Phallic rocks and cave houses in Goreme (Cappadocia)

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HE SAID...
We jumped into a minibus at 1pm for the three hour trip from Konya to Cappadocia. We lunched at Sultanhani Caravanserai (a medieval resting place for Silk Road travellers) at 2pm.

The landscape was now flat and arid. Mountains were still ever-present on the horizon, but they no longer dominated it. We were travelling on a plateau. We dropped into Pigeon Valley at 4.30pm for a fantastic view of this spectacular landscape before continuing our journey to Goreme. We arrived at our hotel (Elysee Pension) in a rainstorm at 5pm and stayed in the minibus until the rain passed. We jumped out, checked into our rooms and then headed out on an orientation walk of the village. After walking for about half an hour, we arrived at a house carved out of rock where we dined with a local family. We climbed an incredibly steep set of stairs to the main living area and sat on the floor. The rock walls were cool, so it was a welcome relief from the heat outside. We dined on ayran soup (warm yoghurt soup with rice and spices), fresh bread, stuffed eggplant with chicken, rice and salad, watermelon and cay (Turkish tea). It was sensational, and the ayran soup was a highlight.

We finished our meal and talked with our host before leaving at 9pm to wander the streets of this bohemian village. Goreme’s surreal landscape is augmented at night. Large pod-like rock formations jut out of the ground, and all sorts of dwellings have been carved into them. When lit at night, they resemble alien life forms. The alleyways that wind through suburban Goreme add to its otherworldly atmosphere. This is an amazing place to explore at night. We found our way back to the hotel, caught up on travel notes and crawled into bed at 10.30pm.

We woke at 6am and made our way to the hotel’s rooftop terrace to watch the plethora of hot air balloons – filled with tourists – drifting slowly across the Cappadocian landscape. The multitude of colours set against Goreme’s stark white background was an amazing sight. I remembered a comment made by our host the night before. She told us that Goreme was once supported by an agricultural-based economy, but it was now supported by a predominantly tourist-based economy. She felt this was a good thing, and she welcomed tourists to her village. Tourists, she said, made her very happy.

We stayed up on the terrace and had a great breakfast. I had muesli and yoghurt for the first time since we’d been in Turkey, followed by fresh bread, spiced eggs, rocket and cay. After breakfast we walked into the village, picked up a new pair of sunglasses (Ren had trodden on her old pair in one of the smaller hotel rooms), found an ATM that accepted our card and then jumped into a minibus and drove to Love Valley. We set off at 10.45am to explore this valley on foot. The tracks were basic and at times hard to find, but there were no major ascents or descents (we were on the valley floor). The day was heating up, so we stopped at a small isolated shelter within the valley for a freshly squeezed orange juice. We sat in the shade and cooled down before continuing the trek. The rock formations and local agriculture were incredible. We emerged from the valley at 12.30pm, and a minibus was waiting to take us back into Goreme. We arrived and headed straight to Nazar Borek Cafe for lunch, where we shared a patates & peynir gozleme (potatoes and village cheese gozleme) and quenched our thirst with a ayran (yoghurt drink) and iced tea.

We finished lunch at 1pm, walked back to the hotel for a quick shower and jumped into a minibus at 2pm to travel to Goreme’s open air museum. Our tour was short and the museum was crowded, but the monastery (carved into the cliff face) was incredible. We jumped into the minibus at 3.30pm and travelled to the Derinkuyu Underground City. The day was hot and the trip was long, so we both fell asleep on the journey. In contrast to the open air museum, the tour of the underground city was not rushed and not crowded. We were more than 50 metres underground, navigating very small tunnels and rooms – it was a fascinating place. It was also cool, which was a welcome relief from the searing afternoon sun.

We jumped into a minibus at 5pm for the journey back to Goreme. We arrived at 6pm, freshened up and walked to Fat Boys for pre-dinner drinks at 7.30pm. We then walked to the Old Cappadocia Cafe and Restaurant for dinner, and it was fantastic! A brilliant sez / oud player was performing just over from us. We started with meze and warm fresh bread, which was incredibly tasty. Our chicken and lamb testi kebaps (kebaps sealed and slow-cooked in clay pots) were then ceremoniously brought to the table on a flaming plate. We broke them apart with a hammer and feasted on the delicious meat inside. During the meal I was offered an oud for a good price (375 Turkish lire), but we decided to purchase one from Istanbul instead. After the meal we dropped into Fat Boys for post-dinner drinks before retiring to the hotel.

