Captivated by Cappadocia

We left off last time in Cirali (pronounced Chiralee) at the Canada hotel where Carrie and her husband Saban were great to us. Our last evening was spent doing a 1 km steep climb up the backside of Chimaera to see their eternal flames (try googling that one). There is an area in some exposed rock that has natural gas (mostly methane) leaking from the ground creating these spontaneous and continuous flames (some of them around 4 ft in the air). We grabbed our flashlights and made the ½ hour trek (in 35 degree 100% humidity) and were truly enraptured by what we saw. We walked the whole distance only seeing 2 other groups coming down and then had the place relatively to ourselves for 20 minutes. Once the hords arrived (approximately 100 other people), the place soon lost its magical feeling and we decided to make our way down. There are around 10 different areas that are currently producing a flame and everyone made sure that they turned off their internal methane producing machines to avoid any extremely delicate and embarrassing accidents (this is easier said than done when traveling in foreign countries).

The next day, we were off to Antalya. We were a finely tuned group of tired bickering travelers as we sat in the massive bus station drenched in sweat (we are very sorry to hear that sweating is not a problem in Vancouver right now). Without going into a huge description, the bus network in Turkey is nothing short of amazing. Antalya is the 3rd largest city in Turkey and their bus station is unbelievably modern and is much more like an airport than a bus station. Given that we didn’t want to spend the next 8 hours there until our night bus (leaving at 9:30pm), we ventured out into the heat in search of a backgammon set (our new found game as it is played on every street corner and coffee shop in Turkey along with their version of Rummicube (a big Mattice/ Connor game)). Hopping on a local bus, saying Migris (the name of a large department store in Turkey) to the dolmus (local mini bus) driver, he nods and forty minutes later we know we have arrived when we see Coquitlam Centre, Park Royal and Metrotown all rolled into one, looming before us. We didn’t stay long (just enough to enjoy the air conditioning) as we realized this was not the Turkey we were looking for. Next stop, old town. After 30 minutes and showing the driver (very non English speaking) the name of the area we wanted to be dropped off, we were let out beside the big bazaar and old town. A sweaty walk around landed us in a McDonald’s (right beside the old walls and ancient streets) where we broke down and had a meal (the first we had seen in Turkey). We were then left to make our way back to the Otogar. If you ask our kids what the best part of Antalya was, they will say, “Riding the bus.” A quick description: imagine a crowded street filled with cars and big buses and smaller buses (15-20 people). These smaller buses fly along the street weaving towards the curb every block looking for people to pick up (there are often 4 or 5 of these buses behind each other or beside each other). The driver watches to see if you want his dolmus (the names of the places are written on the sides). Our kids stood up for the whole ride (30 minutes). When you get on, you quickly sit down and pass your money forwards. Passengers pass money back and forth as the driver makes change on the fly. It is a magical ballet of buses and people that had our kids smiling all the way back to the bus station. It was an amazing way to experience the whole city in a very frugal way.

The next section of our trip we had been dreading. We need to make 3 overnight bus trips of 10-12 hours each in the next 7days. Needless to say, the first bus trip went off incredibly well. The buses are clean, modern, full service buses like an airline. There is a movie playing and a gentleman serves you drinks and biscuits the whole way (some people wouldn’t think of this as first class service but the Connor’s in the middle of Turkey were suitably impressed). Arriving in Goreme in the centre of Cappadocia at 6am has its advantages and disadvantages: Disadvantages - one is extremely tired, achey and may somehow forget ones DVD’s in the side pocket of the bus. Advantages - you get to watch one of the more incredibly spectacular places in the world wake up in the beautiful glow of the morning light. There was a silence that was almost spiritual as you gazed over the landscape of fairy chimneys and watched the hot air balloons rise and fall throughout the valley. In typical Turkey fashion, we were picked up by someone from the hotel, brought to one of our rooms that was ready, and then made our way into town to get some breakfast. Now we say it is a hotel but you may want to google Kelebek pension to get the real flavour. We were staying in “cave” rooms that had been carved out of the fairy chimneys. The pictures don’t do justice to this incredibly unique geological area. There is such a surreal look to the whole place that most of our time was spent pinching each other. It was also our first taste of the real Turkish “lounge” where you sit on cushions and mats surrounded by Turkish carpets with low metal tables in front of you and relax as you play games or read your book. We soon realized that this was a life we could get used to (it will be definitely be hard to pick up the speed when we return to real life).

