Prayers at Hunat Mosque, Kayseri

Portrait of local bus drivers at Kayseri's Yogunburc Street station

After Cappadocia, in the interest of making use of whatever time I have here in Turkey, I thought it was not too smart to be spending the whole day travelling. So next to the region of Nevsehir, is a large city called Kayseri which I could get to in a few hours, and if I am lucky, I can catch an overnight bus to Antakya all the way down south.

7 September 2009:
Kayseri is also called Caesarea in ancient times before the arabs conquered it. I suppose this is the famous Caesarea that I have heard about. No idea what is there but no harm checking it out to know (Ed: Apparently it is not, there is another Caesarea in Israel). Most people I’ve spoken to in Cappadocia were amazed I was going there as it has nothing to see there.

Urgup to Kayseri

1100hrs: Right on the dot, the bus starts leaving Urgup’s otogar for Kayseri. Fare: 6TL. The next bus to Kayseri is in 2 hours after lunch so it is perfect that I’m here at this time. The bus indicates that it goes to Nevsehir but I was assured it goes where I thought it was going. Along the way out of Urgup it stops to pick up passengers, and soon it is full, about 30+ passengers as my quick estimate puts it. As it passes the local police station, a policeman comes on board to check, possibly visual profiling, but I, being the only asian looking person, was not checked in detail. And in less than 10 mins we are on the road into the Cappadocian desert, dodging the occasional farmer’s donkey and tractor carts that takes up a whole lane on the road. This highway has 2 lanes and bidirectional, and rather devoid of any vehicles, meaning that the bus driver could drive as fast as he wants. Landscape are craggy hills, valleys with poplar trees and farms. Seems like there are plenty of pumpkin farms around. My GPS registers our speed at less than 90kmph.

Kayseri Otogar Interiors

Loading up water on a hot day at the otogar...

Exterior of Kayseri Otogar

1216hrs: Arrived at Kayseri Otogar after an hour on the highway. The otogar is made up of a few buildings in the outskirts of Kayseri city and one of the building houses the ticket booths. Saw one with a midnight bus to Hatay/Antakya so I took a sleeping berth, so I think, for 40TL which is about the most expensive bus trip thus far, but it saves the hotel expense so, could be worth it. The girl at the counter thought I was Japanese again, and I learnt from her Turkish for ‘hello’ is ‘merhabah’ (similar to arabic I thinks) and ‘goodbye’ is ‘gule gule’ which I see a lot while driving in the Cappadocian countryside in the last 3 days. This otogar looks modern and has plenty of shops. I see left luggage service too, which I will use to deposit my bags till tonight, and make a trip to Kayseri’s merkezi (town centre)!

Little ticket booth to buy bus tickets before boarding...

I don’t remember which bus number I took, but the stopping point was at Ataturk Boulevard, indicated by the GPS on my phone. This city looks a little more modern compared to the Cappadocian tourist towns, and a short walk later I am at Kursunlu Mosque, a small little place overlooking a park with the statue of Mimar Sinan. After a little investigation later on, I realised that the architect’s birthplace is in Agirnas, not too far from Kayseri. However it is probably too difficult for me to walk Kayseri and also to visit this place.

Ataturk Boulevard, Kayseri

Small street downtown

Local residents having a chat on the street

The center of the city is characterized by a large Mimar Sinan Park. That is where the statue is located, and Kursunlu Mosque is on its southern perimeter. On the south east perimeter is a Hilton, one of the first I’ve seen this trip. And just in the park is a Madrasah whose name I seem to have forgetten, and did not manage to type down. On a hot day, a walk in the park in the shade is just something I need, but there are not too many trees here.