We woke at 5.30am to prepare our packs – we were travelling to Istanbul on an overnight bus which left at 7.15pm. We showered and headed to the rooftop terrace for breakfast at 7.30am. We walked into the village at 9am and hired quad bikes for a two-hour tour of the valleys surrounding Goreme. We sped through Kilcar, Red, Rose, Love, Iceri Dere, Babtcik and Zemi Valleys. The tracks were rough and dusty, and it was a great way to explore the area. We zoomed back into the village at 11.15am, dropped the quad bikes off, got dusted with an air hose and stood around a small table under a tree in the main street drinking local red wine and eating warm fresh bread and crumbly goats cheese. It was a great way to finish a great morning.

We walked back to the hotel, showered and then settled into a comfortable shaded area in the hotel courtyard and caught up on our trip notes. We walked to a local carpet shop (Tribal Collections) in the early afternoon for an information session on Turkish carpets. We grabbed a drink afterwards at Nazar Borek Cafe before heading back to the hotel to relax in the courtyard and make use of our last wifi connection before Istanbul. I picked up some takeaway gozleme (sucuk & peynir – spicy Turkish sausage and cheese) and a few cold drinks, and we snacked in the late afternoon as we caught up on our travel notes.

We left Goreme at 7.15pm. The sun was setting over the surreal landscape and the temperature was 29 degrees. It was a beautiful evening, and we had a long haul bus trip ahead of us – Istanbul was 12 hours away.



SHE SAID...
We travelled by private minibus for four hours from Konya to Goreme in the Cappadocia region. We stopped at a particularly well preserved caravanserai (caravan stop from the old silk road days) on the way, but we must have been tired because neither Andrew nor I were particularly eager to go in and have a look; instead, we chose to have a longer lunch at the nearby lunch stop.

As we approached our destination, we were all expectantly hanging out the windows trying to catch a glimpse of the surreal Cappadocian volcanic moonscape we had heard so much about. The valleys here have been whittled into unique formations by volcanic activity, wind and rain over millions of years; it’s characterised by clusters of natural stone pillars and cones known as fairy chimneys. Christians fleeing Roman persecution carved churches and entire villages into niches in this soft tufa stone.

We stopped at Pigeon Valley on the way into Goreme for a quick photo opportunity. The valley itself wasn’t that impressive from our vantage point, but the ‘evil eye tree’ set up by the souvenir stalls was very impressive! By the time we reached our hotel a massive rain storm had broken and we had to shelter in the minibus for a few minutes until it passed; this was only the second time it had rained in our three weeks in Turkey.

Our hotel – Elysee Pension – was a lovely converted old farm house on a quiet street away from all the tourist mayhem in town. We were quite disappointed with our room, as it was in a walkway under stone steps which made for noisy evenings; however, the fantastic terrace made up for any short comings. We loved the terrace for watching the early morning hot air balloons while having a very fresh and plentiful breakfast. The town was quite walkable and easy to get around; however, good walking shoes are highly advisable for the unsealed roads. There seemed to be many expats here, probably drawn to the predominantly outdoor activity lifestyle.

On our first night we had the opportunity to have dinner with a local woman called Fatima in her 200 year old stone house (which was regarded as a ‘new’ house compared to the other cave houses around). Until a renovation 10 years ago, the house had no running water inside. Fatima was a single parent with two sons, and she made a living through these dinners for Intrepid Travel and by selling her handmade jewellery. We arrived just on dusk and the view of Goreme’s rock town from her second storey lounge room windows was amazing. The late evening shadows brought out rich hues of brown and red in the stonework and architecture (which had been flattened by the direct harsher light earlier in the day). We sat on cushions on the stone floor in an arched stone room with massive wooden beams, which we reached via large uneven rough stone steps. With her 15 year old son Ahmed as helper, we sat down to a fabulous yogurt, mint, chilli and rice soup; followed by a stunning eggplant stuffed with chicken dish served with tomato flavoured rice and salad. We had a perfect dessert of very fresh and delicious watermelon, with a cay (Turkish tea) chaser. Then it got slightly uncomfortable. When Suleyman asked Fatima if she had any questions for us, her only query was whether we would like to see her handicrafts. Of course we said yes, and out came crocheted doileys, necklaces and earrings. Admittedly, she was very skilled and the work was very fine; however, it was not to everyone’s taste. So we were all very grateful when Robyn enthusiastically bought a necklace and broke the awkward silence.

