Hotel California (You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave)

Day 26 19 September 2010 Sunday Day 27 20 September 2010 Monday
Day 28 21 September 2010 Tuesday
Day 29 22 September 2010 Wednesday
Day 30 23 September 2010 Thursday

Goreme (Cappadocia)

On Sunday we traveled from Selime to Goreme which is under 200km but included two hitch hikes to the bus station in Aksaray (because the buses don‘t run often on Sunday), an intercity bus to the Nevsehir bus station, and a city bus from the bus station to the center of Nevsehir to catch another bus to Goreme. We found a pension we liked and spent the rest of the afternoon at its pool.

The second day in Goreme we just visited the Open Air Museum, a dense collection of churches with nice frescos and plenty of tour buses trying to monopolize the site.

The first night we had a 23 bed dorm room to ourselves.

Another classic motorcycle.



The third day we took a minibus north, near Avanos/Zelve, and walked back about 12km along trails which were also incredible mountain bike single track!

    

Between the rock homes the locals have terraced vineyards and orchards.

7 am over Goreme is a balloon fest everyday.

 1st millennium apartment block.

 Many of the trails travel through natural water drainage tunnels.

The fourth day we visited one of several “Underground Cities” in the area. We chose the site in the village of Mazikoy. This was a much more intimate tour with just a handful of people from our pension. It is estimated that these underground cities could house hundreds of people in security in the event of a siege for up to six months!

Drying white bean pods.

20lb medicine ball cabbage

On the fifth day, with the help of our host at the pension, we visited other interesting chapels.

We got to slot travel a half mile slot canyon off of the beaten track.

Unique chapel with demonic icons.

Beautiful grapes on terraced vineyards.

Cute Donkeys and Troglodyte Byzantine Churches

Day 24 17 September 2010 Friday
This day was devoted to traveling to the Cappadocia region. We stopped tonight in a tiny village named Selime. It lies just on the edge of the region, famous for towns, even cities dating back to pre-ottoman times that were created by peoples carving out homes, shops, barns, churches, etc., out of the soft, volcanic ash which then hardened to become tuff.

Tomorrow we will walk the 16km, Ihlara Gorge.

Day 25 18 September 2010 Saturday

The Ihlara Gorge composed of tuff, protected by a top layer of granite, with the Melendiz Suyu steam flowing through it was a popular retreat location for Byzantine monks.

The gorge is dotted with intricately carved churches.

The insides of the churches were covered in plaster and then thoroughly painted with frescos.

Many of the frescos have been defaced (literally) and have sustained considerable random vandalism over the past thousand years.

The Ihlara gorge, cutting through the arid Anatolian hills, provides a place for local villagers to grow fruits and vegetables all summer long.

We met several of the villagers along the path as well as their cute donkeys.

In Belisirma these local ladies were making their traditional pancakes (gozemele?), which is like a very thin large glutinous tortilla.

This day allowed us to get away from the mass tourist areas in the south and observe a bit of local life.
 

We finished the day near our pension climbing around the Selime Monastery. A huge single complex that included a two story cathedral with galleries, a large kitchen, and many ancillary chambers. We also climbed multiple hair raising sets of carved stairs before we stopped at a large chimney climb. This brought us to just below the hole with a masonry wall in the top left side of the hill.

Konya: capital of the Great Seljuk Empire from 1150-1300

Day 23 16 September 2010 Thursday

Although the guide book informed us that conservative Konya might be reserved in relating to western tourists, but we found them very hospitable and engaging; perhaps because we are more of a novelty.

Konya’s most famous resident was Celaleddin Rumi (1207-1273), sufi mystic philosopher, poet, and inspiration for his followers, the whirling dervishes.

“The Seljuks didn’t let Islam’s famous condemnation of images of creatures with souls (humans and animals) stand in the way of their art.” (Lonely Planet Turkey 2000 Edition)

More great turquoise and black tile work in the Karatay Museum housed in the Buyuk Karatay Medresesi.

We found our way to a market area and stumbled into the fruit/veggie/meat/cheese area. Somebody at a cheese shop was happy to give us a sample of goat cheese from this interesting natural casing.

Leaving Side

Day 22 15 September 2010 Wednesday

We turned away from the beach resorts today to central Anatolia and by the late afternoon we were in Konya. But before we left Side we took another couple hours to check out the sights.

Pediment from the Temple of Apollo with faces.

Warning when they sell you a boat tour of the harbor on a sailing ship, they probably don’t tell you it will be with two hundred of your closest new friends.

Parasailing, paragliding, parachuting, and ultra light flights are some of the popular airborne activities offered in this costal area.

Side

Day 21 14 September 2010 Tuesday

Side is an Hellenistic port town that enjoyed a boom period by harboring pirates and incoming slave ships before being annexed by the Romans. Today it is popular with German package tourists.

Much of the site with the exception of the theater is freely open to exploration.

We always appreciate when exploring sites outside the USA, the visitor accepts responsibility for his or her own actions and safety.

What do you do when you have so many columns to re-erect and so little time and money? You catalog and file them away somewhere the won’t get lost.

Olimpos

Day 20 13 September 2010 Saturday

Olimpos is a laid-back archeological site tucked in a narrow forested valley beside a scenic beach. It has become popular with backpackers for its chilled atmosphere and “tree house” bungalows.

Kekova

Day 19 12 September 2010 Saturday

We took our first tour today, to kayak over the sunken Byzantine city around the island of Kekova and a few more Lycian sarcophagi.

Glamour shot with coffin. We have seen postcards of this exotic location throughout Turkey. Little did we know that you can wade out 30 ft from shore in waist deep water and touch it. How is that for exotic?

Other sarcophagi along the famed Lycian way that was an unexpected bonus to our kayak tour when the afternoon winds cancelled our return kayak journey.

Kas

Day 18 11 September 2010 Saturday

Kas is the cute port city, popular with Turks. We heard that it was packed during the holiday weekend.

Lycian Tomb 6th -2nd Century BC

Lycian script on tomb

A couple eastern block motorcycles.  The first is something Russian I believe, the second is a Jawa.