We are so grateful to have Marty and Don, from our church family connecting us with reliable God loving people in Uganda to help us get around. Tourism is not a major industry here, so guesthouses/hotels are few and far between,  Taxis are VERY expensive, and unreliable (not to mention as Kevin notes deathtraps). Even for us, who now feel we can travel at the non-luxury level, it is a stretch.  We are thankful for the alternative of a hired driver in David Muisi. David is actually the cousin of the Bishop Grivas, a faithful servant, founder of Prayer Palace, and responsible for bringing Don and Marty and eventually us, the Newmarket Yorkview family to Nakyessa.  I love how God weaves us together like a giant global basket!

Driving up and back is not as bad as I recall from my last trip here in 2007. While there are still parts of the road on the 2.5hr journey that in Canada would be considered “not a proper road”, and even impassable at times, but for the most part we find it pretty good. Again, I believe our standards of “pretty good drive” has lowered substantially based on the experience of earlier journeys this year.  We are still dodging trucks that could at any moment easily tip, so stacked with bananas, people, what have you, simultaneously avoiding masses of pedestrians, cyclists and swerving motorcycles and  passing cows and potholes. Oh, the potholes. The type you could fill up with water, and swim in.  All the while David, a very good driver by Ugandan standards, navigates and near misses at the speed of  80-100km! At one point we are forced to divert due to a washed out road section through an alternate “road”/ billy goat trail. The faces of the village people seeing  vehicle pass where they are few and far between,  was priceless!   How the wheels stay on the car God only knows.

But what wonderful days we had visiting Nakyessa. It is the truly for me, the closest place to heaven on earth.  The long 2.5+hour each way was worth every scary minute on the road! We we went 4 days to the village and school, painting and are happy to report that we  had enough paint for  5 of 9 primary classrooms, of which two of these classrooms are being used as dormitories.  Supplies, paint and transport of such are remarkably expensive in the this landlocked little country. We thinned the paint, and used every last drop. It was school holiday time, so only a few boarding students were at the school (but many local village kids), all of whom expressed delight in the newly painted rooms.          

Kevin Preps The Class As Little Eyes Watch

I am thrilled to see the changes at the school since I left 2 years ago .  Many new buildings, such as the senior lab, junior kitchen, tailoring room, the many goats, and the AMAZING primary library!  Don and Marty McLaughlin have done an amazing job and coordinating the energies of all those Canadians (especially Yorkview-ites!) who have fallen in love with Nakyessa.  It is beautiful to see the extended use of the “donated” tools, resources being used by students and teachers to help each other.  More importantly, the gifts from afar have enabled a poor community, and brought a glimmer of hope where they believed none previously existed.

 I was disappointed to hear that our visit coincided with school holidays meaning most of the children would be gone. However, I was SO thrilled to find, that amongst the tiny fraction of students there over the holiday was my very best friend of Nakyessa, …Okelo, Abraham!!!! I couldn’t believe it, …and we had a jumping up and down reunion! Okelo is 20, and the oldest boy in the school. He would say he has had the privilege of attending school for the last 7 years. He treats all the students at Nakyessa like a doting big brother, and is obviously highly regarded and really loved by them.  When I found him, he was sitting outside the kitchen, where he was making pots of posho (cornstarch and water), and tiny bait fish of some type, for the borders lunch. (Anyway, it looked horrible, as does all the food I have ever seen come out of that kitchen to be honest.) The quality of cuisine however is lost on him, as he is just very happy to have the food to cook. Half in jest, I asked one of the boarders if Okelo was a good cook?, to which he replied that “he IS a good cook, but not this food. This food is just for filling,…not for good eating.”

 As we peered into the classrooms we were to paint, my boy’s hearts sank. I had told them of the state of the school, but they were still feeling unprepared for what they saw. The condition of concrete floors, full of breaks and craters, make it impossible to walk or even sit in, and most of the furniture completely busted just from wear and tear, rendering it really useless. Even in the “best” classrooms, there would be only proper seating for two thirds of the students.  We could only look forward to doing our small part to clean it up.

