Cappadocia


We arrived in Cappadocia well after dark and tumbled into bed right after dinner. The next day we opened our curtains and saw the view from our room. Wow! I spent a fair amount of our stay out on the balcony.		Just to the left of the valley is the village of Uchisar built up into the hills.
Cappadocia is known for its cities in the rock. Most of the rock is formed of tuff, or compacted volcanic ash, and is very soft. People tunneled into these rocks to create living quarters in times of danger. Some parts of the tuffa are covered by hardened lava flows, giving the Goreme Valley its unusual geology.
		This is a typical formation in which you can see where rooms and corridors have been dug into the rock, some of which has then eroded away to expose them.
Since people might have to stay in these refuges for months on end (due to war, religious persecution, etc.), the living arrangements were quite complex including air shafts, cooking areas, and sleeping quarters.
		If things got too tough, well, there was always the winery.

Because these cities were underground, people had to learn their way around in them in the dark. Many of the tunnels are low and narrow.		The Goreme Valley site contains a large number of churches, most of which are still decorated with frescoes. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside. Here you can see one church where one whole wall has eroded away, revealing the church inside.

Of course, every archaeological site we visited had souvenir shops afterwards. In Cappadocia they sold mostly ceramics and textiles, the major products of the area.		This was something that neither we nor Gökhan had ever seen: a potato, spiral cut, skewered, and fried. Sort of the Turkish version of curly fries, but at least you knew exactly what went into it.
		From the village you can still see the rock spires in the Goreme Valley.
Another mysterious sign: only tourists can park here or this is the only place tourists can park?

We stopped for a view of one of the two volcanoes that had created this unusual landscape.		At night the lights shown on the old citadel above the village.

Not surprisingly, hot air ballooning is very popular in Cappadocia, as it is a great way to get a new perspective.		The locals say that it is second only to Albuquerque in the number of balloons on any given day, and that it goes on in Cappadocia all year round, not just during the festival. On our ride one of the other passengers counted 102 balloons in the air, and this was not yet high season.

A good pilot, such as we had, can move easily from skimming the ground to a birds-eye view, although lateral progress is decided by the winds.		Because we are tightly packed into the baskets, and he has me to hang onto, even acrophobe Chuck enjoys balloons.

We did get sweeping vistas of the landscape and the conical formations called fairy chimneys.		We also got a nice view of the town

In addition to the rock formations, the valley undulates with depressions and sudden cuts, making it an easy place to get lost. "No, you can't get there from here."		We had a nice soft landing, but thought for a moment that we might go sailing off with one of the crew hanging on.
On the way to the town of Avanos, we crossed the Halys River. This river is famous in antiquity because it was the border between the Persian Empire and the kingdom of Lydia. Croesus, the King of Lydia, asked the oracle at Delphi (in Greece) if he should attack the Persians. Said the oracle: "If you cross the river, a mighty empire will fall." Croesus crossed, was soundly defeated by the Persians, and the mighty empire that fell was his own. The Delphic oracle was never wrong.
		This sculpture in the center of town represents the old idea that a boy should not marry until he has mastered pottery and a girl should not marry until she has mastered rug making.
So when we went to a pottery factory, we saw that the potter was still using the ancient technique illustrated in the sculpture: a foot-powered potter's wheel.
		The Master of the pottery shop, Chez Galip, is a world-renowned potter, generally known as Einstein. Unfortunately, he had recently injured his hand and could not demonstrate for us.

One of the other potters, though, gave us a demonstration in which he created an entire pot with separate lid in about 15 minutes. He made the lid first and somehow when the pot was finished it fit the lid exactly.		After the pots are shaped, they are lightly scraped with a piece of metal, a technique that goes back to the Hittites. This produces a shiny, terra-cotta-like surface. If they are scraped, they come out of the kiln looking like mud.

Some pottery is sold with just the red finish; others have elaborate decorations fired onto them.		The showroom is breathtaking.

Even the birds get ceramic houses, although they all seem to prefer the old wooden one nearby.		The passion for fine pottery in this part of the world was also reflected in the plates we had at one meal, where each had a different pattern. The food that day was also very traditional: tandir lamb, slow cooked in a clay pot.

The fairy chimneys sometimes come in groups: this one is often called "The Guards."		Almost all the hills have houses built into them. The government finally "persuaded" people to move out of them and into freestanding houses by cutting off their water and electricity. Still, many people simply built their "modern" house next to the cliff and continued to use the cliff rooms for storage.

Many people claim that they can see images in the rock formations. Even I agree that I see a camel here. (Camels in Turkey are mostly the two-humped Bactrian type).		Personally I see a pilgrim in a hat and cloak here, but it is all in your imagination.

Despite much modernization in Turkey over the last few decades, many people still stick to the old ways.		Old superstitions die hard too: people tie bits of cloth to this tree to bring them good luck.