Cappadocia, Turkey 18 – May 2014

September 8, 2016

It was a crisp morning in central Cappadocia. Like melting butter, the warm sun was just oozing across the bizarre landscape. It might have been a Wednesday or a Thursday about 300 AD. Beyda leaned out the door of her two-story home and yelled to her husband: “Ahmet, would you please empty the poop pot? It stinks!! And while you’re down there, bring up a jug of water.” Ahmet yelled back, “ Are we out of water already? You use too much!!” Beyza shouted back, “Don’t complain. It was your idea to build our home inside one of these weird stone pillars”.

The panoramic view over the Göreme area was impressive.

Weird, strange, bizarre, crazy—all can be used to describe the landscape of Cappadocia in central Turkey. Approximately 9 to 3 million years ago, can’t really be exact, sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams, and ingnimbrite deposits were left from ancient volcanoes. After the eruption of Mount Erinyes, about 2000 years ago, ash and lava formed a protective layer of hard rock in the Cappadocia area. Erosion by weather, wind and water left the basalt on top of the softer rock, forming the present day fairy chimneys. If the protective cap falls off, the pillars erode into nothing.

Uçhisar (also called Uçhisar Castle) is situated at the highest point in Cappadocia, just 5km from Göreme. The top provides a magnificent panorama.

People of the Göreme region discovered that the soft rock called Tufa could easily be carved into houses, churches and monasteries. Some of the churches contain interesting frescoes and elaborate Byzantine art from the post-iconoclastic period (after 842). When the Cappadocian Greeks were expelled from Turkey in 1923 during the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the churches were abandoned and stayed hidden because only the Christians knew where they were.

Uçhisar, Cappadocia. How ingenious to realize one can carve out a house instead of building one!

The town of Göreme was a pleasant place to wander around. Having a specially prepared cup of real Turkish coffee was a treat. The street markets were a perfect place to restock on supplies. One van even turned out to be a portable hardware store. Looking for a place to camp for the night, we remembered meeting Dawn, a Scottish woman, at a campground in Italy the previous Christmas. She told us about the pension she and her ex-husband had started many years ago. Now, her daughter, Sabina, runs the completely renovated Köse Pension. Apparently, it used to be favored by hippies and overland travelers. We found it just a couple blocks from the center and it was the perfect place for a base. Sabina was very welcoming and gave us permission to park in front of the complex. The Köse Pension is still a favorite for budget travelers, but you’d never know it from looking at the beautiful rooms and the big swimming pool in the pretty courtyard. We indulged ourselves with a fabulous three-course Turkish feast for a reasonable price. As a bonus, we could even do our laundry, something we hadn’t done since we left Istanbul. The smell of fresh bread awakened us early in the morning and to our delight, there was a wonderful bakery just across the street.

It was a chilly morning when we took off with the hot air balloon to view the Göreme area from the air.

Göreme’s National Park with its strange rock formations has become a popular tourist destination and is a World Heritage Site since 1985. From the ground level it’s quite an amazing place to walk around, discovering the odd fairy chimneys or wondering how long it took to carve out some of these rock homes. Still, perhaps one of the most exciting ways to see this geological wonder is from the air in a hot air balloon. Sabina gave us some tips on where to find a company that was recommended because of their skilled pilots.

We are ready for an adventure!

As we lifted off the next day that advise proved to be well taken. The certified pilots of these hot air balloons need to read the wind very carefully, judging where the updrafts and downdrafts occur. Their goal is to get you as close to some of the more interesting formations without bumping into them, drifting up high for an overall view and then maneuvering the balloon back to its appropriate landing point. In our case, the pilot was actually able to land the balloon basket in the bed of a flatbed truck. We all piled out and enjoyed the traditional champagne toast that seems to be an essential part of hot air balloon trips.

: Over 1,700 years ago, people of today’s Göreme district discovered that the soft rock could easily be carved into houses, churches and monasteries.

: This must’ve been a condo. Note the bottom left window where modern plumbing is coming out of what may have been a kitchen or bathroom.

: Apparently elevators hadn’t been invented yet. This could’ve been the window that Beyda leaned out the door to yell at her husband: “Ahmet, would you please empty the poop pot? It stinks!!

: After the eruption of Mount Erinyes, about 2000 years ago, ash and lava formed a protective layer of rock in the Cappadocia area.

: Erosion by weather, wind and water left the hard basalt on top of the softer rock called Tufa, forming the present day fairy chimneys.

: The area had a striking resemblance to Goblin Valley in Utah or maybe Viagra Valley in Mexico’s Copper Canyon.

: These decorations of the many sanctuaries created in the iconoclastic period, (725-842), were minimal. Only later, new churches dug in the rocks were decorated with colorful frescoes.

: Some of the interior walls still displayed beautiful paintings and frescoes which had been protected from weather for hundreds of years.

: Many of the historic homes were open to the public. Very few are lived in today. Some are converted to hotels.

: Streets and walkways wound back into narrow canyons where other houses and small churches had been laboriously carved out of the sandstone.

: Cappadocia 18 018

: This was the office of the military and police headquarters. Of course! Where else would it be?

: Small foot trails led back into labyrinths of pinnacles.

: Lift off time for a hot air balloon ride is always exciting. Lots of heat, fire and noise from the big gas burners.

: While this is not our first balloon ride, they are always exciting.

: The capacity of the balloon baskets used at Cappadocia vary from 8 to 24. Even in a big basket like ours, everyone gets a rail position.

: The pilot’s goal is to get you as close to some of the more interesting formations without bumping into them.

: After a perfect landing we all enjoyed the traditional glass of champagne.

: Roadside vendors in town were a great place to buy food for the road.

: Plump raisins, dried apricots, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, peanuts, dates and other dry goods tempted our shopping bags. Of course you can sample everything.

: Fresh eggs by the piece or dozen. You don’t have to buy a whole flat.

: What would a Turkish market place be without the huge selection of fresh spices and condiments?

: This small van offered an amazingly complete portable hardware store.

: Cones of hot charcoal are used to carefully heat Turkish coffee to just the right temperature.

: After a busy shopping trip, there’s nothing like a good cup of real Turkish coffee, hand brewed to your order.

: During our short stay where we parked in front of the friendly Köse Pension, we awoke each morning to the smell of fresh bread from the bakery just across the street.

: Monika and Sabina Inal, the manager of the Köse Pension in Göreme, posed for a final good-bye photo.

: Yunus Açıkbaş, the right-hand man of Köse Pension and his daughter asked for a souvenir photo.

: It wasn’t raining but we had to smile at this Turkish international road sign.

: It wasn’t raining but we had to smile at this Turkish international road sign.

: Perhaps this was the way Beyda and her husband Ahmet journeyed to Cappadocia around 300 A.D.

: We had seen this interesting tool/contraption before in one of the caravansaries but we didn’t know what it was for.

: Our good friend Huseyin in Istanbul did some research and explained to us that the Cappadocia region is very famous for its carpets and this tool is used for winding up the warp yarn for the carpets they make.

: Todays carpet weavers incorporate many subjects to please souvenir hunting tourists.

: We had seen one of these sled-type boards in Spain. If you zoom in, you will see that there are hundreds of pieces of very sharp edged rock/flint embedded in the wood. The sled is drug behind a horse or mule through the plowed field and it very effectively breaks up the dirt clods before planting. We imagine that the farmer led the animal while standing on the sled for extra weight.