Cappadocia - land of fairy chimneys

Trip Start Sep 18, 2008

Trip End Dec 07, 2008

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Flag of Turkey Urgup, Cappadocia, Turkey
Thursday, October 2, 2008

The nap was definitely needed before shopping because it was such a long day. At the jewellery place we saw how Onyx is worked which should come in handy for work! It was interesting to find out that Onyx isn't a marble it's quartz. The demonstartion started with a whiteish grey coloured stone and they carved it with a diamond tipped tool to shape it into an egg shape. It was then polished with sandpaper and a white powder and when he brought it out it was a light green. There are 3 levels to onyx - level 3 means the stone is white or black, level 2 is grey to light green and level 3 is the bright green. We were then shown to the show room where the difference in turquoises was explained and I realised that the ring I bought in Dalyan probably wasn't the real thing. The we were let loose. I skipped all the gold and went straight to the silver. Ended up buying a turquoise ring and necklace - very mild for me I know! We then went to the pottery demonstration where they made a fresh jar with lid for us and then they asked who wanted a go and Hawke is always our nominated demonstator (18yrs old from Canada) so he got up and they let him loose. He couldn't really get it to do anything other than make it look like some from the male anatomy. We were then shown the finished products and the local designs they use to decorate them. we were again let loose in the show room and I was interested in 2 plates because they could ship them home but then they told me that the one I really liked was $1550 and the other $400. So I said no. We then went back to the hotel to get ready for our Turkish Folk Night. It was really good except that I still wasn't feeling the greatest and couldn't eat much of the really good food. The setting was very beautiful - almost medieval, we had bench tables that seated 4 with candles and jugs of wine. They played traditional music and performed different dances it was great. The only annoying part came at the end when the usual annoyine ones - Stuart, Ilhan, Hawke and Keira wanted to stay and dance. Everyone else was really tired cod no one else had slept on the bus and some had to be up at 5 for a hot air balloon ride. Today was a great day though. We started by going for a walk which took us into a valley and we saw pigeon houses which are used to collect manure and they are cut into the rock and there were fruit trees planted everywhere. There was one point that you could tell was where they had filmed parts of Star Wars episode 4. After the walk we saw the triple headed chimneys - the chimneys are different rock formations. We then had lunch and then on to the Goreme Open Air Museum. The museum was once a village where everything had been cut into the rock and now you can wander through and look at the frescoes of the churches and where the kitchens would have been and things like that. I paid extra money to get into the Karanlik (Dark Church) and it was worth it. The frescoes were much more in tact than anywhere else and the colours more vivid - the photos just didn't turn out as good. After the museum we went to an underground city called Kaymakli and it was really interesting. The village was once inhabited by the Hittites and then expanded by the Christians who were fleeing the Muslims. We saw the stables, kitchens, church and the boulders that they would have rolled into place for doors. It was very suffocating though. Well we are about to head out for tea so will write more again later. Hope everyone is well.