As uncomfortable as it got at the end, we loved Fatima’s meal and hospitality very much, and for us it was one of those encounters we’ll never forget. I really enjoy meeting locals outside the tourist trail, meeting their families and seeing how they live. It’s such a rare opportunity and one that gives an amazing insight into the country, it’s people and the culture. After dinner, Andrew and I went for a late night stroll around town and I found that I was warming to Goreme more than I thought I would. The town was well lit in the main streets but dark and shadowy in the narrow winding old lanes, where families were sitting outside their front doors taking in the cool night air.

As to be expected, Goreme was touristy, but much less so than Istanbul or the coastal resorts. We weren't pestered by touts, and the hotels sit side by side with ordinary village life. You would have no hint that right off the main touristy drag, the side streets led to quiet pockets of suburban houses, or that right outside the hotel’s front gate there was a resident bunch of chickens who shared a dusty street with villagers driving their tractors up the hill. All taking absolutely no notice of us.

This was the place billed to have the best hot air balloon rides in Turkey, but we gave it a miss because Andrew wanted his first experience in a balloon to be in a country with safety standards he trusted more. We had decided to wake up early and watch the balloons over the valley, but we hadn’t counted on the 4am wakeup call when the others were picked up for the ride! So seeing as we were up anyway, we traipsed up to the terrace and settled in for a few hours of watching balloons and writing notes – until breakfast was served. We walked into town after breakfast, on a mission to find replacement sunglasses for me. Surprisingly, for a very bright and glary town, there was a very limited supply of sunglasses in the shops.

We raced back to the hotel at 10am to join the group for a half day hike. We were driven to the lip of Love Valley where our three hour hike began. It was shaping up to be a very hot day, so I was very grateful for the dry creek bed we followed for most of our walk, with shady poplar and white mulberry trees. Love Valley has what look like giant phallic symbols, or colossal cartoon-esque mushrooms, or castles (depending on your point of reference). We were quite ‘straight’ in our photography but I can see how people would be easily led to undertake a few lewd photography poses in this valley of giant penis-like rocks. The trail was very sandy, gravelly and slippery in parts and I was very glad for my sturdy hiking shoes (especially on the steep inclines when leaving or re-entering the creek bed). The scenery was jaw-droppingly striking, and it’s definitely on the list of the most amazing landscapes I’ve seen. My camera battery nearly didn’t make it over the duration of the day as I’d given it a massive workout on these weird otherworldly rock formations. However, judging from the sometimes not very clear path and the total lack of other tourists, I would assume that this is not one of the more popular walking valleys, and I don’t understand why – it was incredible! And I don’t just mean the phallic shaped rocks either. The white mulberry trees were loaded with ripe fruit, and when we had to stop and wait for wandering photographers to catch up, we would gather under one of the shady white mulberry trees and munch on the sweet fruit. The flavour was much more subtle than dark mulberries, but still very delicious. 😊

What amazed me most about this valley was that there were sections of it that were being farmed! There were ancient apricot trees seemingly growing wild, but also young newly planted fruit trees and grape vines. We passed two men filling sacks and sacks of young vines leaves that would be brined and stuffed with flavoured rice all year round. We had a rest stop near the end of the valley, where a farmer had set up a fresh orange juice stall – it was a very very welcome drink! We were picked up on the other side of the valley and driven back to town. We had lunch at Nazar Borek Cafe by the canal, and even though I was dubious about the cafe because it was full of tourists – the potato and cheese gozleme we had was extremely delicious! Even better than the ones made by the gozleme experts in Selcuk.

That afternoon we signed up to check out the Goreme Open Air Museum, a vast monastic complex of medieval cave churches cut into the soft tufa stone. Some churches showed plain red ochre Iconoclastic Christian geometric designs and crosses from the 8th and 9th century, while the newer churches had beautiful frescoes from the 11th century. We visited the Chapel of St Basil, Elmali Kilise (Apple Church), Yilanli Kilise (Snake Church), Chapel of St Barbara, the refectory and kitchen. Down the road was the Tokali Kilise (Buckle Church), which was the most impressive of them all with the stations of the cross clearly depicted on the sloping ceiling. Even with the massive crowds (that made moving around a bit hard), this was a good experience. I really loved the frescoed rock churches, especially when the peeling frescoes revealed the older layers of Christianity underneath it – all of it so unbelievably creative and beautiful. However, in hindsight we wouldn’t have gone with the Intrepid Travel hired local guide – she was lovely and very good in her explanations; however, they were her explanations and we would have preferred to make our own sense of the complex and not to have been rushed through it. We could have easily spent another hour or so exploring the area.

We then visited the eight-storey-deep underground city of Derinkuyu – an incredibly designed rabbit warren of a city built by the Hittites who were fleeing Roman persecution. Cappadocia has around 36 underground cities and Derinkuyu is supposed to be the deepest and most impressive. There were stables (the first floor underground), living quarters, wine cellars, a school room, a well, communication shafts between floors, a myriad of secret tunnels (some of which are thought to stretch for kilometres into other underground cities), one way stone doors to keep the enemies out and very advanced ventilation shafts that zigzagged so that enemies above ground couldn’t see into the city. We were there in the mid afternoon and had the place to ourselves, which was a nice change from the crowded Open Air Museum. As fascinating as it was, it’s definitely not for anyone with even the slightest of claustrophobic tendencies. The tunnels were small and dark, and the stone stairwells were smaller and darker. However, it was incredibly cool and breezy underground, which eased any sense of being closed up. We reached a circular tunnel on the 8th floor where the guide said that it was thought to be good luck to walk around it three times – so of course we had to do it. It was very tiny and very dark and even the guide’s torch was of little use in the oppressive darkness. I got so caught up in the thrill of the crouched walk and was concentrating so much on not hitting my head or elbows that I forgot to make a wish. Oh well, I still have my wish from the wishing well in Sirince. It was a two hour round trip from Goreme, and it must have been getting to the tiring end of the trip because everyone snoozed on the way.

That evening we met for a few drinks at Fat Boys, a local bar popular with expats – which is probably why for the first time in Turkey I paid Australian prices for a vodka and sour cherry juice (yes, I’ve substituted cranberry with a more locally appropriate juice). We then walked to dinner at Old Cappadocia Restaurant on the top end of the canal, which was well known for the local speciality testi kebap (pottery kebap). We all sat around a glammed up table in the courtyard, while a musician serenaded us with a sez and then an oud. We started with an amazing array of meze (yogurt and dill, chilli and tomato ezme, goats cheese and garlic butter) and fresh bread, which was a meal in itself. I ordered a raki as my drink of choice for the meal, and the waiter raised his eyebrows and warned me that it was very strong for small people. I told him I wasn’t that small. Raki is a local anise-flavoured grape brandy akin to ouzo. It is first poured into a small glass, then diluted with water to your taste, at which point the clear liqueur turns cloudy. It was indeed very strong and to save myself from sliding under the table, I had to surrender half of it to Andrew. The main meal was finally wheeled to our table with great fan fare. Testi kebap is a meal of meat and vegetables cooked for hours in a purpose made sealed clay pot in a wood burning oven. The flaming clay pot is then theatrically cracked open at the table with a small hammer, and the stew is served with rice and salad. Given the uniqueness of this dish, the waiters let us crack open our own clay pots. It was very cute until Andrew got too physical with the hammer and had to pick out bits of pottery from the stew. We shared the lamb and chicken testi kebaps. The meat was delicious and tender, and tasted very much like it had been cooked in a tangine. There were many ooos and ahhs around the table – this day was just getting better and better. For dessert I tried kunefe, a sweet shredded wheat pastry fried and drenched in sweet syrup but then weirdly layered with savoury cheese. It took a bit of getting used to, but I still managed to finish the large serve. 😊

This was our last dinner together as a group and also the judging night of a competition that Suleyman had been running – for the best cultural and best flag photos. Darryl won the best cultural photo for an amazing photograph of a man and his wife on a motorcycle that also carried a massive bag of plastic bottles picked from the Ephesus bins. Andrew won the best flag photo for an impressive shot of the Turkish flags on top of the ornate Istanbul University buildings.

