CAPPADOCIA
After 4 weeks at yacht marine we are finally leaving – yahoo!!!. Although there are still things to fix on the boat we have come to the conclusion that there is little point in waiting around any longer. Nothing is too pressing as long as it’s fixed before we head across the Atlantic.
Our time here hasn’t all been wasted. Last Sunday we caught the overnight bus to Cappadocia, which is located in the centre of Turkey. It’s approximately 650 klms from Marmaris and the journey takes 13 hours arriving at 7.30 in the morning and the total cost of the trip is $40. The buses are very modern with even a steward on board who serves free drinks (non alcoholic) through out the night. As bus journeys goes it wasn’t too bad, but I can’t see Penny and I rushing to catch another overnight bus. It’s just like a plane really difficult to sleep. Also it didn’t help coming back when I picked up a food poison bug and I ended up being sick every couple of hours. Not pleasant for me or the passengers!!!
Once we got to Cappadocia it has a totally unique environment, which has been formed by volcanic eruptions some 30 million years ago and over the years it has eroded to form curios rock formations. Due to the ease the local population could work the rock most of the houses were built into the rock face and to protect themselves from raiding parties they even built complicated under ground cities to hide in. The Christians in the third to thirteen century came to settle here and used the caves to hide in against the hostile Muslims. We visited many churches cut out of the rock still showing beautiful wall painting. The under ground cities, which are still being discovered today are quite spectacular and the one we visited, Derinkuyu, is believed to go down to 20 floors although only the first eight floor has been cleared and opened for visitors. What we saw was only 10% of the entire city. It is believed that 10,000 people hid there, complete with stables, winery, kitchen areas, living and sleeping accommodation.
One of the highlights of the trip was to take a balloon ride across “Love Valley”. It is totally silent except for the birdsong; hence its name, according to the literature. But we have a different theory!!! (See enclosed picture)
Next stop Greece!!!
