Cappadocia and the Syria/Turkey Border

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Well, goodbye Syria and hello Turkey! Not quite that smooth of course, border crossings in the Middle East never are. Turkey has started enforcing a law that says foreign registered vehicles older than 30 years old are not allowed into the country. Our Frosty (our overland truck - appropriate name for the desert I know) is over thirty and so that made life interesting. A coach and drivers had been arranged for us to swap into at the border, but the day before crossing we learned that the driver didn't have a Syrian visa. Hmmm.

So at the border we had to unload the truck of all the camping and cooking gear as well as ourselves and our packs, transfer into taxis to cross the border, unload and reload the coach on the Turkish side. A bit of a major exercise, but as always Aussies and Kiwis take things as they come and made a fun event of it!

And as it turns out, Kiwis get free entry into Turkey, so I saved US$25 and a lot of running back and forth at the Turkish border, and had half an hours entertainment watching the Aussies trooping from window to window getting their passports sorted.

Once over the border we had a picnic brunch while waiting for our coach, bemusing the locals and entertaining those crossing the border. Mad tourists - no wonder westerners get funny reputations in Eastern countries.

And then off to Cappadocia, small Christian outpost in this predominantly Muslim country. And I'm now officially out of the Middle East, and into Asia Minor. What a change in scenery! From desert and sand to trees, rocks and there are even clouds in the sky!

Way back in 6th-7th century BC, a settlement of Christians hid out here in Goreme, and created a community in caves carved out of the soft rock. Lots of chapels, a monastery and nunnery and general living quarters. Some of the paintings still survive, and it's now UNESCO protected and made into an open air museum.

Goreme is famous for the fantastic rock shapes that have been created by millenia of erosion of the soft rock in the area, some call the creations 'fairy chimneys', though there were a number of comments about the phallic shapes, but I guess that isn't so appealing as a tourist attraction! Either way, it's a stunning landscape and totally different from anything else I've seeen. Unfortunately this was the stage where my camera got broken, so my photos are very few!

Cappdocia is also by way of a middle ground in Turkey between various opposing groups, and tended to be stuck between warring groups, so the locals created underground cities to live in and hide from their enemies. We had a good look through one such place - what a rabbit warren! Seven stories of passages and rooms. They created confusing passages, lots of holes and small rooms to frustrate anyone that tried to come in and catch them. I wouldn't want to be down there without someone who knew the way out! And it was cold underground...

Also in Goreme, we visted a captivating carpet shop. Mmmm, Turkish carpet... We had a full demonstration of many different types, a history and info about how they were made, as well as the obligatory apple tea and kebabs for lunch. Well, I couldn't let such an opportunity be passed up, so after much viewing, umming and ahhing, and the barefoot walk test, I narrowed my fav's down to two. And then got so stuck that I had to take both. Not sure where Dave and I will put them, but they are beautiful! And the lovely carpet men arranged postage home, and let me put some of my purchases in with them to send. Yeah!

And the food is great, again! That's a definite theme right through this part of the world, welcoming people, great food and stunning scenery. Bring on the rest!

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