Lost In America: Crazy About Cappadocia

I got back to Istanbul two days ago. It was kind of an ordeal to get here. First I almost missed my bus from Goreme. I thought it left at 9 PM but it turns out I had to take a shuttle from there to Neveshir where it left at 9. Thankfully I got there just in time before the shuttle got too far away and my hostle took me to meet the shuttle where it was waiting a few minutes away. My ticket was supposed to be right to Sultanahmet which is the old part of town where my hostel is at. But the ticket was only to the main bus station and then I had to take a shuttle to a metro stop and then the metro to here. No one spoke English at the station and they all seemed angry. After 30 minutes of waiting an Aussie and I decided to split a cab. We talked the driver down from 30 ytl to 15 ytl. When I arrived here at Bahaus the owner asked if I wanted to work the bar while I was here in exchange for free room, food, and drinks. Of course I said yes. Its been fun. I have started around 5 and worked until 3. The free drinks alone has been worth it. Alright back to Cappadocia. I spent 8 days there which was plenty of time. Most people only spend 2 or 3 days. The reason I stayed there so long was if I went anywhere else I would have only been there for 1 or 2 days before I would have to head back to Istanbul. Plus I have seen pretty much everything. So I just decided to stay there. The town I stayed at was Goreme. It is the most famous town in Cappadocia. Most people stay there. The reason why Cappadocia is so famous is for the rocks formations and cave houses. Centuries ago the 3 surrounding volcanos errupted all about the sametime. The lava and ash filled in the valleys. Overtime errosion from snow, rain, and wind carved away the soft sandstone leaving these cones that have been givin the name, "fairy chimmneys". Its amazing how the tops manage to stay and not fall over. You can see in my pictures below what appears to be doors and windows. Well they are. People used to live in them. Now almost all of them are just pigeon houses. They used to collect the pigeon poo and mix it with various other things to make the paint for their fresco paintings. Also they used it for fertilizer. Now the locals just use it for fertilizer for their vineyards. Cappadocia is also famous for there underground cities. The Byzntines built these underground cities to escape from enemy forces during wartimes. Most of the cities had tunnels that connect to eachother. I took a tour of the most famous one. It goes down 64 meters but they suspect it went as far at 90 meters down. The longest they stayed in the city was 30 days. After the Byzntines the Christians occupied them. Here are a few pictures from the city I went to.

Most of my time was spent hiking. Well all my time with the exception of two tours I took. But even those had some hiking. There must be at least 8 valleys within close proximity of Goreme and those are the ones designated as trails. You can easily just go to anyone and walk around. The second day I was there I hiked Love Valley. Im not sure how long it was but it took me about 90 minutes. When I got almost to the end it started raining and then to sleet. A local couple and their younger son sped by me on their bike at the end. When I got to the road they were across it in a cave. They were calling me over to them in Turkish to get out of the rain. We stayed there for 10-15 minutes until the downpour turned to a sprinkle. The walk back to Goreme was 3 km. I think this is a video of Love Valley but I cant remember.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QWC6zoS_TE

