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23 April
What an incredible start to today. And incredibly early. We arrived at Kaya Camping yesterday afternoon and set up our tents along a perimeter wall with views of the Rose Valley in the near-ish distance. Steph, Quinn and I were on cook and made leek and potato soup, followed by pasta with a salami and tomato sauce. It turned out really well but I thought the stock cubes were gluten free and they weren't. Even using five stock cubes between two dishes made to feed eleven people each plus seconds was still enough to send my stomach into spasms and give me a severe headache. I finished dinner and went to my tent, not even able to sit up with the other five to watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones.
Alarms could be heard going off around 04:30 this morning to be ready for a 04:50 pick up. We were going ballooning over the amazing cave dwellings that the area is famous for. And not only did people used to live in caves, they still did! This was one of the highlights of the trip and one activity to cross off the bucket list.
Not far from the campsite we joined several groups of people inside a waiting area where hot drinks and biscuits were served. Soon the sound of fans filling the envelopes (technical name for the balloon!) filled the still dark sky and people over toward the balcony to watch. We were using Kaya Ballooning which was the campsite's company because with so many companies to choose from, it made sense to use theirs - especially as Yasser, the campsite manager, was so hospitable and helpful.
We were gathered together and ushered across the car park to a blue and yellow striped balloon. With the basket split into five sections, the pilot was already in the middle section doing checks as we were split into groups of five. It was a tight squeeze! Practising the brace position and getting a safety brief, we waited somewhat impatiently for two final passengers, secured a Turkish flag to one side and disconnected the ground gas supply. The balloon carried four large gas canisters combining LPG and propane and standing right next to the pilot meant I could watch - and feel! - exactly what he was doing.
It is such a relaxing experience,
lifting gently into the air amongst 99 other balloons. The flags were in recognition of Turkey's national children's day and they flapped in the cool morning breeze. At the height of the season there's as many as 120 balloons in the air at one time.
Our pilot, a retired army helicopter pilot, lifted us to 500ft and then down again to glide close to the rocks, pointing out sights of interest. I took photos for half an hour and then made myself put my camera away so I could just enjoy the moment.
Our hour was up far too quickly and before we knew it and without warning, we had landed with a soft bump in a field. The ground crew arrived, visibly flustered by our landing position and had to find a way to get the vehicles up to us. Once in position with the ground crew holding ropes, our pilot expertly lifted the balloon once more and settled us down on the trailer, the ropes being tightened and secured before we climbed out somewhat ungracefully. He showed us which rope he pulled to release the air and the envelope started deflating. We were drinking non-alcoholic champagne
and receiving our certificates while the balloon was packed away so I wasn't really taking much notice of the name calling. When I heard 'Sarah' I went up for my certificate, not listening to the surname that was attached and walked back towards everyone, belatedly noticing the name. Now I had specifically written my name clearly earlier that morning but it turns out that Nat had had to reconfirm everyone's names and may have been less careful. My surname only had one letter wrong, with the L now becoming an N! You do the maths. I had wanted to keep it quiet so as not to offend the crew but it was too funny to not share and someone blurted it out. Oh how we laughed. The certificate now has pride of place on the truck whiteboard.
We went back to camp, had breakfast and I managed to get a quick shower in before the minibus arrived for our day trip. Seville our guide is half Turkish, half German and enviably speaks several languages. I hadn't been overly keen on a full day tour as my stomach still wasn't great and I kinda wanted to be lazy and sleep.
But everyone including myself quickly warmed to her. It didn't take her long to figure our group out and instead of us walking and listening to her speak, she gave us the freedom to decide to stand in the town square and watch the childrens' performances. We bought dried apricots, figs and nuts from a nearby vendor then stood silently as the national anthem was proudly sung. I left the square and found the rest of the group but soon wandered off again, running my hands over ornately carved wooden doors for sale and trying to pat the sheep that had free rein in the streets. We met up again in the square to watch the children, an adorably sad boy dressed as a sad sun catching most of our attention. You could tell he wanted to be anywhere but there.
There was so much to see. We visited rock formations that looked like someone had come along in a hot air balloon and dropped a perfectly round rock on top of a conical shaped one, creating a 'family' with father, mother and baby with the grandparents a little distance away. Very cool. From there we went to other
'rock parks' just begging to be climbed. It was like an adults' playground. We clambered up rocks and took photos in front of 'windows' while the guys clambered up to the second floor using the traditional hand and foot holds carved out of the rock. Talbot got a leg lift from Scott and Alex and managed to climb a considerable height, appearing at a window on the other side of the building. We all agreed we could've stayed there all day and played.