 Preparation of the rooms took almost as long as the painting itself. There was much of the red dirt you find everywhere stuck to the walls, lots of rat poop, on the desk and floor, and nests of creatures ie, terrible looking stinging wasp type insects, big spiders, etc.  Kevin and Aaron killed a small very poisonous Mamba snake in one classroom, and in another we had to remove a dead rat and scoop out small amounts of goat droppings before we could paint. I was especially disturbed that this was in the building that houses the boys dormitory.  Apparently, they had a rat problem and had had laid out poison, so I guess this was the result.  The condition of the walls, with bigger holes than could be managed by our small boxes of poly-fill, made for more paint to be required than one might expect. All in all, a couple coats of paint gave the classrooms a much needed lift, and really brightened them up. And we got a “twenty thumbs up” by our gathering audience of village kids, and a few student borders, all peering in to the classrooms.

 Amongst the gathering crowd came a young man whom I met briefly in 2007, known as Robert, the “head boy” of the senior school.  Robert just walked in and basically grabbed a paintbrush wanting to help, in a very meek mannered way was persistent about helping us. We graciously accepted. What a joy to be painting with someone who is literally grinning from ear to ear the entire time.  I was only concerned he would get paint on what I am fairly certain were his only clothes (outside of his school uniform) and made him wrap my sarong around his clothes.  

 By the end of the day, Robert had shown us great care in his painting, and responsibility for the brushes, and ensuring the paint was locked up in the evening etc… and we crowned him “captain of the painting team!” At this point we knew there was enough paint to do only one of the remaining 3 classes, which we were returning to do on a following day.   Feeling a bit deflated by this, we told Robert that after we leave Uganda we would still raise the funds to complete painting of the primary area in the near future, and arrange for the paint to be purchased.  We told him we were confident that he, the Captain. could pull a team together of senior boys to get the job done. “Oh, Yes Mum.. Please.  Can do…That would be would be wunda-fool!” he responds.

 In the meantime, I asked if during the following day, he and Okelo could prep the classroom to be painted by brooming the walls, and taking down pictures, (maybe removing the rat!), etc… With the regular perma-smile, he said he would try but had a service to attend tomorrow, but really wanted to help us when we return. Knowing the Ugandans always want to please us, (saying yes to anything,) I reassure him not to worry, and that we can do it when we return in two days, and yes he could help us again.

 On our following “day off” we hung around Kampala and I decided to buy some treats to take back to “our boys” back in Nakyessa. Afterall it is “holiday”, and everyone should get some kind of break. The day prior I watched the borders eat the posho (cornstarch pudding), prompting me to pick them up some food from the market. We purchased sweet potatoes, tomatoes, avocados, mangos, salt, “ground nut stew”, (basically a big bag of very mushy peanut butter)  and the house favourite….green bananas. Green bananas are the staple starch of Uganda for those who can afford it. They boil them for an hour or more, and mash them up like pasty mashed potatoes and eat them with basically everything. But for the boys at the school it had been a long while since they had them.  We bought an entire BRANCH of bananas (well over a hundred anyway.)  We were really happy to be able to bring them up to Nakyessa.

 So the next day comes, and we arrive at the school. Walking across the field to the classroom due to be painted I am looking, …walking…looking… and can see that the classroom is already painted(?). The paint fairies were here! We had suggested that if they the Sr Boys have time, they might sweep and tidy enough just to prep the room, and they had taken it upon themselves to complete the whole job! My eyes filled with tears! I was so touched, and proud of them for taking the initiative to do this. Moments later Robert came around the corner on his bike just beaming, so proud of the work he had done. Okelo was soon to follow, and was equally thrilled with the job they had done, and rightly so…it was terrific!

Proud Okelo and Robert

 We then went to the dorm to carry the food over, and thanked them for the job well done. They were giddy with seeing the food and immediately started to plan their feast for the evening. They carefully packed the goods into plastic bags to hang from the ceiling of the dorm so rats couldn’t get at it (gulp!).   We could see that the plastic bins which some of the boys had to keep their belongings in, is no match for the rats who have eaten the corners off . A couple of the boys had metal “toolbox” type containers that work well. Hmmm, note to self: perhaps collect toolboxes? (Ya, right after new floors and furniture? Ah, I already have drawn up designs for furniture that the Sr. Boys can build on site!!! A little furniture team!))

