Istanbul to Cappadocia
As we were leaving our large suitcases, we had our backpacks and an overnight bag with us, we talked about carrying it on, but we had more than 100ml of gel/liquid, so decided to check it on board just to be safe. Also, security at the airport for our domestic flight was as intense as for international flights. We passed two security checks, had to show passports to board, and empty water bottles. When boarding we were grateful that we didn't try carry on, as people bring such large bags on board there is little room left in the overhead lockers.
Only other issue we had was that Tania had my boarding pass on her phone and she went through to the gate lounge first, when I tried it said my pass had already been used. Luckily I had a copy of Tania's pass on my phone as well as my own.
Arrived Nevsehir airport at 10.15, entered the domestic arrival date and waited for our checked bag .... and waited .... and waited !! All those waiting for baggage were ushered into the International arrival lounge and told our baggage didn't make the flight with us. A luggage handling malfunction. Simply line up and give our accommodation details and they will deliver our luggage later that day (hopefully). This process took around an hour before we could board our transfer bus for the 40 min drive to Goreme where we are staying.
We arrived at the Diadem Cappadocia Guest House around noon, and was greeted by Lutfiye and her husband Arnie. What a warm welcome, they offered us the choice of rooms, we took the cave room, no windows, but very authentic and cool ! A welcome traditional apple tea and discussions of suggestions for our time in Cappadocia. We booked a balloon flight and a Green Tour. Lutfiye actually paid for our tours as we had limits on the amount we could withdraw each day from the local ATMs.
It was approximately a one hour flight and it was absolutely amazing, so gentle and quiet, and with over 150 other balloons in the air around us simply magical. We climbed to a maximum of 800m, rotated many times and decended before we rose again. The sights of the surronding landscape as the sun slowly rose was very special.
Now for the Green Tour, we were picked up at 9.30 and the first stop was a panoramic view over Goreme, the landscape is different from anything else we have seen.
Next stop was the Kaymaki Underground City, one of around 300 in Cappadocia. These cities date from 8th-7th century BC, but were enlarged and highly utilised in the 780 - 1180 period when Arab - Byzantine wars were occuring. Some of the cities were connected by miles of tunnels. People lived, cooked, worshipped, and spent their lives almost entirely below the ground, the obvious advantage being able to defend themselves from attack quite well.
We only saw about 10% of this particular city.
Selime Monastery features a grand kitchen with a chimney, a large church and chapel and living quarters.
Green Tour finished with another panoramic stop at Pigeon Valley, a gem shop and a Turkish Delight shop in Uchisppar, a town not far from Goreme.
Uchisar Castle was our first stop of our private tour with Lutfiye (our accommodation owner) in her personal yellow taksi. There are only two women taksi drivers in Goreme and she was the first to buy a licence to take passengers. The 60m high castle was built/carved out of the rock on top of a hill in Uchisar with many criss crossing passageways and rooms. It once offered residence to about 1000 people in Byzantine times and has great views over the pigeon valley and nearby township. A side note....unlike in Australia where pigeons are classed as rats of the sky, pigeons here were important for sending messages and collecting their nutrient rich poo and adding it to the soil to improve their agricultural pursuits.
Love Valley and Imagination Valley had variations of the theme of fairy chimneys coming in all shapes and sizes. The interesting chimney landscapes seem to be same, same but different.
Avanos, a quaint town stands on the banks of the longest river in Turkey called Kizilrmak (Red River). The town is known for pottery with the clay being sourced from the banks of the Red River. Tradition states for a young couple to receive approval from their family to marry, it is important that the local males are capable of making pottery goods and the females carpets (more of both soon...). We stopped for a quick look around a popular Friday market offering a wide variety of super fresh fruit and vegetables, dried fruit, nuts and spices.
Next a personalised tour of a government supported carpet making business showed women (possibly single) sitting at looms and making very detailed carpets, sometimes taking as long as months or years depending on the size and how intricate the pattern was. Tania was in her element acquiring an appreciation for the knotting technique, being informed about methods of dying of the wool, cotton and silk fibres. Hot pomegranate tea was served while a display of completed carpets of all sizes and the 3 fibre compositions were thrown open at our feet...maybe in anticipation of a sale, but no takers here !
Lunch was a traditional Turkish offering. On arrival Lutfiye saw her sister's car parked and we joined her inside for lunch. Krymali, an open pide with mince meat, tomato and onion; Sebzeli, a closed pide with spinach, mushroom, onion, tomato, red and green pepper and cheese. We also had Zerdali Karigik, a mixed platter of tasty morsels to wrap in lettuce, with spices and copious amounts of parsley sprigs. All this was followed by Turkish coffee and a glass of water with a mint leaf.
A hands on pottery experience followed at Kapadokya Seramik. A male apprentice potter sat at a wheel controlled manually by pushing a circular wooden platform disc with his foot. With very little effort he transformed a lump of red clay into a vase. Tania was convinced to wear a long traditional culotte like skirt in the attempt to create a bowl with step by step guidance. The foot operated turntable was controlled by the teacher, and with only a bit of assistance a masterpiece evolved. Encouraged to take it with us, we declined but Tania suggested to sell the bowl as a unique piece.