The region offers a pass for 45TL that i could've previously bought at the gorge but even having paid 10TL to enter there, it was still going to be worth purchasing. Seville made the excellent choice to stop at a less visited Zelve open air museum to pick them up, saving us having to queue with the hoards later on. Whilst there, we decided to take 30 minutes to have a look and three of us set off in a different direction to the rest, eventually ending up on the wrong side of a fence. Oops.
Lunch was at a panoramic point which was quite touristy but we had the huge place to ourselves. And
for 12TL, we had a buffet with chicken doner, vegetable dishes, two soups, salads AND desserts. Bargain. Then just as we finished up, the crowds arrived. We got out, took photos and went on our way.
My favourite stop was Kaymakli underground city, the largest in the region. There are eight floors but only four are open to the public and archaeologists think as many as 3500 people could've lived together. We ducked and weaved through stables, storage rooms, kitchens and past ventilation shafts, getting a glimpse of lower levels through grills in the floor. Everyone except Nicola managed to get through without bumping their heads or any major damage and I was disappointed when we reached the end of the tour.
In the evening with a little luck, I managed to meet up with friends from New York! Xerxes and Ashley were in town at the same time as us with his family so I took a taxi down from the campsite and found them sitting outside the Sultan restaurant finishing their main meal. It is surreal to see friends in locations that you don't expect, much like seeing my friend in Addis in 2012. We wandered,
stopped for hot chocolate and caught up but we were all tired from the day's activities and soon said our goodbyes. Awesome.
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24 April
The morning was crystal clear when I stepped out of my tent. I found Nat sitting on the low stone wall amongst the tents, watching balloons being filled and once Scott was out and about, the three of us took off out the campsite and around the back to get closer to the balloons.
We moved freely around the launch site; taking photos, greeting ground crew and watching the balloons ascend before scrambling up rocks for a better view. I think it was almost - almost - better than being in the balloon. Balloons of all colours dotted the air; high, low, near, far. Scott scrambled up rocks close enough to have a conversation with the passengers, to have touched the basket if he'd wanted to. Apart from the click of the camera or a burst of gas, the world around us was still and serene, not yet awake for the day. It is definitely a must-see.
Once the sun was up and the balloons had drifted away to their
landing sites, we returned to camp and prepared for the day. Scott and I took off for the Goreme Open Air museum where we ran into Talbot who was working his way around in the opposite direction. With frescoes dating back as far as the 11th and 12th century, the churches were well worth a look.
Across the road were old cave homes begging to be explored and after wandering in and out, we found an alcove with a view and watched as other people came along, most not seeing us even though we were in plain view.
After lunch in town, we found the Elif Star Cave hotel and booked a room for the following night. As soon as I'd realised it was possible to sleep in an authentic cave room, I knew I wanted to do so!
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25 April
Today is Anzac Day and all eleven of us decided to hike out to the rocks and watch the balloons again and have a minute's silence there. The day wasn't as clear as the previous two and there were no balloons like yesterday. But fans could still be heard and we hoped everyone
wouldn't be disappointed if it wasn't as spectacular as we'd said.
Thankfully it was. With different weather conditions, especially wind, the balloons were in different departure points to yesterday. It was another amazing morning, shared with everyone.
We got back to the campsite and Scott and I packed up our tents after breakfast. We took a few things for the night in the hotel (as in a laptop with the first season of Game of Thrones!) and headed outside the camping ground to wait for the bus into town.
A monastery until 1923, the hotel was a private residence until 1979 when it was once again renovated. After checking in, we were running a little late for the wine tour we were going on at 2 and had trouble finding a taxi so we asked a travel agent where we could get one. Unexpectedly, he grabbed his keys and phone and took us across the road to his own car. He drove us up, dropped us off and refused my offer of payment. Never have I met such hospitable and helpful people as I have in this country.
Between seven of us we'd organised a minibus
to take us to three wineries suggested by Seville and left as ominous clouds began rolling in. No travel agent offered wine tours so I was pleasantly surprised that the first winery was just like any other winery I'd visited, minus the vines. Turasan buy the grapes from local growers and then produce the wine. We sampled one red and one white, their average standard stuff which were both nice and gave us the incentive to spend the extra lira and try another three. Proper wine glasses appeared to cheers (as opposed to the shot glass size we'd started with) and we settle on one white, one blush and one red. Not a huge fan of white or blush (though both were nice), I bought a bottle of the red with the intent of saving it for my birthday completely forgetting I won't be getting it through Iran. Oops.