All in all our last and glorious day at Nakyessa! Because they had taken care of the brushes, cleaning of the buckets etc. we had nothing left to paint. So we spent the day, listening to music, praising the Lord together in song, and just playing with the kids. It was absolutely perfect, and we all were sad to see the day end, and say our “goodbye-for-now’s.  

An Expanded Team Spiers!

We will all return home better people for having visited the children in Nakyessa. They have taught us so much. We hope we are blessed once again to return someday.

We wish you could see the wonderful work in this small community that God is doing, and how they make th most of all the contributions from abroad, and the merriment in the faces of the children as they react to something as small as a freshly painted classroom. Thank you those who supported this little project,  for partnering and enabling the kids of Nakyessa. As promised to Okelo and Robert, I would pass on to people in Canada…. “God Bless”, and “we love you so much”

On another note, did you hear about our jiggers? Fleas that crawl into your skin and lay eggs?!….MMM nice huh. Yup we got them from painting the school in Uganda. We were getting paint on our shoes and so we decided to paint in flip flops… I totally forgot about the closed shoe rule!… So a couple days after we get to Kenya, a few of my toes are so sore and look like blisters and infected… and then I notice similar spots on the boys and sure enough, Kev. So thankfully we were at the home of the Poenaru’s  (post to follow!) and could treat them properly, just soaking and disinfecting etc… We are completely healed since so no worries.

Friendly Faces of Uganda

“Olio tia!” As we approach the landing strip the picture of the lush green valleys covered in mist with the sun half risen was just spectacular. I immediately notice, that the airport was different. Much more fancy than I remembered it!?

Waiting for us was Jackson, a sweet young man who welcomed us with the most fantastic smile, and loaded us into the waiting van. Jackson tells us that the airport terminal is new, so that is why it is much nicer than I recall. When I tell him I was here 2 years ago, neither of us is certain if we met back then, as I was part of a large team from Yorkview Church. Regardless, Jackson had fun listing all the people he knows from “The Dons High Adventure” team, all of whom everyone here misses. We even broke out into JaJa Kens favourite song… Things Already Betta’….and I was a homesick for Yorkview.

I was really impressed by the kids and Kevin. They barely flinched at the sights on the drive in. They waived to kids in the back of pickup trucks, and kindly waived off peddlars selling leather belts, and wash sponges to cars at the stop light, and barely noticed, motorbikes carrying 300kg of bananas or live chickens. So it seems the previous adventures have prepared us well for Uganda. In fact, it seems nothing is shocking, just different.

I think I was beaming the entire ride to the guesthouse, reminiscing as soon as I smelled “it”, that being Uganda.  Those exclusive scents, …the wood burning for all the fires being used for cooking  on the streets, and the smell of the people. You can burn wood anywhere but it doesn’t smell the same as it does in Uganda, and nor do the people smell like anywhere else. Many countries people have various scents based mainly on what their diets consist of, (and how often they shower, I suppose) but none of those are as distinct, as those that come with the beautiful people of Uganda. (Maybe I should say Africa, but I have only knowledge of Uganda.). I enjoy it, as attached to that scent, is the memory of a endless line of the most loving people I have ever met, on my last short visit here in 2007. My anxieties of returning with my family quickly dissolve.

Jackson takes us into town to pick up supplies of cases of water, and hundreds of candy for the ready, when we get to Nakyessa next week. We are disappointed that school is out on vacation, but know that there will be many village kids still up there, and there is good work for /us to do painting the primary classrooms.

Pulling up to Adonai 2, the guesthouse, we are greeted and reacquainted by our lovely housekeepers Jane and Susan. We exchange warm hugs, and do intro to the rest of the family. It turns out due to some financial struggles, Jane has let her apartment go, and is staying with her youngest son Josh at Adonai.  An hour later, Brendan, Aaron and new buddy Josh, are playing soccer, dodge ball and every other game they can think of on the front garden, followed by some early evening scrabble.  

Aaron is looking very relaxed here, Kevin keeps saying he can’t believe how lovely it is in the garden, and Brendan well, let’s just say he adjusts quickly. Getting into bed, Brendan says he thinks today was his favourite day of the trip so far (!?) ….feels like home,…people are so welcoming….they have peanut butter,… they got to play soccer and just read books, etc…. Smart kid!  Proof that it is truly the simple things in life the bring joy.

