Our second day in Cappadocia was full of classic (touristy, but fun) sightseeing in the region. We had a tour guide, Efe, who took us around to the sights. He had a rather high voice for a man, and looked like an elf. He even wore a hat that came to a little point. He named us his penguins, because there were so many of us, and the churches were so little, that we really had to squish (like penguins). We thought it was funny, mostly because he thought that he was HILARIOUS. He became famous for giving us "fifteen, tventy minutes for photos" at each of the lookouts/vistas (of which there were many). Although it was not ideal to be carted around in a large group, I'm so glad that I went on an organized trip - it would be very difficult to navigate your own way around Cappadocia and not miss a bunch of really cool sights.
First, we went to the Cappadocia Open Air Museum in Göreme (the town in Cappadocia that is at the center of all the sights), which consists of a collection of churches and dwellings carved into stone. Unfortunately, there are no photos allowed inside the churches, because they have incredibly old frescos that are difficult to preserve. However, they were really neat and beautiful. Here are some photos:
The churches and houses were built by Christians attempting to avoid persecution. They started creating the dwellings in the 4th century and the churches that we visited were established and decorated in the 700s. They used pigeon eggs yolks and natural dyes to paint frescos inside the chambers. They were amazingly preserved for essentially being in the open air. It was amazing how extensive the caverns were - They were everywhere! The area is all volcanic rock that cooled after the eruption of a volcano nearby (I can't remember the name...) Anyway, the Christians were able to carve the stone because it is very soft, but becomes hard when exposed to oxygen. Therefore, it was fairly easy to carve the houses - and they were not visible because there is no outside structure.
Below is an example of some of the decorated churches. This is much less ornate than those found deeper in the rocks, but it gives you an idea!
After the Churches of Göreme, we headed to a pottery-making seminar. Cappadocia is famous for its pottery. There is a lot of tradition that surround the pottery of Cappadocia. One tradition states that the parents of a girl needing to marry places a pot or vase on top of their roof. A man breaks the pot if he wishes to marry the daughter. Here is one of the pottery places that we passed on the ride. Pottery literally littered the lawns and sidewalks in Göreme.
Here are a few photos of the pottery making and shop.
This is Emily, one of the CIEE girls, making a bowl - it turned out wonderfully!
Here are some of the photos of the pottery - it was beautiful and the colors were amazing. They said that they made 80% of it on site. I bought a ring, but no other pottery. It was really beautiful, but you can buy all of the same stuff in Istanbul, and you can bargain to get it cheaply...
After the pottery shop, we headed to a vista where you can see all of Göreme. Here are some photos:
Doesn't it look like a fairyland?
All of the gift shops have these pottery room ornaments. You see them all over in restaurants and as decorations, I really want to get one of the blue/white/green ones - they're so beautiful!
Another stop on the second day was Imagination Valley. It is full of rock formations that people see different shapes in when they use their imagination. We were all pretty tired, so our imaginations weren't completely active, but it was really cool! This is a picture of the most famous rock in Imagination Valley - the camel.
Here's another shot. Can you see anything? I see rocks. Cool rocks, but rocks all the same.
Our final stop was to see the Fairy Houses of Cappadocia. Efe gave us another "fifteen, tventy minutes for photos!"and we obligingly explored. These are some of the better known formations - they look like smurf houses! There was one church here, but most of the formations were houses.
This was a camel that you could ride - it was only 10TL, and he was so cute! I have seen a couple of camels since I got here, and they are all very furry. They need to be, even though it's warm in the summer, it gets really cold - it was in the 30s almost the whole time we were in Cappadocia. He was sweet, until he tried to eat a few of the students trying to take photos of him... He smelled a bit, too.
After a long, long day, we drove back to the hotel through snow. We had dinner, and Hallie, Amy, and I, went to the spa, got in our pajamas and ordered a bottle of wine - an experience in itself. We went down to the bar to see if we could buy one, but had to try about 3 different places in the hotel before we found someone who could both help and speak English. We finally found someone, who insisted on bringing us a bottle to the room. Our room, by the way, was a mess. When they came to deliver the wine (apparently it takes two of them), they awkwardly stepped around our piles of clothes, towels, shoes, etc... and laid out a little display on the table (also covered in random books, phones and computers). He brought us something that he had "made special for us." It was a tea light candle balanced on top of a tiny glass which he had filled with some of the wine. We also stood there, awkwardly, while he slowly poured the wine. He poured a little in each glass, like he was going to have us test it, but then filled them each without having us taste. It was really well intentioned, but made for an incredibly awkward 5 minutes. We kept looking at each other and trying really hard not to laugh. One of the girls had run down the hall to talk with another person, and came back right in the middle of the whole scene - she was clearly confused. The ceremonious wine pouring finally ended and we settled in and relaxed - it was a great way to end a long day.
The next day we headed back toward Göreme, picking up Efe on the way. We had to leave for Istanbul that evening, so it was a shorter day than Saturday had been. Our first stop was Pigeon Valley - a nesting place for the pigeons. They are thought to be good luck, and used almost like farm animals in Cappadocia. Their eggs were used for painting, as I mentioned, and they were used to deliver messages to Istanbul. They were useful in other ways, but I can't remember right now... We had another (and final) "fifteen, tventy minutes" for photos. It was one of the best views that we had.
A tree with some Cappadocian pots - this looks like what I imaging the Southwest US looks like (without the snow).
At Pigeon Valley, there was a tree covered in the evil eyes. I don't think I've talked about these before... I'll discuss them later in a longer post, because they're everywhere, but essentially they ward against evil eyes (jealousy, or anyone wishing to do you harm). My favorite color is blue, so I love them. I'm a little obsessed... The tree was so beautiful - here is a photo. One of my friends broke one when she went to look at it, then didn't know what to do, so she took it. We nagged her the whole way back to Istanbul that if something bad happened, it was her fault. All seems okay now, but don't mess with the evil eye - you're playing with fire!
After Pigeon Valley, we headed to Turasan Winery to do a wine tasting. Cappadocian wine is famous in Turkey, and Turasan is the second largest winery in Turkey. We walked through the room where the grapes are fermented them proceeded to the store where we tried the wine. Turned out, it was the same wine that we had had the night before. It was pretty good!
Our final stop was the underground city. It was an entire maze of houses and community facilities underground. They warned us beforehand not to go in if you are claustrophobic or have asthma - it is very tiny and very dusty and stuffy. It was really neat, but you really can only stay down there comfortably for about 10 - 15 minutes.
There's electric lighting all through the caverns now, but I have no idea how they lighted the dwellings originally - they're so dark!
Hallie and I, deep inside the city
One of the many tiny tunnels
After the underground city we got back on the bus to head home. We said goodbye to Efe and got on our way. The ride home was long, but we had many spirited games of Contact to pass the time. Overall it was an amazing weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment