Jul 17th

  Nevsehir, Cappadocia, Turkey
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

A 4 hour drive through stark and stunning vistas would take us to our next stop- Nevsehir.  The bus had lousy shocks and the 2 lane roads were very bumpy.  We stopped for photos by the Salt Lake and then pulled into Nevsehir to pick up our guide, Hamil.

Cappadocia

We drove through the city to reach the Cappadoccia area.  60 million years ago 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

Lunch at Cappadocia

in a restaurant carved into the side of a hill and then on to more of the rock formations.  This time to Goreme Oren Yeri where the Christians lived for centruies.  St. Paul visited this area in his travels.  The Churches were mind boggling.  All of the homes and buildings are carved out of the side of the hills.  Frescoes in the churches were beautiful and in one church there was a 6 chapter frescoe which told the life of Christ- an early frescoe powerpoint.
We stopped and toured a pottery shop

Pottery Cave at Cappadocia

built into a hill-carved out  of it in fact.  It was a strange structure and the home to craftsmans who had been making pottery in this cave like structure for 7 generations.  We watched as the plied their crafts. 
After this full day we ended at our hotel in Nevsehir called the Surban.  It is a quaint building.

Hotel in Nevsehir

No A/C but what it lacks in that it makes up for in its architecture.  After dinner in the hotel we strolled the ancient streets of this city to the downtown area.  We visited shops, had home made ice cream and watched one of only 2 master painters in Turkey do the ancient art of water painting.  She painted with oil based paints on water, then transferred the image by placing a piece of paper/canvas on the water.
We ended the night on a rooftop terrace trying out a Turkish alcohol treat called Raki (Rocky).