While in Kampala, we do lots of walking around the town centre near the guesthouse. It is quite sad in some places. At one point Joshua is with us walking around and we see a line up of people at the backdoor of the hotel, where we are headed to buy and ice cream. He tells us that the people in line are there to pick up old bones and “good scraps” from the hotel. Suddenly, the ice cream doesn’t taste so sweet.

The contrast between what we are used to in North America and that of Africa is SO polar opposite. Even for those who are being educated, and have some stable quality of life, the differences are glaring. The following day, we are eating lunch at the guesthouse and had bought some dill pickles to snack on. When we invited Joshua to have some, he did but didn’t know what they were. So Brendan says, you know “pickles” like you get on hamburger at MacDonalds. To which he replies.”Mac Donalds??” …you know you’re far from home when you are no longer in the land that knows MacDonalds. (Even in India we had it!) Oh, he also had soup with us for the first time. He called it “sauce”, and probably wondered what it should be poured over.

We had a stopover in London (yes, our flight from Istanbul to Uganda went via London, !?!)  We only had 7 hours and had to spend time changing some plane tickets.  Not a lot of time to see the sights, but none the less we were leaving the airport, as it gave us just enough time to finally meet a cyber friend Simon Bowman, who’s family provided much inspiration for our trip. 

 A couple years ago, when Kevin and I decided our crazy dream could become a reality we began to do some research and found a few families who had actually done this before us. (So see!… we aren’t alone in our madness!) In fact one of those families, the Bowmans from the U.K. (www.thebowmanstravels.co.uk) were just embarking when we came to “meet up” through one of the online travel forums. So for months thereafter, we would gather round the computer reading with glee of their life on the road, all the while planning our own journey.

 It was really great to meet Simon in a lovely little pub during our stopover, and share some travel stories over a pint,  We were sorry to have missed the rest of the Bowman tribe, but of course they are living in real time again so it wasn’t possible. But we are forever indebted to them and the many other families who shared there stories with us, providing much encouragement for us to venture out.

Teamspiers meets one of our travel heroes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Soon after our goodbyes with Simon, we were back to the plane for an 8 hour flight to Entebbe Uganda.

Bye bye Turkey…On we go to AFRICA… first stop UGANDA!

Turkish public transport is THE BEST!!!!

We take ride from Bergama to Istanbul on the Fanciest, spotless train. Full of people yet dead quiet. Polar opposite of what we have become accustomed to in India and S Asia,

Seems Cell phones are not used, or kept on on public transport. You can hear a pin drop! And they have waiters who serve tea and cookies. Even on the buses we took there were waiters, serving free juice and tea.  At one point on an earlier journey  we stop on the bus in the middle of the night, and the bus terminl resembles that of a top notch airport. Every bus is being washed (mid journey) while passengers dine (or take a shower!!!) for 45 minutes. After praying for a pit to pee in on previous journeys, we walk around looking like cavemen that have been introduced to the 21^st century. 

 We are gonna miss all the comforts of Turkey, as tomorrow we head to Africa!

After 9 hours of another really picturesque bus ride we are in Bergama. Well, it seems our restaurateur in Fethiye was right. Not many tourists in Bergama.  It feels like we have turned back the clock about 30 years and discovered “old Turkey” rather uneffected by tourist. Millions of tourists pass come on day trips passing through but rarely stay more than a few hours to visit the infamous Acropolis site. So the town is really not set up for tourism, and very few people, almost none, speak English. This is the most difficult place we have encountered to communicate and despite being a queen of charades and can still use (with sound effects,) it isn’t always simple to converse.  For example, when ordering our favourite doner (meat wrap), we are asking if the “meat” is “MOOOOO, beef?….or Baa-Aa-Aa, lamb? “ to which our response is a nod and a smiling “yes”. (Still don’t know which, but one of those we hope!)

But we love the town. Tractors, interwined with cars, and horse drawn carts, move down old interlock roads with crumbling houses on either side. Tens of men gather on every street corner in tattered sports coats, sitting drinking tea, and having smokes. Just grand!

