Cappadocia: 28 March to 4 April 2004 (a 1200 mile driving trip through Turkey)

We left Marmaris in our Fiat rental car about 9 a.m. Sunday, March 28, heading first for the ancient ruins of Aphrodisias, about two hours away. Evidence shows early settlements dated back to the Early Bronze Age (2800-2200 B.C.), but it truly prospered around 800 B.C., when pilgrims began flocking to the famous Aphrodite temple, dedicated to the goddess of love. The Byzantines transformed her temple into a Christian church in 350 A.D. and the Anatolians sacked the city in 1402. Aphrodisias never recovered. After the 1956 earthquake, U.S. and Turkish archaeologists started excavating and found the temple, a large outdoor theater, and much more. We spent a couple of hours wandering around ruins of the temple and living quarters, theater, agora (market area), Roman baths and a large open air strolling mall by a small lake, complete with singing frogs. Inside the stadium which sat 30,000 people, I located a nice rock niche (the equivalent to row F-seat 6) and imagined the spectacle that could unfold before me and the rest of the cheering masses. Wow! A nice museum housed many marble statues, nicely labeled, rescued from the excavations.

We ate a quick lunch in the car while watching a couple of very large goats investigating our car. The male left his teeth marks on the rubber rear bumper before their herder shooed them away.

At Pammukkale we located the Koray Hotel, claimed by the guidebook to be the best deal in town. We followed the signs along the roadway and found it, only to realize the sand being dumped at the front door meant big time remodeling. And the place looked like a bomb had recently hit! They did have some rooms still open, but in hindsight we should have gone elsewhere. Breakfast, always included in hotels here, consisted of some greasy scrambled eggs and bread with jam, hardened in their packets over time. The Police were monitoring our car when we came out of the hotel, but didn’t bother us. We had visited Pammukkale many years ago. Now changes have been made so you couldn’t get too close to the limestone formations. Before, people had their swimsuits on climbing all over the place, enjoying the water flowing over the rocks.

On to Lake Egirdir for lunch before riding on to Konya, located on a high plain and home of the whirling dervishes. Unfortunately they were not currently performing. The biggest attraction there is the Melvana Museum, which contains the ceremonial hall, displays of memorabilia and old manuscripts, as well as many tombs of the dervish sect—the main one, the 13th century founder.

From Konya we continued East to Cappadocia, which means “land of beautiful horses.” In Roman times a special tax was imposed on the sale of these horses. There we found “a bewitching landscape of spectacularly eroded tuff,” created about 30 million years ago when three erupting volcanoes blanketed the region with ash. Over time erosion wore the hardened tuff away, creating unique formations, including the capped cone ones fondly called “fairy chimneys.” Some of these were actually lived in until the 1950s when they were closed to habitation for safety reasons.

We spent two days exploring the land and these extraordinary formations. Hasan Uludac, from Rose Carpet in Goreme, became our personal guide and the first day escorted us by car to get the lay of the land. We started with the Goreme Open Air Museum, just outside town. There we climbed in and out of many churches carved into the landscape formations, and studied the frescoes still staring back at us from many years ago. The area was originally inhabited by a monk from Egypt, St. Basil, who heard about the area and came to establish an underground community of monks and nuns in the 12th century. Two churches stood out of all we saw. The Dark Church, with its lack of light, has kept the vivid colors of the frescoes--especially Christ on the cross and his betrayal by Judas. In the Buckle Church you could read the life of Jesus from conception to death by turning in a continuous circle as the story unfolded on different wall levels.

We then drove to Zelve and investigated fairy chimneys up close by climbing inside and looking up to the top and out from the windows. In Avanos, only a short drive away, Hasan introduced us to a potter who told us the way young people get together for marriage. If the man can make a pot with a very tight fitting lid (two separate pieces) while the prospective in-laws look on, he is accepted. Then his parents get to see if the “bride to be” can weave a decent carpet. These are skills needed to make money, in early times and even now.

Our guide had been born in a cave, which he is now turning it into a cave hotel. We went there for a pide lunch (something like pizza, but more individual sized) and climbed to the roof to see extensive canyon views. After lunch we drove south of Goreme to see one of the large underground cities open for viewing. Seven floors below ground level gave us a feel for how people lived in times of danger above ground. Several huge boulders stood ready to roll in place and close off the main passage and safely seal them in. We never saw the toilet facilities during our tour. Normally I am not anxious to go below ground, but felt safe with Hasan, whom I had dubbed, my Turkish James Bond. He did resemble a shorter version of Sean Connery.

The second day we explored by foot, hiking for about five hours with a local guide, Salih Aydinoglu. This gave us the up close and personal feel to the surroundings while we scrunched along the well-used canyon trails, first down, then back up and down again. Salih also had keys to some cave chapels with good 12th-13th century frescoes.

In Goreme we stayed two nights at the Blue Moon Hotel, recommended by fellow cruisers, right in the middle of town. On our last night we took over the honeymoon suite, complete with Jacuzzi in the bath, at Hasan’s Canyon View Cave Hotel.

Cappadocia is truly a special place.