After the eventful day, Andrew and I were looking forward to some quite downtime sitting in a cafe. However, it was suggested that we regroup for a few drinks at Fat Boys so that the photography competition winners could claim their prize of a glass of beer. We dragged ourselves back to the hotel and crashed after midnight. Probably not the best idea when we were catching an overnight bus the next night.

The next morning was our very exciting quad bike tour of the valleys with Hitchhiker Tours. This area is full of many valleys with different rock formations, cave houses and other village structures specific to each valley; and the quickest way to see them all is by following the rough paths around them on a quad bike. I was nervous navigating traffic and riding out of town – especially when I had to be very vigilant about looking to the ‘wrong side’ of the road for oncoming traffic! We had a lead guide on a quad bike and an accompanying guide on a motor bike who zoomed between the long line of eleven of us to make sure we were OK. This would have been a lot more reassuring if he hadn’t looked like he was 12 years old! But given he was very proficient on two wheels, I think we all relaxed and settled into the ride when we left town.

We rode past Love Valley and almost re-traced our walking path from the day before. It was interesting to see how different the rock formations looked from the rim of the valley. We rode past Gulludere (Rose Valley), stopping for a quick look at the ruins of an old convent, then passed through Kizilcukur (Red Valley). After that, I have to admit that I got so caught up in concentrating on the trail or taking in the gorgeous views that I lost track of all the other valleys we rode past. As enjoyable as this ride was, it was very hot, dusty and thirsty work. We rode back into town, had the dust air-pressure hosed off us, and then had a glass of Cappadocian wine with bread and cheese. This probably sounds more sophisticated that it was – think standing under a tree on the side of a dusty road, with wine in plastic cups, a bag of crumbled sheep’s cheese and whole loaves of fresh baguettes being torn apart by hungry hands. And an old blind cat nervously begging for morsels of cheese. I loved it – it was just perfect!

We then walked back to the hotel for a quick shower in shared day rooms before walking back down to town for a ‘carpet education’ class. Yes, you read that right. I think we’ve done well to get to this point of the trip and have not talked in length about Turkish carpets, the carpet sellers and the fact that there seem to be more carpet shops than people. This was a free class run by Ruth, a New Zealand expat who part owned Tribal Collections. I went into the class with trepidation, but surprisingly I found it interesting and engaging. I really did learn quite a bit about the history of carpets, ranging from the nomadic tribal knotting to machine-made palace carpets, and I now have a much better appreciation of this art form. We were tempted to buy a small piece for our bedroom, but the thought of carrying it back home drove all such inclinations away. However, others in the group bought multiple pieces, it was very interesting to be part of the buying process.

We settled into the comfortable downstairs courtyard of our hotel and caught up on notes and chatted to Robyn and Darryl while we waited to catch our 7.15pm bus to Istanbul. Andrew walked down to Nazar Borek and got some ‘packet’ (take away) turkish sausage and cheese gozleme and the most luscious baklava for dessert.

Before we leave Goreme, I have to talk about something that bothered me very much about Goreme (and other parts of rural Anatolia). There were many school age children openly working in restaurants and shops at all hours of the day. It was mostly boys, but I don’t think this meant the girls were at school. This bothered me quite a bit, but what bothered me even more was the attitude of some of the people we were travelling with who thought this was ok ‘because they were clearly helping their parents’. When I mentioned the young boy who worked for the quad biking company, a conversation started about how old the boy ‘looked’, and didn’t I think he looked over 16?; my point had clearly been missed. What I don’t get is why such people travel with a company like Intrepid Travel, a company that raises this very issue as a big part of its responsible traveller ethos.

Anyway, back to the trip... our days here had been amazing and action filled. From the fantastic food at the local home on our first night, to hiking and biking around this lunar-like region, to exploring cave churches and an underground city, to the outrageously delicious and wonderful testi kebap meal. Individually and in combination, all of it made for a very unique travel experience.

On the evening of the third day, we travelled for 11 hours by public overnight bus from Goreme to Istanbul via Ankara (the capital). We had planned on catching an overnight train, but the train line between Ankara and Istanbul was being upgraded for a new train network.

Next stop - Istanbul baby!

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