So our guesthouse is different too. We arrive to a centuries old Ottoman house, and our host almost looks surprised to see us. But we confirm, he was expecting us but our room is not ready. No problem we say. He says he needs to move around a bed, and it is not possible for him by himself, so of course we offer help. So up we go and end up moving 2 single beds from a room on the main floor to the second and moving a double downstairs, etc, etc.. we basically renovated. The owner, a young guy who is the chief, host, cook and bottlewasher is very sweet albeit a tad unorganized. It was funny, and is comfortable enough in the old rustic pension, where we truly feel like we are just visiting someone’s home. We can see Acropolis from our bedroom window.

The next day we make our way up to these ancient ruins which are as spectacular as one would expect. Amongst everything, there is this most amazing mosaic that has been preserved. Every day is afield trip for us, and as Aaron says, he is “ruined” at this point. You can’t blame him. In just a month we have been to Petra, Olympos. Ephesus…and now Acropolis, just to name the big ones. They are quite amazing but I am afraid we are spoiled at the moment. I am embarrassed to say that I am entranced by the wildflowers including magnificent blood red wild poppies. We also stop to look at a tailless lizard a huge tortoise, and a snake along the way! In fact, I enjoy the walk down from Acropolis to our pension, through the old narrow streets more than the ruins. Here there are kids skipping and playing ball, Grandmas sitting peeling potatoes or knitting in between running after waddling toddlers. Everyone has a smile, and a wave. Again we are looked at like we have just landed from Mars.

At the end of the day we are lounging around our hotel until we are ready to go out for dinner. As we arrive at the restaurant we had eyed earlier, we are told they are closed. Looking around we notice everything is either shut or in the process of closing down. It is Friday night at 8pm, and as mentioned the sleepy little town isn’t tourist savvy. Luckily we eye a Pide (pronounced “pita”) shop, which is still open. This is the turkish fastfood of choice and is much like a very long thin pizza bake with meat and cheese.    Good enough to fill the hole. We need to get home and pack anyway as tomorrow is travel to Istanbul day!  3 more sleeps until Uganda!

Oh dear.  It is REALLY REALLY gorgeous here too!

I have never seen water like this in my life. So incredibly blue.  Even more stunning than the beaches of Thailand, Australia or Malaysia….is that possible? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with Kevin that it reminds us of Vancouver with the snow capped mountains peaking out across the ocean bay, with many luxurious sailboats and yachts floating by. Except the water of the Pacific cannot compare, nor are there high rise condos in view here.

We walk down the road for about 15 minutes and come to an area where are hundreds of huge sailboats (60 to 200ft) being repaired, and new boats being built. They are just jammed up on the shore and are being dragged out of the water and pulled right across the road where small team of men are working, sanding cutting, pasting away. Just a wonderous sight.  Looking around you can ‘t help but question where the money for these boats is coming from?! Economic crisis?,,, apparently not in Turkey.  There are the cutest little catering trucks here too, with the little Muslim lady and her husband cooking up a storm on a charcoal hibachi. The smell was incredible, and I walked by looking in, and the gentleman waved me over to come. He doesn’t speak any English but tells me “Kokorec” shows me the roll of meat looks like a very fatty pancetta, and he is slicing it and griling it and offers me a taste test. Smells awesome! And I give it a try.  Eh-hem, not my favourite.  The next day I am talking about it with Aaron who tells me he saw that guy and he told him it was sheep intestines! I look it up in the book and the description of the rolled dish indeed he is correct… (bah, I am glad I didn’t order the full meal!)

We have renamed the city “Papa Mike Dreamtown”, as Kev’s Dad loves the seaside life, having a place in Miami, and built his own boat back in the day. “Dad, just bring your palm sander, and have a ball!”.  My Dad would absolutely love it too! In fact, this area is the “new Spain” for the U.K. folk, as you can see all the middle age to retiree Brits, sitting in cafes and taking boat cruises. 

We went to the “Tuesday market” yesterday. It must cover a few square kilometres and sell everything from belts, veggies, T-shirts, shoes, etc… and of course our favourite item, goat cheese, wrapped in the hairy goat skin! Mmmmm! It actually is delicious though. We are pretty marketed out and they are all starting to look the same now. 