Onto the Zelve open air museum which once had 15 Byzantine era cave churches (numbers now less though) and was originally a simple agricultural village. The area remained a Turkish village until the 1960s when the inhabitants were relocated nearby due to the erosion of the structures.
Returned back to Goreme around 19:00, went for a coffee at a place that gave us a great view of the town and hillside as the lights starting coming on after sunset.
A quick goodbye to Lutfiye and staff at Diadem, if anyone is looking to find accommodation in Goreme, we can thoroughly recommend this place, it was one of the highlights of our visit to Cappadocia.
Made our flight to Istanbul, landed in the back blocks of the airport and bussed into the terminal. The plane landed at 22:35, bags arrived 11:20, arrived at hotel in Istanbul 12:45, in bed by 1:15 Sunday morning.
Once everything was sorted, we headed out for a walk on the coastal pathway where we noticed a lot of people enjoying the sun and swimming in the Marmara Sea. The further we walked around the coastline we noticed only men swimming or bathing on the rocks. Not one female was near the waters edge. Where were all the women?
As we continued walking the wind picked up more and more and the choppy water now had large white caps. Some swimmers were being pulled along by the strong current possibly not realising how far they had travelled.
Being Sunday the Grand Bazaar was closed but there were enough other smaller bazaars, street shops and stalls to satisfy any serious shopper. After walking many kilometres we were happy just to sit for awhile, drink coffee and people watch.
It was another balmy night in Istanbul which made it very easy to eat at the open air restaurants of which there are so many choices !!
I can only assume the luggage turned up eventually because the report fails to mention anything more about it after the requirement to register the hotel to which it should be delivered.
Caravanserai was an studio album of Santana. Few people, of which I am certain you and Tania are not included, perhaps realise that the term means an inn or hotel, commonly with a central courtyard.
I do not want you to be concerned that you are unable to be at the Hyde Park Baklery tomorrow morning. I too am not able to be there because I have a club AGM to attend.
PS: These entries to your blog are excellent and an enjoyable read, through which I get to live your experience vicariously. I am pleased not to have the 3.55am wake up alarm, although, with my sleep patterns, I would likely wake up then without an alarm in any case (too much information).
Yes luggage turned same day, no won’t be able to get to Hyde Park Bakery, thanks for your contributions !
I see Tania tried her hand at pottery, and what a lovely hand it is too. BUT, and this is a big but, wasn’t it the bloke who had to have pottery skills and the blokess to have carpet weaving skills.
I require a detailed expose of the delights of genuine Turkish coffee please.
You two have already packed a complete holiday in to the first eight days. You will be exhausted if you don’t slow down a little.
Mastermind question tonite
What museum has ” the lady with the pearl earing” at the moment
Un bl…….dy believable
Now to some news from home. I am sure Tania will be missing her AFL viewing. We had high drama here over the last two minor round matches. Elizabeth and her sister Margaret decided to attend a Crows match live at Adelaide Oval. It was against Sydney and the Crows, who had come up agonisingly short against quality opposition in several matches this year – matches they should really have won, needed to win this match as well as the final match the following week, to keep alive a chance to play finals. To be fair, it also required other results to go their way. That was possible and indeed, even likely.
Sydney dominated the first half and set up a decent lead. In the final quarter the Crows played brilliantly and, with just 1 minute and 18 seconds to play, hit the front, with a terrific goal from the boundary in the forward pocket. That is, they would have hit the front had the goal umpire not mistakenly declared a behind when everyone could clearly see it was a goal. Neither the goal umpire nor field umpire thought to call for a score review, which, if they had done so would have resulted in a goal being declared. As it was, the behind stood and the Crows lost the match.
To say this was controversial would be an understatement. The AFL apologised and acknowledged the blunder. But, all too late. Nothing could be reversed after the event. And, as you might already have guessed, the Crows also won the final match and the other results fell their way – they would have been in seventh place and playing in the first week of finals.
Can you even begin to imagine the kerfuffle had this happened to Collingwood.
It is a disgrace.
I trust that satisfies Tania’s longing for AFL news.
Thanks .. you can whatsapp her as well
Wow! love the idea of that balloon flight!
Must travel to Turkey some time soon!
It was great – -a highlight of our trip so far … mainly because of the number of balloons in the sky — over 150 !!
Wow!
Reading your blog – I feel quite dizzy! Can see why you are drinking so much coffee – you need the caffeine to keep awake with all of your very early morning starts!
Just sounds wonderful – every single day. Of course, the ice cream sounds my kind of experience!!
Tania is forcing herself to get up early …. only when necessary !!
I’m impressed at the Balloon flight. Whilst I’m sure it delivered magnificent views (as your photos suggest) pretty sure I prefer my feet on the ground. Equally impressed at Tania’s early morning starts.
Rental car time 😱 now that’s another level…