Vera Nevsehir

... Asian rugs? If they're in America, are they Asian-American rugs?) I appreciate them, but they are not to my taste. Not to sound cocky or anything, but our house was filled with these things growing up, and we got even more of them when my maternal grandmother went to a nursing home in the mid-nineties and my mother "inherited" the rugs. We had so many, we even used one as the underskirt of the Christmas tree. They're far too busy for my taste, and as a ...

... phallically funny... We had a nice little stop for pictures, including awesome jumping photos. There was aguy selling fresh squeezed OJ, which was really good. It was a good stop in Love Valley before we hopped back on the ATVs to cruise a bit more.

On the map, the guy at the ATV shop had showed me an elaborate route of many valleys and cool stops leading us ultimately to the sunset look out spot high above Goreme... Of course, our guide, far ahead on a dirt bike ...

... I Hate About You," starring, among others, the late Aussie Heath Ledger. But Ledger's character, though quite likeable, is the most unrealistic and frustrating character in the film in that he plays a social outcast. He's a weirdo at his high school. Come on! Heath Ledger?! Heath Ledger would not have trouble in high school! Which is, of course, the problem with all rags-to-riches, the underdog wins high school movies. In "She's All That," two guys make a bet over ...

... to talk. At the border with Georgia, I find out why. They take him off the bus on the Armenian side. That's weird. Then during the long wait on the Georgia side, he comes back. That's even weirder.

It's a lot of hassle for a simple transit through Georgia, and the next time the African doesn't fare so well. He went all the way to Armenia only to get rejected at the Turkish border. I didn't do so well either. The nice lady seemed to ...

... occasions to persecute and even to eradicate the Church. So these faithful folks took some underground storage facilities that had existed even then for centuries, and expanded them into complete, self-sufficient underground cities. Thousands of people could live for months without having to emerge from these places. Several of these cities have been more-extensively excavated, and Derinkuyu ...

... the result of volcanic ash which has slowly eroded over thousands of years, leaving different shaped peaks and valleys, which enabled ancient civilizations in this region to build caves and even underground cities. Back in the 1st and 2nd centuries BC, the people who lived in these caves were farmers and artisans. Many areas in the region are still very fertile regions and there are also a village which is still very famous for it's pottery. Outdoorsy tourism is now the area's ...

... most dramatic of all, the mushroom. In some regions or countries promoters might make a big deal out of four or five of these. But here there are, we are guessing, many thousands of such. They dot the landscape and can be observed everywhere. The even more interesting geological anomaly is the preponderance of caves that can be found here. They are almost as ubiquitous as the fairy chimneys and in fact, many times they can be found inside of the fairy chimneys. Now most people love ...

... this was an inland sea. Three volcanoes caused the water to leave and the valleys were formed by the remaining rivers. Eventually the waters went away and the landscape created some 30 million years ago is surrealistic. Fairy Chimneys, cones, mushrooms all adorn what looks like the grand canyon on acid. A stop for lunch ...

... again, there was a main ventilation shaft and multiple others throughout the city. The main one was used for transporting goods and water and of course for fresh air. The people would only cook at night so that the steam and smoke would not be seen above ground so easily. The temperature in the underground city was much cooler than outside at ground level. It was so cool, it would have been nice to have a longsleeve shirt for part of it ...

... they made a mean cheese sandwich and served Saqara - a beer we havent seen since Egypt and the only beer İ really like - so İ was content. The best things about Aleppo were the abundance of fresh fruit and all the smoothie stalls that came with it, the proper Turkish-style kebabs that were about 50p, the absence of felafel and the Daiqiris at the new 5-star Sheraton hotel. Apart from the culinary delights, there was also a crazy souk with street ...