Should also mention, that while wandering around town yesterday Aaron decided to get his haircut. Kevin and I continued browsing and met up with him later to discover he had shaved his head! Apparently there was a bit lost in translation during the process, so Aaron just “went with it”.  Just wanted to note this, as we don’t want the Grandmas’ to worry that he has joined the army or anything when they see the pictures.

We also took a 45 minute bus to Oludeniz beach yesterday, as we heard it was one of the most photographed beaches in the world.  The water was really cold, but it was lovely and we enjoyed relaxing an watching many paragliders  landing every few minutes, just metres away. 

Upon our return to our hotel, we were shocked to find out that in fact while at the beach we didn’t make the 5 minute walk around the corner of the beach to the actual cove was that is the “awe” of the place, and the reason it was recommended to us for visiting. Ah well, we enjoyed ourselves none the less. 

Something cool, is that there is a fish market here that we can buy fish and bring it to your pick of adjoining restaurants for cooking, and you pay an extra $3 per person for the cooking, a salad, and bread. We met one young lady who was filling in as chef for her Dad at their little restaurant, (really more of a booth, resembling one in the St. Lawrence Market) and said she made the best calamari in town. We took her up on her offer to cook for us and she came shopping with us to buy the prawns, calamari and a small sea bass. MMM, MMmmmm! Out of this spot came THE most delicious meal we have had on the trip. We actually go back 2 days later for the calamari again, and laugh when there are 6 people there eating whom we had previously recommended to try it. Wow, the power of word of mouth! Of course the young lady is grateful for promoting her. We have a lovely chat with her and have a lovely chat and asks “where you go next?”. We tell her Bergama, and a quizzical look comes over her face, saying “why?…not typical for tourists, mostly Turkish people”. Ah, not to worry we assure her. We are travelers not tourists, and we are certainly not typical.

Who knew?!!… We were so focused on ensuring we had all our plans in place for our esteemed and beloved friends (Beth, Jesse and Mike) that we hadn’t even thought much about our Turkey plans thereafter. So a quick look in the guide book and we thought we would head south to the Mediterranean, specifically  Olympos.

So off we went on a 10 hour overnight bus ride from Goreme. What a fantastic surprise. We prebooked at one of the many “tree house”, sorta’ backpacker type places. The price was right (about $80 Cdn per day included breakfast and dinner), so didn’t really expect much. Again, what a lovely surprise. We are probably about 500M walk from the Olympos ruins, and the mediterranean beach! 

The room is awesome, basic and clean, the bungalows are in the middle of a lemon and orange orchard in full bloom. You walk down the path to your room, and the smell of the blossoms is almost overwhelming, and the entire place is buzzing with bees! (Really comforting I am sure to poor Kev, with his bee allergies!)  The common areas are full of young back packers, lounging on platforms of pillows, smoking hookahs, bonfires in the evening, and the energy is wonderful, just like the hostels in Aussie-NZealand.  And it is maybe ¼ full so we are able to spread out, lounge at our leisure. Hmmm, our” good luck” just never ends………

During the afternoon we make our way down the path to view the ruins of Olympos, and then continue just a few more metres to the beach. The water is just as you would expect of any Mediterranean beach… GORGEOUS, blue, and crystal clear. The only drawback is that the water is freezing, even for us Canucks!  But we all brave it even if just for a minute. (Sorry, Beth! My beach bunny friend… I hate to say it but it is SO hot on the beach we have to go in to cool off!) 

Blissful! Tomorrow we leave for another place where we have heard, gulp,…, that the beaches are fantastic. Who knew!? Not me, I swear. (Sorry Beth, Mike and Jesse).

To be in Turkey is awesome. To be in Turkey with my family and my friend Beth…Priceless.

We spent our final day touring the underground cities of Cappadocia, walking another beautiful valley which ended sitting on comfy cushions beside the stream enjoying a lovely lunch in the sun. Glorious!

Our friends were due to leave us in Cappadocia and spend their last night in Istanbul and hopefully see some more of the big city.

With a heavy heart we say goodbye to Beth, Mike and Jesse and we are feeling all refreshed and loved. “If distance were measured in terms of the heart we’d never be more than a minute apart.” We had a wonderful time in their company and just hope we didn’t bore them to tears with our stories of “round the world”, but for the moment it feels like all we know. (Hang on to your hats those of you at home. You too will be subjected!)