Kursunlu Mosque

Kursunlu Mosque: Central courtyard wash area

Kursunlu Mosque: Central courtyard

Mimar Sinan's statue at the park with his namesake

Madrasah in Mimar Sinan Park

1456hrs: Having late light lunch at a restaurant on the second floor overlooking the Kayseri Citadel and next to the tourist agency. Since it is ramadan season, I’m the only customer today. The time is not exactly lunchtime either. Having the Kayserian speciality, Pastirma, the original pastrami. The dish I ordered: cured bacon, cooked in paper/aluminium wrapping, tomato slices, lemon slice, and parsley. Goes with ekmek bread. Extremely good I tell you.

Lunch at Kayseri: Pastirma. Good stuff.

Kayseri's Cumhuriyet Meydani with Mount Erciyes in the horizon

Public water fountain at the Cumhuriyet Meydani (Republic Square?)

Sahamiye Madrasah

Mean bike. 'Nuff said.

1600hrs: 20 minutes before prayer time and I am at Hunat Hatun mosque. Seljuk architecture is a little flatter and does not have the massive domes a-la Aya Sofia. The entrances are the same with the high arch and double door and the half dome with stalagtites hanging off it, but the interiors are a lot less space-y compared to ottoman. This is because the massive domes in Ottoman Sinan-inspired mosques allow for large pillarless halls.

Hunat Hatun Mosque: Entrance to the Madrasah

Hunat Hatun Mosque: Mosque Entrance

Hunat Hatun Mosque: Mosque Entrance detail

Anyway, when entering the mosque, I was asked by the caretaker, an old man who speaks french, to freely take photos inside while a quran recital goes on. So we chatted a little bit in French before I asked for permission to have a portrait of him taken.

Hunat Hatun Mosque: Prayers

Hunat Hatun Mosque: Un portrait de la concierge

Hunat Hatun Mosque: Seljukian architecture are full of pillars and normally the central dome, like this one, does not take up the whole floor area.

Outside and across the main road from Hunat Mosque, I come across the main bazaar, almost as big as the one in Istanbul. Shops on the outside mostly sell spices, what looked like chilli powder and curry, and plenty of tomato paste. Other shops sell pastrami and other dried meat and sausages. Strangely Kayseri only. Other places don’t have this.

Kayseri's Grand Bazaar

Kayseri's Grand Bazaar in colour

Pastirma Shop just outside the Grand Bazaar

Between the bazaar and Ulu Mosque is Vezir Hani, a caravanserai in the city. This part of town looks older and my Leica M6 comes out to play here. And around the corner is the city’s citadel that forms the center of the city. The existing wall is what you expect a castle wall to look like. The inside of the citadel looks like a market, but I skipped the inside, preferring to have a look at the other mosques around this area.

Vezir Hani Caravanserai

Kayseri Citadel exteriors

Kayseri Citadel: Feeding the doves

1701hrs: Taking refuge inside Ulu Mosque, another with Seljuk styling and almost 900 years old. But in the courtyard where the water taps are, the bricks in the arches are Ottoman looking. According to the sign in front of the mosque, some of the pillars in this building is recycled from roman buildings around Kayseri. So here I am sitting inside the mosque after the 1620hr prayer time, checking out the architecture of this mosque. There is a stairs leading down from the entrance. Style of the interior is very much like Hunat Mosque earlier. What is apparently is that these Seljuk era buildings are less spacious and displaces less air as the ceilling is lower. As Ottoman domes are almost 10 storeys high, or higher, Seljuk ceillings and domes are less than half of that. Architecturally it looks like a box.

Ulu Mosque: Washing up

Ulu Mosque: Waiting outside the mosque

Ulu Mosque: Prayer in progress

Ulu Mosque: Interiors

1824hrs: Walking down Talas Caddesi and passed Alaca Tomb in the middle of the road. At the junction, turned right into Yogunburc Caddesi and came upon a small bus station with mini buses with a strange model Deustch. They all seem to go to Gultepe, and the drivers are friendly, in an intimidating way, but nothing preventing me to ask them for a portrait of friends in front of their money-earner.

