Blogs from Göreme, Cappadocia, Central Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East - page 9

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain Cappadocia is a place that Ammi and I had been dreaming about since we started planning this trip. The Cappadocia region is largely composed of sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams, and deposits erupted from ancient volcanoes approximately 9 to 3 million years ago. The rocks of Cappadocia near Göreme eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars and minaret-like forms called fairy chimneys. The volcanic deposits are soft rocks that the people of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out to form houses, churches, monasteries. (Thanks ... read more

Day 5, Cappadoccia: We take an organized tour of the underground city, valley, and cliff dwellings. Robin buys her first (and only) real souvenir on the way out of Goreme, a black tablecloth. The underground city is a real challenge for those scared of confined spaces (no names mentioned). You realize how tough life was in those days, and how fearful defenseless people can be. But it is a memorable experience. There are some nice young Korean guys in our group, one of which has a really banged up arm, the other with a nasty limp. They had rented a scooter and dumped it on loose gravel. They were quite pleased with the socialized medicine in Turkey, which patched them up no-charge. We agreed the hospital is one place in Turkey where you are safe from ... read more

Day 17 Our day started with a 4:11 am call to prayer. All of our hotels are located near mosques, sometimes we can hear the call, sometimes not. This morning, it was loud and clear. It didn’t really matter too much though, as we had our alarm set for 4:15 am to get ready for a 4:40 departure to our sunrise hot air balloon ride. We arrived way too early at the launch site and just stood around watching all the balloons get filled. The process took at least an hour, but it was really cool watching all the other balloons inflate and lift off. Our group included 2 other American women from Seattle and a group of 10 women and one youth from Italy. It was a loud bunch, even at 5 in the morning. ... read more

DAY 54 This is the most unusual place in the world. The valley is filled with dome like towers that command the landscape. We take an early morning walk through Love Valley. You will see in the pictures the reason for the name. However the locals have a more descriptive name for this valley. There are abandoned cave homes throughout the area. The valley is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most people have been relocated to more modern homes. But there are still about 3 families that still live and farm in this valley and in their cave homes although they have strict guidelines to follow due to it being a heritage site. On the way back into town, we stopped at the local market for fruit and Francine bought some special tea that had ... read more

After our few days acclimatisation in Istanbul which we loved we set out on our first big drive of about 485km to our first “bush camp”. Our tour leaders consist of Lucy (late 20s), Steve (late 20s) who share the driving and Kristina (our truck which is also in her late 20s) Steve and Lucy are great fun and our travelling companions are all really nice too, all in 40’s/50s. There are only 8 of us on this leg of the journey as there have been a few visa problems so some have had to cancel. We had hoped to set up camp by a lake but unfortunately the dirt track leading to it was closed! Therefore our bush camp was found and to the dismay of the ladies turned out to be a “bushless” ... read more