Goreme is the centre of the Cappadocia area and it has maintained the old Turkish ways while also catering to the travelers that long to share the magic of this place. We also noticed that the travelers in this area are of a somewhat different breed as this is a fair way off the beaten track so it doesn’t have the typical European “beach” crowd just looking for the sun (similar to the Mexico destinations in North America). We enjoyed this change of atmosphere and the whole pace that went with it. Highlights of our 3 days in the area included lounging on the roof top overlooking the valley, eating dinner in a traditional Turkish house with everyone scrambling for the nearest pillow, and visiting a valley of churches that had all been carved out of the rock with walls that had been painted with frescos depicting all aspects of Christ’s life. We found out that Cappadocia is mentioned specifically by name only twice in the bible, however it was among the earliest areas of Christian activity. Cappadocians were mentioned by name as one of the groups that heard the preaching at the day of Pentecost in their own language.

Our last day was meant to be a tour of the area but unfortunately, 1 ½ of the troops took ill (that is an understatement) so Marla spent most of the night in the bathroom and the next day in bed in the fetal position. Sydney (who was the other half) was quite a trooper and her only setback was puking in the underground city (easy to brush a bit of dirt over that though- you are surrounded by it) giving us a bit of our own room in an otherwise crowded area.

The tour was done through our pension. Our guide was incredible and really brought the history of the area alive. There were only 2 other couples on the tour so we got very special treatment and no question was left unanswered (and that is no easy feat with the Connor kids). The area is not only spectacular geographically but Turkey is the center of a big part of the history of the world. We learned that the underground cities were started by the Hittites around 1700 B.C.. The area was conquered many times over and the final inhabitants of the underground cities were the Christians of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. They have uncovered 38 of these cities and estimate there are between 150 and 200. The city that we visited was 8 stories deep and approximately 2 ½ sq kilometers. There were approximately 3,000 people living within its walls when in operation. They only used these cities when they were being attacked and it is estimated they could live for up to 6 months at a time. Tunnels connected their houses to different entrances. The whole engineering feat (ie. ventilation, cooking, sanitation, water, etc.) is truly phenomenal. This was a definite highlight for the kids.

Later on the tour, we were able to see an authentic pottery making facility and Matthew had a chance to try the foot spun wheel. The tour was great but it was a tired crew that returned to the room to see how Marla was doing. She had improved a bit but was still pretty wobbly as we had to make the decision on whether to catch the 11 hour bus that night. With nothing in her stomach and lots of gravol and lomitil, she figured she has nothing to lose (except her cookies and few pounds) so we hopped aboard and made our way to Pamukkale (this takes us back towards the western coast of Turkey). Needless to say, it was a long night and a tired crew that arrived in Pamukkale at 7am. We are heading into our final week and the unique sites continue to captivate us. That being said, we are growing a bit weary of the similar meals we eat each night and have that typical longing for our own beds (and space).

Kids Corner:

Sydney: "Mom, we should have brought the marshmallows! The fire never goes out!!!" "Dad, I really should have brought a bag on this tour!"

Courtney: "Just one more question, pleeeeeeeaaaaasssseeee."

Matthew: "I will auctioning off my wonderful piece of pottery for $5,000 Euros." It should be noted that Matthew's pottery wilted and died on the wheel.

NOTE: Unfortunately, Travelblog.org suffered a setback and most of people’s blogs were lost. We have copies of ours so will be rebuilding them over the next bit. If you get a notice for a blog that you have already read, that is simply us rewriting and posting what was lost. Thanks for the interest. Cheers.

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