Alaca Kumbet, in the middle of Seyyid Burhanettin Boulevard

Local mini buses at Yogunburc Caddesi

Mini Buses at Yogunburc Caddesi

Then it is a walk back Talas Caddesi past an old Ottoman house that is called Gupgupoglu Konagi and a house where Ataturk used to stay when he was in Kayseri. Neither were open when I was there as it is coming close to 7pm. Close to the citadel, I joined the citizens in waiting for the prayers to go off before breaking fast and eating. What most do is to order their fast food and just chat till the prayers start, then in a few minutess they are all out the door, a whole day waiting for this moment to eat. Of course I had a light lunch today, don’t think I could have gone through the day walking Kayseri while fasting.

As it was getting dark, would be a good idea to return to the otogar and wait for my midnight bus to Hatay. The Turkish map I loaded to my Nokia E71 is quite useful. I had the coordinates of the otogar locked this afternoon and all I have to do is to leave the phone close enough to the window and watch my red dot get closer to the otogar. 200m away I just press the bell. At the otogar, I tried out the internet cafe there. Cost 2TL for an hour and while the Turkish keyboard is QWERTY, the ‘i’ seems different. In the usual position is an ‘i’ with the dot missing. That caused me not to be able to get into some websites that required the conventional alphabetic ‘i’. Even after an hour of internet, there is still 2 hours to run, so time for some turkish tea, cay. I doubt 2 hours at the otogar could be eventful, so it should be time to sign off, here in the most islamic city after Konya, and coincidentally both with strong Seljukian influences.

Closing time at the Grand Bazaar

Night time at the Citadel

24hr Left luggage at Kayseri Otogar, strangely closed, but eventually realised that the operator had to go for supper. The guy in the picture was desperate for his bags as his bus was leaving very soon.

Contrary to what most people say, Kayseri is not too bad. Sure there is the occasional racist here, probably not used to seeing foreigners who don’t look like them. My ipod and sound isolating earbuds go on in crowded places so I can legitimately ignore them. The only english speaking guy tries to lure me into his shop, and you’ve guessed it, to look at carpets. Surprisingly, the friendliest people here ended up as a latent image on my Kodak Tri-X negatives for posterity. I get to practise my French with the caretaker of Hunat Camii, and the cured beef, Pastirma is surprisingly good. I don’t know if I will be back here again. Surely I have not finished yet, there’s Agirnas outside Kayseri, famous being the birthplace of the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, and best of all, there are houses there with his style of design. Too bad it is 30 km out of Kayseri and require nimble bus hoppery to get there, not impossible though. To guage how good this place is, I just wandered the city center and I went through a little more than a roll of film. The DSLR stays in the bag. I like Kayseri, in a special way. Bring the ignorance earplugs if you dont look local, and enjoy the city and revell in its Seljukian heritage and a lone Ottoman Sinan-designed mosque.

Tomorrow I will be in Hatay/Antakya, ancient name Antioch of the biblical fame, playground of St Paul.

Nothing better than a fully stocked dessert shop

Sunset in Kayseri

Continue to Antakya…

*end*

aa

Cappadocia

6 September 2009:
The plan today will be to cover the south-western part of Cappadocia, visiting some underground cities which the Christians lived while escaping the invading Seljuks. Right after will be the Ihlara valley, dotted with rock cut churches. Quite obviously the church will be just the same as the others I have seen in Cappadocia so far so the interest is more in the scenery. I plan to rush through it and not walk the whole valley.

After a heavy breakfast made of olives, goat cheese (like the french chevre) and bread, it’s time to start the day before 10am. Will drive past Uchisar and its hill top castle hewn out of a rocky hill and pass Pigeon Valley lookout point. You know the view here is good when you see tour buses. Valley on the right, and the ancient city of Uchisar in the background. And true to its name, there are pigeons around.