We have decided to head south tomorrow, as it has only rained and near snowed here in Goreme since Beth left! Kinda suits my mood.

Sing with me people…”Flintstones,… MEET the Flintstones!..”  We have flown to the Cappadocia region, and are now living in a cave! What an awesome place. Literally our room is built into the side of the cave in Goreme, a  peaceful little village where donkeys and other local domestic animals still play their slowly disappearing part in daily life. Exactly what I had hoped for our visitors.

The cave hotel Elif Star we are staying in, has the most lovely view from our room, (not to mention the most delicious breakfasts!). Certainly, the most interesting landscape we will ever see. If you remember the land of the Sand People in Star Wars?..Well this is where that scene was shot. The region was covered by sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams, and deposits erupted from ancient volcanoes approximately 9 to 3 million years ago  The rocks then eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars forms that the people of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out to form houses, churches, monasteries. Here in Göreme, the town we are staying in, the first Christians hid in them to escape persecution of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century B.C..

Hiking Through The Valley of Love

We did quite of bit of walking around town and through various valleys during our 4 day stay including a 90 minute hike to the Göreme Open Air Museum. Getting there had us walk thorugh the town, and then making our way through the “Valley of  Love” (!?? You will understand when you see the pics,) where we put some miles on the cameras! If the walk itself wasn’t enough, the museum we arrived at was great too. The Open Air Museum is the most visited site of the monastic communities in Cappadocia and is one of the most famous sites in central Turkey. It’s a complex comprising more than 30 rock-carved churches and chapels containing some superb frescoes, dating from the 9th to the 11th centuries. 

A Beautiful View

Another afternoon, we got a ride to a neighboring town, where we did a bit of sightseeing and stopped for a drink in a beautiful little café up on one of the highest points in Cappadocia. On our way back Beth and I walked down the highway for quite sometime before we noticed our hotel just across the valley. Our great minds think alike, Hmmm… why walk on the road when you can walk through a valley! Ya, let’s just cut through. So we walk to the edge of the cliff, (yes I said “cliff”,) and both agree there must be a way down, the hotel is right there,.. I can see it!,… ya me too! There is nothing but a small souvenir vendor nearby, so we ask him for assistance. English is not his strong suit, but he manages to show point us to a path, heading straight down, I am sure the locals took many centuries ago. I keep asking, you sure?, it is okay? Safe? ..yes, yes, no problem he says. We get half way down the treacherous path of death, and Beth howling with nervous laughter all the way, while I spend most of the trek down on my behind, sliding, stopping, sliding…etc.  We get a natural exfoliation of the hands on the course rock, and I am doing everything I can to avoid ripping the butt out of my pants, and getting the same exfoliation of the “arse”. And there was no turning back,  I had visions of being stranded there, waiting for night fall, curled up in a crevice with Beth, being airlifted out! Too embarrassing,… must go on! So we did. For the next few days Beth and I giggle continuously every time we look out from our hotel, to the starting point of our little adventure in awe. (Hehehe……)

Easter morning we wake up and Beth has hidden chocolate coins and eggs in the hotels common area (something’s never get old). It is also, Jesse’s 15th birthday and we have picked him up a very cool hookah (just for his room of course!) They are everywhere here in Turkey.  Beth arranged for the sweetest guy at our hotel Rahmi, to get us a cake to surprise Jess. Rahmi’s English not being the best, she wrote instructions on the paper to bring to the bakery. It was a beautiful cake, and one Jess will never forget as written in icing was “Happy Birthday Jesse 15 for Sunday” . Ha!!!

Of course while in Turkey we had to indulge in a visit to the Turkish Bath, where Brendan and Jesse experience their first massage and the boys remark that they think they are cleaner than we have been since we left on our trip.  

Last but not least we attend a “Turkish Fun Night” which truly was fun.  Amongst bus loads of tourists, in a giant cave style room we dined and watched Turkish dancers and musicians. It felt a bit ”Vegas-y” but was really entertaining. We ate lots of mezzes and FREE drinks. It really felt like being at a Turkish Wedding. By the end of the night we were all on the dancefloor.  Much to my surprise my feet remember how to boogie, even off Canadian soil! Good times!