Ufuk Pension Goreme

Entering the region of Cappadocia
through a sunrise that is so broad and clear that you can sense the
sun crossing the circumference of the earth bringing a new day is
apt, given that this part of central Turkey is home to the beginning
of the most significant movements in human history – Christianity.



It was in nearby Antioch (of Holy hand-grenade fame and now known as Antakya) that ...

... town – intially thinking it to be quite dreary (it had rained previous 5 days, but sunny today!) reminding us of some hyped up backpackers places we'd visited before!!

Got some info from tourist guy at the otogar, and walked out to Open Air Museum about 2 km out, passing many surreal rock formations on the way. Lots of tourists there - timing 11:30, so will make sure we're early getting in tomorrow. Lots of photos, found an area being used as stables for keeping the ...

... alarmed when at the beginning they announced that last month they had lost 2 people and never knew what had happened to them. It was turning out to be a great day. We headed off down the valley with both tour guides at the front, regardless of the many other tour groups along the way and forgetting to wait for everyone. The only reason why we knew where we were going was Katie waited for us and told us the way. At this point all four of us were stuck behind a different tour ...

... novel, she should pass it on to another friend and let me know, and then on and on and on and hopefully that bootleg Indian copy makes it around the world. That'd be cool!

We had one stop in between lunch and Goreme at a Caravansarahi. In the old days of the silk route, Caravansarahis were basically truck stops. Yes, we visited a 450 year old truck stop. They were big buildings in issolated areas along the route where you could sleep, go to the market, interact with ...

... cities and the chimneys that are shaped like a camel and Napoleon's hat, and then went back to get ready for our belly dancing evening! Everybody was in their finest attire, the whole kit and caboodle. We were expecting a big night ever since we had been informed that there was unlimited booze... and what a night it was. We had a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, delicious dinner of mezze and beef mince and rice, we ...

The call to prayer woke me up at 4:45am. Down the hall I heard knocking. When it got to my door I scampered up to answer. "They will pick you up at 5:30", Yusuf informed me. I grinned, brimming with excitement. I got ready in the dark so I woudlnt wake Alison up. I met up with the six others who were also going on this excursion, and we were off to the office. After tea and biscuits we were shuttled up the hill to what can be best described as a balloon ...

... years have closed all but 8 of the levels to visitation.  Still, an amazing feat of human ingenuity and engineering.  Notably, a large Christian population took up residence in the cave cities to escape persecution by the Romans and later Arab invaders.   All the history aside, the cave cities are a wonder to behold both inside and out.  Now... a little about group tours.   In general, Im not a fan.   But today was actually great ...

... night! When we got there nobody was there... but then after a while it started to full up We got some meze (like the Turkish version of tapas) and waited for the show to start We saw whirling dervishes (not real ones obviously) and traditional Turkish dancing and a belly dancer so we had a good time and the food was pretty good also and it was unlimited drinks (beer, wine, and raka (arak)) but we weren't really in a drinking mood. So ...

... rly phallıc, but very cool! Many of the chımneys are actually beıng lıved ın/ have been turned ınto houses- they are wıcked! Last nıght we were ınvıted for a free meal and a talk on carpets by thıs guy- I was expectıng to be bored wıtless and ın no danger whatsoever of buyıng anythıng, but ıt turned out to be fascınatıng, and we found out loads about the orıg ...

September 3rd - Ankara, Turkey

We have made the journey into Central Anatolia to escape the tourist honeytraps of Istanbul. As usual, we decided to get the bus instead of the train. It seems that here in Turkey you don't just turn up and get on a train, unless it's a local one. To travel long distance requires advance bookings and even knowing the name of the train you want to travel on. How much more simple it is to turn up at the bus station, select a company whose logo you've ...