Pigeon Valley, with Uchisar Castle in the background

I don’t plan to stop too long at all the interesting spots. Soon I’d go southwards, passing highway 330, Kavak and on the way to Kaymakli through Cardak. The views are of rolling plains, a pleasant drive in the morning. The road is not too wide, enough for 2 lanes to and fro. With the windows wound down, the smell of garlic permeates the air. There are sacks of garlic fresh off the field on the roadside. No, it didn’t come across my mind to nick one. But this is a nice drive, about 40km to go.

Eventually I hit the main north-south road connecting Nevsehir and Kaymakli. It is still farming area here but soon I’d hit Kaymakli. Signs abound pointing to the underground city there, but right at the same spot I branch off to the right towards the satellite town Ozluce, with a lot less tour buses. As quickly as Kaymakli started, once I turned right I was in the open fields again and it is possible to see Ozluce in the distance.

1107hrs: Typing this out at Ozluce Underground City next to the village of the same name, minus the ‘underground’ part obviously. The place is right inside the village, follow the signs and you will not get lost. This one definitely looks out of the way for the tour groups that prefer the other 2 more popular underground cities, Derinkuyu and Kaymakli.

I drive the only car parked at the small shaded area. A guy comes up and ushers me into a small little stone house numbered 18. Inside is a small room with nice carpet strewn sofa and old farming tools and an old pair of leather shoe hanging on the wall. Naturally a good place to let go a barrage of B&W film on. I asked the guy how long to do the whole place and he says 10 something in part sign language. Can’t be hours so I guess must be minutes. Hope it is not 10 storeys of caves to explore. Stairs go down about a floor underground and first thing you come across is a medium sized chamber with a wheel as a door to block the entrance. There is a well as air ventilation shaft and potteries all over the place. The tunnel is lit with 60W incandescent bulbs requiring ISO1600 to shoot properly. At 400 I was able to do half second with my Ricoh. A few passages leads away from the main chamber and I follow it until it winds a little too much. I am the only one here and GPS don’t work so I thing better to play safe and not get too far. The air is cool here, easily 20C or slightly below when it is scorching hot outside. Nice. I will rest here for a while. The caves here look like they are dug out of clay, none of the rocky or crumbly caves which most churches I have seen in the last 2 days were made of.

On the way into Ozluce

Ozluce: Small farming village

I wonder where it is....

Entrance to the underground city. It is quite well marked. Making sure you don't miss it!

Ozluce: Underground City caretaker

Ozluce: Entrance. No way to get in here without the bulbs in operation, and the caretaker's job is just that. To turn on the lights.

Ozluce: Heavy door blocks the entrance when they are in hiding mode.

Ozluce: Main Cavern

On the way out, I had a chicken-duck, or Japanese-Latin type conversation with the caretaker, after donating some electricity and cay money to him. He sure looks like he could do with some. So if I heard right, Ozluce is 4 levels deep, probably mostly accessible, but I visited only one, should give me enough idea of the whole city-cave thingy. Spent some time chatting to him about the farm tools that adorn the wall of his lodge that is also part of the cave entrance. Right next to it is a little room that used to be the stable on ground level when people go into the cave. No idea what the old entrance looked like though it has to be a hole in the ground.

A short drive out to the main road I’m at Kaymakli again. I cannot afford to see multiple underground cities that cost 15TL each! I see many tour bus parked at this one so I decided to head off to the next and biggest underground city. Thus a drive to Derinkuyu which also has the deepest underground city in this area.

1202hrs: At Derinkuyu, after following the signposts in the small town, parking is 2TL and entrance 15TL, you can tell this is a tourist enterprise in the highest order. The underground city (aka Yeralti Sehri apparently in Turkish) entrance is also more elaborate than the crappy surrounding city. Its like going to a mansion in the middle of a slum. Rightly so, tour buses are all over the place.

Derinkuyu: Souvenir stands at the carpark

 

Derinkuyu: It was impossible to find your way around the underground city even after taking a picture of this map for my reference down below

Derinkuyu: Ticket office

Derinkuyu: Well renovated entrance

Derinkuyu: Storage or dump?

