambled up the crumbly, steep slope of one of the weird-looking pinnacles. Once inside we were shown the kitchen area for the ancient seminary, window look-outs, and various other room-like spaces and led on until –oh!—we were standing in a full size church, entirely carved within a cave, with a two-storey nave and additional side seating sections. Arches, frescoes, pillars, the works! Yet from the
Living room at our Peri Cave Hotel room
We had our own private lounge with wi-fi. A real blend of old and new. outside it just looked like a geologic oddity.
Next our bus stopped for a delicious lunch by a river and then we drove onward to the Ihlara Valley. We hiked down, down, down (I’m sure I wasn’t the only one thinking that what goes down must come up again) till we got to the spot that legend says the ill-fated impecunious suitor drowned trying to cross the river to unite with his true love Lara. White painted rocks in the now-shallow river spelled out her name.
We walked along the river for about 3 kilometres, admiring the wildflowers and squinting up at the steep cliffs with caves where people had lived in the past, till we came to a delightful rest stop and could buy Turkish tea or drink our own water and dangle our feet in the stream if we wished. A bit further along we came to a parking lot and there was our bus—thank goodness!!! The valley was restful and green and a nice taste of nature for us after spending several days in Istanbul.
The final stop of the tour was at the Underground City of Derinkuyu, one of many underground cities in
Courtyard at Peri Cave Hotel
We had our breakfasts here and also did some emailing amongst the flowers and grapevines. Cappedocia, but this isbelieved to be the biggest. It goes down 11 levels, but several of the levels haven't yet been excavated. It has air shafts all the way to the surface to supply the people hiding in there with ventilation. A large round stone could be rolled across the entrance tunnel to seal off the refuge from invaders. We were told that people lived down there for months at a time, but Phil found this hard to believe. Nonetheless, the guide showed us various spaces to which he attributed specific purposes, like a school room and a baptismal fount.
That night we were advised to have dinner across the road from our hotel, at a campground which had a little outdoor restaurant. We were the only guests and got to chatting with the owner, who told us how he’d lived in France and loved the idea of camping and was trying to make a beautiful campground for Goreme. He waxed on about how much he loved the French language and we began exchanging a few simple phrases in French till suddenly he said he had to go—a car had stopped nearby. He said he was a Dervish and
was due to whirl at a restaurant up the road!
Turkey has been amazing at every turn. Or should I say whirl?
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joy saunders
non-member comment
Isn't Turkey wonderful? I am glad you decided to do the extended tour