Elai Houses Goreme

... br>Tonight we head to a nearby town for a night of traditional Turkish dance and unlimited alcohol. As expected, it gets very very messy, and is a hell of a lot of fun. The night ends with a bus ride back to our hotel, the whole bus singing at the top of their voices.<br><br>What an incredible day. It's hard to imagine that there are still another 2 and a bit weeks of this left to come. I really just cannot wait to continue exploring this absolutely fabulous country.<br><br> <br><br> <br>

... decided to tag along. Even as we were walking out of the town, she would not leave our side...except to dart out in front of speeding cars. We were walking along the highway, and Tina would stay out of the street until a car came into view. Then, no amount of yelling or pleading could get her back to the side. The drivers on the highway were being forced to stop or swerve, and they were giving us nasty looks or even yelling at us. We had no idea what to do- she wasn't ...

... prices of food in the States. "God, it's all just so expensive, and the tipping is ridiculous."<br><br>The American at our table and Kristen and I tried to explain the concept of tipping to the Aussies...it was no use...<br><br>Of course they thought food was too expensive...they spent a month in New York!<br><br>The night before they'd gotten free dirtbike rides from Hitchhikers, the ATV rental place, which is part of the reason they were scandalized to hear what we'd ...

... colours and shapes, but especially chimneys. The area was formed by the ancient eruption of three volcanoes in the area and weather erosion over the preceeding years giving the whole thing a kind of spooky moonscape feel to it. The best thing about the place is the fact that the locals have carved out holes in the rocks and use them for housing. At our hostel, the Shoestring, we are staying in a piece of hollowed out rock, which even on a hot day like today has a ...

... the balloon with the pilot Mike, who Laura's work mate is friends with - small world. He was great - we went deep into the canyons, touched tree-tops and went very close to many rock formations, clipping one along the way. Slightly cloudy and not much wind was perfect conditions and even Mike said it was a great day's flying. Loads of balloons up there, over 30. Champagne and cake awaited us on landing, which was a ...

... so few people visiting today, which it&#8217;s great for us since we have the place practically to ourselves. The Churches are decorated with still visible frescoes while the ancient living and meeting places have hutches, tables and shelves carved into the walls. It is astounding what these early settlers did with their surroundings. But what makes this day really special is the snow and how it&#8217;s fallen so beautifully ...

After the most of drives (think 12 hours and long long long straights we arrived in Goreme which is part of the Cappodoccia region. Famous for it's rock formations that people over the centuries carved out houses to live in. They are still lived in today. It was freezing here. The hostel was full so not all of us had a bed to sleep on so Pam, Debbie, Alan, Sonia and myself got upgraded to a room across the road at another hostel - bed, heaters ...

... of the day cleaning out Clive, the mechanics had made a right old mess of him. The camp site is really good, and we have a fab view over the landscape. There is also a huge pool, which we tested out today. We were hoping to go white water rafting while here but the company who used to run it has gone bust, so none for us. Cappadocia ended up being a great place, but we knew it would have been. We spent 5 days here in the end exploring some of the most and least ...

We made it to the magical land of Cappadocia! We have called Goreme our home for the last week or so, taking some hikes around the very pretty landscapes, reading books and chilling out. Cappadocia is home to fairy chimneys, pillars made by years of erosions, after volcanic events. The people made houses, churches, mosques, monestries in them and it is really quite amazing. Also, the Christians made vast undergrouns cities, such as the one I visited Derinkuyu, which is ...

... discovered these structures, some of which look like stretched mushrooms (actually called peribacha by the Turks: fairy chimneys), and discovered that they were perfect for hollowing out and using as houses. The tufa is easy to cut into with a chisel and when expansion is required another room can be carved out without too much effort. I am sat in one such room at this present moment, possibly carved out of the rock thousands of years ago.<br><br>When we arrived in the village of ...