A few days later I hit up 5 trails around Goreme. By the time I had gotten back to my hostle I had walked roughly 25 miles. Boy were my legs tired. The best valley on that hike was Zimi Valley. I should say that on these trails there arent any signs. Also the locals farm in the valleys so what might be trail or path to their plot can easily be confused with the trail. I learned this in Zimi Valley. After 2 hours the trail just suddenly ended. I was surrounded by trees and rocks. The first thought in my head was great Im lost and I would have to walk all the way back the other way. I decided to just climb up one of the rock faces to see if I could see the trail or a road at the top. I did. When I started to decend the face it came a sudden end and the drop was a good 15 feet. Thankfully I didnt slip going down because the face was covered with loose rocks and pebbles. So I had to climb back up and find another way down. Again the samething when I tried to decend. Now I was faced with trying it again or just continue walking up and out. I chose the later idea. When I ended up getting out of the valley I was north of the town of Urchisar which is 6 km north of Goreme. Now I had to walk the 3 km into town and the 6 back to Goreme. Eventhough it was a very long day it was one of the best I had in Turkey. The second to last day in Cappadocia I went to Ihlara Valley. This valley is famous for the churches carved into the face of the cliff walls. Most people take a tour there because it is out of the way and there is not a direct route there. I didnt feel like spending 50 ytl for a tour that was only going to allow us to hike 4 km of it. So I took the solo route. I got the 8:30 dolmus, which in Turkish means "squished", from Goreme to Neveshir. A dolmus can best be describe as a regular bus cut in half. Im sure you have seen these in smalltown America used by schools. When I got to Neveshir I grabbed the bus to Aksaray about an hour away. When I arrived to Aksaray I found out I had to take a dolmus to the center of town to the dolmus bus station. After asking a few locals I managed to find it. But now I had to wait an hour until it left for Ihlara. The ride to Ihlara was only 45 minutes. Ihlara was by far the best valley I had seen. There is a mini river that runs through the whole valley. The trail runs along the side but sometimes it cuts up along the rocks and shrubs. I loved every minute of it. The Lonely Planet guide book said it would take 7-8 hours to hike the whole thing. That was BS. I walked the whole thing in 3 hours. But I didnt stop and go into the churches because I was concerned about missing a bus back to Aksaray. Here are some pictures and a video from Ihlara Valley.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubK7k3NagAg

Now is where the interesting part begins. When I got out of the valley I was in a small village outside Selime which is on the north tip of the valley. I got to a market just in time to catch a dolmus. The bus was occupied with little kids getting out of school. They all looked at me with awe. I swear sometimes that Turks have never seen a man with a big beard. But I will save my thoughts on that for the next entry. On the bus there was a young school teacher that told me I had to wait at the school until 4 when the bus would return and then we would go to Aksaray. When I exited at the school I was met by a handful of school kids that had to be 11-13 years old. They new hello and how are you in English. They couldnt believe that I was an American and I had a huge beard. They thought I was lying and I was from somewhere else. They tried on my sunglasses and pulled on my beard. They kept saying stuff in Turkish and laughing. I know they were bustin my chops about my appearance. At first it was cute and funny but then after 20 minutes it got annoying. Thankfully one of the teachers came out and told them to leave Im assuming, in Turkish, because they all left. When the dolmus came back I sat in the back with the first teacher and his friends. There was a funny Turk man on there that couldnt believe that I was an American. He was making jokes about having a beard because the only people who have long beards in Turkey are the "monks" so to speak who dont drink. I dont know the title for Islam. He was a nice man though. After some stops in Aksaray myself and another gentleman from Turkey but living in London helped me get a ticket back to Neveshir. It was 7 by the time I returned to Goreme. That day was one of the best days I had in Turkey because of the things I saw and the people I met. My last day in Goreme I walked to the Goreme Open Air Museum. It wasnt anything special because everything it had I had already seen in the tours I did. The thing to see was the churches. What was cool was the frescos in the churches they had. They were Christian frescos with images of Jesus and saints. On my way back I walked by a carpet shop. The salesman said carpets. I said no thinks. But then I stopped and I said actually Im curious on prices. "I cant afford one and Im not going to buy one but I just want to know prices", I said. Big mistake. I told him 100 YTL is the most I would spend but I wanted something fairly large. After 45 minutes I came out with a nice carpet for 144 YTL. I wanted to buy one regardless but I had decided a few days prior that I wasnt going to get one. Well turns out I did. So now along with my 30 lb backpack I have a 6 lb handbag to carry. Today is basically my last day in Turkey. My flight to Dublin leaves at 12:20 tomorrow. I am flying from Istanbul to London and then changing plans and flying to Dublin. Its been a great ride. When I get to Dublin I will make my last entry with my thoughts about Turkey in general and maybe some adventures in Dublin. I can already taste the fresh Guiness now. Cheers.

Mount Edis

Fairy Chimmneys

Old dwelling