Capadoccia, Part 2

It’s a good thing our trip is coming to an end because I’m running out of superlatives and didn’t bring my Thesaurus.

We went on another tour yesterday. Tours seem to be the best way to see the area. A van holding up to 15 picks us up at our hotel, drives us from spot to spot, waits for us. The price of 30 euros per person includes all entrance fees, a guided tour, and lunch. On our van yesterday there were 7 of us: 2 French Canadians, 2 young girls from CA, and 1 Japanese young woman. We started off at a winery—there are many vineyards in the area and wine making is a big deal. According to our guide, wine making began in this region 6,000 years ago. We tasted a glass of red and a glass of white—both very dry, which is what I prefer. No one bought wine, and there was no pressure to do so.

On our next stop we visited the deepest of the underground dwellings—it goes down 8 layers, but tourists are only allowed to go down 4. These dwelling were probably first built by the Hittites, but then the earliest Christians used them to hide from invaders. The ventilation system was such that they were able to dissipate the smoke from fires so it wouldn’t be seen. It’s not an easy task to visit the caves because you’re either bending in half to navigate the low tunnels or you’re climbing up or down steep areas.

Lunch was in a new, very large, stone building with arches and separate eating areas around a common central area where a musician was playing. We had lentil soup, followed by white beans in a liquid—very soup like, too, then a dish baked in a clay pot with chicken, meat, and vegetables. The very surprising thing about the Turkish cooking we’ve had is that it is all very bland.

After lunch, we visited a pottery making site, owned and run by the same family for generations. We watched a young man “throw” a pot and lid on a rather primitive wheel. It was fascinating to watch the artists design and paint the pots. Some pots were in ochre, tan, orange, red, and black with Hittite designs. Others had Byzantine, Moorish, or Ottoman designs. Again there was no pressure to buy. The garden outside the building was beautiful with a zillion zinnias. (Please appreciate the alliteration!)

We next visited 3 sites with fascinating tufa formations. One site had tufas that looked like various animals: camels, lizard, fish. The best site had a monastery with a fresco inside built in one of the tufas. In order to reach it, it was necessary to climb a steep ladder—easy going up, but not so easy going down. Chicken Dan didn’t climb up but stayed down to take a very unflattering picture of my butt as I came down.

The end of the day was the best—another absolutely fantastic hike!

When we go on Elderhostel trips, they have pictographs to indicate the level of difficulty of the activities. On the ship, the brochures would have 1-3 little pictures of a man walking to indicate how strenuous a tour was going to be. In Turkey, you take your chances!! The host at our hotel said it would be a 30 minute walk—well 2 hours later, we reached our van, but it was so worth it!! We were in the Rose Valley, which had been impassable for 5 previous days because of rain. We were able to navigate the path(?) but it was still slippery. I put a question mark after path, because for a lot of the trail there wasn’t one. At the beginning of the trail, we scrambled down, a steep, narrow, rocky gravely path. We straddled rivulets of running water, maneuvered over rocks. At the bottom was a picturesque valley with orchards of grape vines, apricot, walnut, and cherry trees. Our guide climbed up the trees to pick fresh fruit for us.

About 2/3 of the way in, was a “pit stop”. A large rectangular area with one side against a large rock wall and 3 sides open. Poles held up a covering for shelter. Around the rectangle were seats on the ground with cushions and pillows. A man served tea and soft drinks. The 8 of us—an interesting group of 3 Christians, 1 Muslim, 1 Hindu, 1 Buddist, and 2 Jews-- sat around talking—particularly about the Kurds and Armenians. Again, Dan and I were the oldest in the group by about 30 years.

This AM, we got up at 4:45 and went up in a hot air balloon. I’ve been hot air ballooning twice before and love it! We glided over agricultural valleys,

through the tufa, and saw breathtaking panoramas of the area. The weather hadbeen poor for about a week, but today was absolutely perfect!!!

Dan and I are currently outside, on a raised platform with cushions and pillows overlooking the outside eating area. Dan is currently snoring…

Stay tuned for my last blog.