The composite word of the day is “other-worldly”.
We arrived in Cappadocia around 9:00 pm Monday the 7th
of October. The land where caves have been turned into hotels and hot air balloons fill the skies!
We were excited about our plans for the next morning and retired as early as we could. We had scheduled a balloon flight for Tuesday morning. Because it was dark, we had a very limited idea of our beautiful surroundings. The idea was comprised of our exploration of the area via the internet. We were picked up at 5:00 am and went to the balloon company’s offices where they served breakfast. But after we had been there about an hour, we were informed that the winds aloft were too great to fly and that all flights that day were cancelled. We were also told that there were no more flights available for the duration of our stay. Needless to say, we were disappointed. So we spent the day wandering around Goreme and trying new food dishes. This is where we first tried the clay pot kebab. It is like a beef stew cooked in a sealed clay pot. It was outstanding. I forgot to take a picture so I picked this on up off the internet.
Before we started our tour on Wednesday, we went out and hiked up a hill outside of town and watched the balloons flying over us and the town in the valley. Truly amazing to see them drop into the streets and valleys.
We flew Pegasus Airlines for this flight. This is one of Turkey's low-cost carriers, but the service was great?
We stayed in a place named the Stone Cave House Hotel. But with both of us being claustrophobic, we did not sleep in a cave room. Some things are not worth it.
We were excited about our plans for the next morning and retired as early as we could. We had scheduled a balloon flight for Tuesday morning. Because it was dark, we had a very limited idea of our beautiful surroundings. The idea was comprised of our exploration of the area via the internet. We were picked up at 5:00 am and went to the balloon company’s offices where they served breakfast. But after we had been there about an hour, we were informed that the winds aloft were too great to fly and that all flights that day were cancelled. We were also told that there were no more flights available for the duration of our stay. Needless to say, we were disappointed. So we spent the day wandering around Goreme and trying new food dishes. This is where we first tried the clay pot kebab. It is like a beef stew cooked in a sealed clay pot. It was outstanding. I forgot to take a picture so I picked this on up off the internet.
Before we started our tour on Wednesday, we went out and hiked up a hill outside of town and watched the balloons flying over us and the town in the valley. Truly amazing to see them drop into the streets and valleys.
It's like there is an Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta every day!
This one passed right overhead.
We took the “red tour”.
There are about 4 published routes for tours. Tourism is the primary business in Cappadocia. Hot air balloons are a big part and the landscape is also a draw. Other sites include caves where people have lived
for centuries. Some are still occupied as we stopped at one point and Malcolm
helped an individual bend a mattress to move it into his cave.
The caves were made possible because of the unique geological conditions found here. At some point in the way distant past the entire area was covered with volcanic ash known as tuff (they call it tufa here but it is actually tuff.) The volcanic ash hardened into earth about the consistency of limestone and at a later date, the area was again covered but this time by lava flow. The result was a very hardened surface on the top and a softer surface below. Over the years, erosion caused by water and wind carved the soil into the beautiful shapes we see today. This also allowed the carving of caves into the tuff with obsidion stone and other sharp substances.
Because of the erosion of the tuff, the geological features were beautiful. We ran out of adjectives to describe them so we will let the pictures do the talking.
These are called the fairy chimneys! Imagine it's 802 AD and you're living in a cave in the fairy chimneys. Draw a mental picture of that!
The caves were made possible because of the unique geological conditions found here. At some point in the way distant past the entire area was covered with volcanic ash known as tuff (they call it tufa here but it is actually tuff.) The volcanic ash hardened into earth about the consistency of limestone and at a later date, the area was again covered but this time by lava flow. The result was a very hardened surface on the top and a softer surface below. Over the years, erosion caused by water and wind carved the soil into the beautiful shapes we see today. This also allowed the carving of caves into the tuff with obsidion stone and other sharp substances.
Because of the erosion of the tuff, the geological features were beautiful. We ran out of adjectives to describe them so we will let the pictures do the talking.
These are called the fairy chimneys! Imagine it's 802 AD and you're living in a cave in the fairy chimneys. Draw a mental picture of that!
The caves were elaborate with bedrooms and multi-family
dining rooms. There were multiple levels. Churches or chapels were part of the
structures. The chapels were decorated with ornate paintings on the walls. (We
were not allowed to photograph the walls.) The caves were great for defense as they had
large stone wheels that would roll up and seal the door from the inside. The stones could not be moved from the outside
so it served as perfect defense structures.
Around the end of the tour we were informed by out guide
that our hotel was able to find us two spots on a flight for Thursday morning and that we would be done in plenty of time to catch our flight at noon. So we hopped on it, got up at 4 am again and
found it well worth all the effort.
An hour floating through the sky, dipping into the valleys and savoring the scenery was unbelievable. Again, the pictures say it all.
An hour floating through the sky, dipping into the valleys and savoring the scenery was unbelievable. Again, the pictures say it all.
The other-worldly landscape speaks for itself.
Fairy Chimneys from the sky above.
At the end of our flight, we celebrated and ran to catch our plane.
Flying two different ways in one day
One sad story from the valley that I had never heard before. It's called the great population exchange. One of the last of the peoples to live in the caves of Cappadocia were the Christians who lived here for hundreds of years. During the Ottoman years, unlike the struggles in Greece, they mostly coexisted in peace or at least a shared co-existence without wars. After the Ottomans were defeated in WWI and as a part of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, Greece and Turkey agreed to an exchange of Christians living in Turkey for Muslims living in Greece. They uprooted approximately 2,000,000 people with about 1.5 million Christians moving to Greece and about 500,000 Muslims moving to Turkey. Many of the Christians left this area and some of the Muslims coming in moved into this area and even into the cave houses. Sadly, people were never allowed to go back. A better understanding of this is provided in this link to an article about.
But it is a sad reminder that as recently as 100 years ago we were still not getting religious freedoms right. Similar to Papa Gus' story. We're not perfect today, but we just have to keep trying.
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