A Long Journey to Back in Time
First off, my apologies for not being able to post a blog sooner. I have had technical issues with my computer and phone syncing for photos plus the journey here basically "knocked the stuffing out of me" so when you couple that with the fact I have had several busy days. I have found no time to write much. I am hoping going forward I will get caught up.
It wasn't lost on me that getting to Cappadocia in central Turkey was going to be quite the trip from Victoria. It started with the usual flights for getting off Vancouver Island to Europe - this time my routing was via Vancouver and Heathrow. Then, after a 3 1/2 hour wait, I had a nearly four flight to Istanbul. I had started my journey late on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Istanbul at midnight on Friday. Man, I was so tired. There is a hotel in the airport terminal called Yotel Landside (there is another on behind customs as well). It was all I could do to get the energy to drag my bag there, check-in and fall into bed. However, I didn't get much rest as I had to get up on Saturday morning to check-in before 7 for my 9 am flight to Kayseri. I was beginning to feel a bit like a worn out dishrag - and I probably looked like one too but I was beyond caring.
It all became so much better when I met my guide, Ata, at the airport. It will just be him and me for my three and a half days here before I head back to Istanbul. While the weather was a bit disappointing - cloudy with occasional drizzle - the landscape was nothing like I had ever seen before. Apparently much of this amazing landscape was formed 25 million years ago and it comprises primarily of tufa and balsamic rock. This area is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the text below explains it.
Located on the central Anatolia plateau within a volcanic landscape sculpted by erosion to form a succession of mountain ridges, valleys and pinnacles known as “fairy chimneys” or hoodoos, Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia cover the region between the cities of Nevşehir, Ürgüp and Avanos, the sites of Karain, Karlık, Yeşilöz, Soğanlı and the subterranean cities of Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu. The area is bounded on the south and east by ranges of extinct volcanoes with Erciyes Dağ (3916 m) at one end and Hasan Dağ (3253 m) at the other. The density of its rock-hewn cells, churches, troglodyte villages and subterranean cities within the rock formations make it one of the world's most striking and largest cave-dwelling complexes. Though interesting from a geological and ethnological point of view, the incomparable beauty of the decor of the Christian sanctuaries makes Cappadocia one of the leading examples of the post-iconoclastic Byzantine art period.
It is believed that the first signs of monastic activity in Cappadocia date back to the 4th century at which time small anchorite communities, acting on the teachings of Basileios the Great, Bishop of Kayseri, began inhabiting cells hewn in the rock. In later periods, in order to resist Arab invasions, they began banding together into troglodyte villages or subterranean towns such as Kaymakli or Derinkuyu which served as places of refuge.
As we drove towards Goreme, one of the towns notable for its rock formations, the landscape become more and more impressive.
That afternoon, Ata took pity on me because I was so tired so he left me to sleep a bit and then we went out for dinner. Goreme has plenty of restaurants to choose from and we enjoyed our meals at Mozeic. Then, I basically crashed. However, I was really looking forward to see more of this historically and geographically interesting region.
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