Derinkuyu: And of course, what is an underground city without a large stone door?

Derinkuyu: This well reaches all the way to the bottom, about 8 storeys below, if I remember well enough.

Derinkuyu: Signs indicating entrance and exit. I think Red means entrance.

Derinkuyu: Inside is small, cramped, and claustrophobic, not to mention a bitch to shoot with a point and shoot without camera shake...

Derinkuyu: Voila, right at the bottom. Lucky to have caught this before the next wave of tourists came.

After a few minutes tapping out the coordinate of the place and updating this blog plus checking out a well that is supposed to be a ventilation shaft for the subterranean city, I start my way into a little door and stairs downwards.

Bloody hell right after going town, got stuck behind a large Korean tour group explaining away the functions of the chamber we are in while blocking off the whole passageway!

No idea where I am going but the idea is to head lower and lower till I hit the bottom of this ‘deep well’ city, as it is called. I will not remember what is what anyway, and at least I know they live, eat, shit and store things there. Managed to escape the Koreans in a large chamber.

1219hrs: Now about 4 levels down and stuck at a one way direction stairs deep down due to a large group of Spanish tourists on the way up. The stairs are one lane only, and most of them are not exactly fit i.e. fat, so not possible to squeeze through 2 abreast. There are old ones, young ones and slow and fast ones, as I say ‘Ola’ to them as they passed. Has to be 60 of them coming past! I shall spend my time blogging this underground. Good it is not hot down here.

And before I know it right at the bottom of the city, I bumped in to the Koreans again. Since I’m destined to follow a Korean tour this time, might as well just follow them. There are also arrows indicating the direction to go. Guessing that red arrows are for down, and blue for exit direction, since I see more red than blue so far. This cave is a lot bigger than Ozluce but I think some of it is cordoned off. There is no where it will fit the thousands that it is supposed to if what I have seen so far is the whole thing. At the bottom I measured 1332m with my Suunto Observer and at the ticket booth, it was 1364m, so only 30m down the well almost at the bottom. Walking between rooms is not fun at all, having to crouch down as I am 6 feet tall. Some staircase tunnels run tens of meters and sometimes my small backpack scratches the roof of the tunnel as I walk quasimodo style.

But it is good to back in the open after a half an hour down there.

1300hrs: Back in the car at Derinkuyu. Having a drink and an almond bar for my semi-fasting lunch. The tour groups are gone for lunch now, the Koreans just leaving before me.

I’m heading off to Ihlara Valley now, not too far away, another 50km or so according to my not-to-scale map. Good to know no more underground city along the way, in fact, I’m sure there are more but I have seen the mother of all underground cities, so there.

Derinkuyu to Ihlara Valley

To tell you the truth, if I was living back in the Byzantine times, I’d rather convert to Islam than to have to live in these tunnels.

1352hrs: Arrived in Ihlara village after almost an hour in the plains from Derinkuyu, passing a crater lake and Guzelyurt on my left. Took a slow drive. At Guzelyurt, it was possible to see the gorges the town was build on top of. Same when entering Ihlara village, rock cut abodes and churches in the dark red rocks are visible from the road, all in a narrow valley. I park at the entrance to the village at a square where old muslim men are gathering around tables, 2-6 each, just chatting and counting prayer beads. Unfortunately stopped too early and nothing tourist will enjoy here in the village center, I move on farther away.

1424hrs: Reached the tourist center which is a few kilometers out of the village center. Entrance fee is this time 5TL to enter the valley floor and the view here is amazing. No one comes to collect parking fee so I try to play dumb.

At the village of Ihlara, this stream is the source of the river that carved out the valley just after this...

