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!