As two bus loads of Turkish tourists arrived, we left the room and went for the tour past their vats and storage rooms. Barrels of wine were stored in cave rooms that only differ by two degrees throughout the year, making it the perfect place.
With thunder, lightning and
heavy rain accompanying us, we drove to a nearby town to a much more low key kind of place. Hurrying to get out of the rain, we found ourselves in a room with crates of wine bottles and a labelling machine but not much else! One an who spoke a little English ushered us back into the minibus and took us a few hundred metres up the road to another place where the wine was stored. Interrupting men at lunch, they hurriedly brushed their mouths and hands and then stood there not sure what to do! Quinn asked if we could taste the wine, miming the actions and we were told the white wasn't the best so we should try the red! Rinsing two small glasses, they poured the wine straight from a giant steel vat in the corner of the room. Taking sips, we agreed it was nice and when they said a 1.5L glass bottle was 20TL, we all readily agreed that it was even nicer! Scott and I went halves in one as well as one for Suse and Nat and Alex and Quinn also got one. Thanking them and taking our leave, I didn't realise until
Fairy chimneys, Goreme
The amazing balancing rocks are known as a 'family' with dad on the left and mother and child together. Grandparents are situated slightly behind.back in minibus that Quinn intended for us to drink one en route to the next winery! It was passed around several times but I soon bowed out, not wanting to feel nauseous on the winding roads.
The third winery turned out to be a tasting room we'd seen when we first arrived in Goreme. I didn't try anything there but wandered around the room looking at artefacts and the view while Nicola bought a bottle. At this stage we all agreed we'd had enough and were ready for some overdue food...
Dropped in town, we headed for Fat Boys where everyone else eventually joined us. I got to try the clay pot stew I'd seen others eating (it's meat and vegetable cooked in a sealed clay pot which they then crack open on the plate in front of you) and we sat outside watching the world go by. From there Scott and I walked to the cave hotel and sat on the balcony in the dark still night until sleep called.
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26 April
Having slept late but still managing a rushed breakfast and shower, we asked the hotel manager to call us a
taxi. Once again, we were pleasantly surprised when he offered to drive us up to the campsite. With trouble in Egypt and Syria, business has been suffering with the lack of overland trucks so he was happy to hear that's how we were travelling and drove us right up to the truck to take a look. Everyone was pretty much ready, filling the last of the jerry cans with the clean water and we left Goreme just after 9am, everyone agreeing that it had been a pretty amazing place. I'd love to see it in the winter.
That evening we bush camped alongside dammed river. It took a couple of attempts to find a suitable spot due to the unbelievable wind but it made starting the fire a little easier after we'd collected rocks and built a bit of a buffer. Steph, Quinn and I were cooking and looked up to see a tent flying off towards the road with Nicola and Talbot in pursuit! Nic managed to get hit with a tent pole but was thankfully okay.
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27 April
Several phones and hours later, I was able to ring my brother for his birthday
and managed to get a few words in before passing through an incredibly scenic mountain pass where it cut out. We came up to a tunnel with a 4m clearance so Suse stopped to check the height and let down the air bags just in case. Most people sat facing out the windows seeing windswept trees on one side of the valley and upright trees on the other. We spotted waterfalls that would've been perfect for showering under and waved to locals working in their fields.
The Black Sea appeared in the hazy distance and became clearer as we got closer. We stopped in the seaside town of Giresun for an hour to get passport photos for the Iranian visa, us women needing to wear a scarf even for the visa photo. It took a bit of practice to get the scarf sitting just right but the photographer was helpful, seating us and then adjusting it for us.
Through Akçaabat, we headed towards the high rise apartment blocks of Trabzon. It was a large sprawling city and we were surprised to skirt around the town and head inland to a camping ground in the shadow of mountains with
yet another overly friendly 'guard' dog. I had thought we'd be closer to town but Camping Verizana was halfway between Trabzon and the monastery we wanted to visit built high into the cliff face. Besides, we were the only ones there and they offered us the use of their kitchen and basically free reign of the entire place. The live music with a man on keyboard and a female singer was a little less to our taste, the speakers being used to prop open the windows but the mood was welcoming and it was a good base to have for the next three nights.
After dinner at the outdoor tables with the overexcited Labrador teenager, we filled in paperwork for the Iranian visas we're applying for in the morning. It's starting to sink in what it'll mean to be covered for the entire time we're there with long sleeves, long bottoms, a head scarf covering our hair and neck and no fitted clothing. Even on the truck we'll have to be covered if we're in sight of others. It's definitely going to be interesting!
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