Turkeys M Hideaways Day 5
Turkeys M Hideaways
Day 5 - 04/11/06 Fly to Cappadocia, Rock Churches of Goreme, Drive to Uchisar
Our alarm went off at 5:15 and we showered and had an early breakfast. At 6:30 we left our hotel and Istanbul, the City of Tulips. Tulips originally came from Turkey but were adopted by Dutch explorers who took the bulbs to Holland. Turkish officials are now in hopes of reviving this Spring tradition by planting over 3,000,000 bulbs throughout the city. Everywhere we went we saw beautiful gardens of blooming tulips, of all varieties and colors.
Our driver was waiting to load the luggage and transfer us from our hotel to the airport to fly 150 miles east and south to the city of Kayseri. We arrived at the airport in the midst of thousands of domestic and business travelers. While Meltem arranged for our boarding passes we watched harried travelers trying to catch their flights.
Our flight was only 75 minutes and went by quickly. As we landed, we had a spectacular view of Mount Erciyes, a nearby volcano towering over the plains. We met our minibus and driver (Ilkar) who picked us up in a brand new 29 passenger van for 7 people!!!
We headed overland for about two hours to the picturesque town of Urgup. As we drove, Meltem gave us an overview of this region known as Cappadocia. The major industries are automobile manufacturing, textiles, and agriculture. We noticed the price of gas and oil was very high. A gallon of diesel fuel is about 6 US Dollars.
The main cash crops in this area are potatoes, lentils, grapes, apricots, and pumpkins. Turkey is one of the eight countries of the world which is self sufficient as far as agriculture and food products. Surprisingly, the only item they do not grow is coffee.
We had time for lunch on our own at a buffet restaurant called Tas Han where we were able to taste many traditional Turkish dishes. We began to see the legendary landscape and "fairy chimneys" of Cappadocia. The predominant earth surface of Cappadocia is a white volcanic rock called tufa. Centuries of rain and wind have shaped the soft tufa into rhythmic flow patterns and tall cones and columns.
Although the dust from tufa looks like sand, the area is not like a desert but is actually highly fertile, and people have inhabited the region since ancient times. Over many generations, local inhabitants used hand tools to hollow out thousands of the freestanding tufa formations.
We saw many houses carved in the rocks; these cave-like rooms, once sheltered Turkey's early Christians. A few are still in use today as comfortable houses, complete with doors and glass windows. They stay quite cool in the hot summer weather. Others are barns, stables, or dovecotes. It is said that the area has over six hundred Christian churches carved into the rock, some dating to the third century AD.
After checking into our hotel we had a unique opportunity to look at several rooms and choose which one we would like to have for the next three days. Many of the rooms are built into the rock and we chose one higher up on the cliff with a great view of the valley and the stone formations below.
After having some time to relax, and settle in, we were pleased to note the high speed internet in the main lobby. At 2:30 we met our group for short drive for less than an hour to the famous Goreme "open air museum," a group of ancient churches carved from the rock. Most of these chapels have colorful frescoes inside. We stopped at several overlooks to see the spectacular landscape from many different perspectives.
We arrived home at 5:30 and the three couples met to share snacks and two bottles of good local wines while we traded stories of our lives. At 7 PM we had a very fine dinner at our hotel in Uchisar.
Accommodations: Ahbab Konagi - - - Meals: B, D
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