Ihlara Valley car park

Ihlara valley is narrow, I’m guessing with my duffmeter that it is 100m-ish across and goes straight down about 75m. Obviously the only way down is by a knee busting set of stairs. It starts from the ticket booth and gets to the valley floor in no time. Good that the bottom is flat and has tree shade, and a pleasing stream running through it. Not to clean though so my DSLR stays in the bag at the valley floor.

Ihlara Valley: This is what it is all about...

Ihlara Valley: Straight down, valley floor contains many churches carved into the rocks. As if I have not had enough to see in the last 2 days...

Ihlara Valley: At the valley floor, after a long walk down a few flight of stairs...

Ihlara Valley: Interesting uneven ceiling of the church... Less amateurish, but still will not consider this professionally done!

Ihlara Valley: Signs point to churches all over the valley floor

Ihlara Valley: More signs...

Visited Agacalti Church and Yiyanli church but they look absolutely the same as the other churches, all the same. I think I might have seen too many churches cut into rocks. They all look the same. I think I need to mention the word ‘same’ many times to drive it across.

Time to head back to the car and do the shortcut trip to Belisirma in my car. None of those hiking thing today. Once I hike to Belisirma I will need to hike back to get my car. Unfortunately when I got back to the car park the attendant was there to rightly claim his 2TL parking fee.

The drive through Belisirma is quite interesting. I go downhill winding my way down to the river down below the cliffs and soon coming to a car park full of tour buses again. According to the map there should be a bridge and soon I find it hidden away with a tight left turn by the side of the stream.

After crossing the stream, I get to the other side of Belisirma which is like a messed up poor farming village. There are no road signs here and for the most part of the way, the road is uphill on the first gear only and if you get lost looking for your way out of the valley, I don’t blame you.

On the way to Bellisirma

Entering Bellisirma

Bellisirma: Up the hill back to the top of the Ihlara plateau

1553hrs: After leaving the Ihlara valley, I decided to check out Guzelyurt. As I entered the town perched on top of the hill, I see signs for an underground city and a monastery. Sounds familiar. Decide that I have had enough of both. U-turned and back tracked but a left turn on the way towards Ihlara and Aksaray caught my eye. At the end of it is Guzelyurt Golet, which I assume is an old monastery or church. The views here of the valley, lake and Guzelyurt town is amazing.

1635hrs: On the way out to Aksaray, I decided to run through Selime town, at the end of Ihlara valley. There is nothing special about the town, though it is below a hill with many eroded and interesting conical shapes and naturally, someone has carved rooms out of it.

View from Guzelyurt Golet

Another view from Guzelyurt Golet

Selime

Selime

Livestock on the roadside

1702hrs: Hit the highway and turned right towards Nevsehir. Just after I got on 330, a caravanserai called Agzikarahan calls out to me. This highway used to be the highway for travelling caravans, thinking it must be part of the silk road but citations needed. So a caravanserai is what you think it is. An ancient hotel for travelling caravans. If you recall, I was at one called Saruhan yesterday.

They are all designed about the same, rectangular in shape, grandish entrance with the carved inversed dome like the ones adorning Ottoman era mosques I have visited so far.

This one, however, is closed, door locked with chain and lock. And a whole gang of village kids comes upon me practising their english. First they ask for photo, and after noticing I have no digital preview to show them as I shot them with my Leica M6, the elder of the lot wanted to give me their address to mail the photo. I obliged, and soon the others are asking for free bicycles, for my camera and so on. Good luck, I turn my ignorance skills. Can’t do too much here as the caravanserai is closed.

Entering Agzikarahan

Agzikarahan Caravanserai: Local kids

Agzikarahan Caravanserai: And yes, I did ask them to stand there so that I can get away!

Soon back on the highway eastwards, direction Acigol, Nevsehir and hoping to make it to Uchisar castle in time for sunset. Along the way, spotted two more caravanserai, the first on the left, newly restored, but I missed the left turn. The second, also on the left is in ruins and there is a scaffold indicating it is being rebuilt. It is not too difficult to spot caravanserais, look for the rectangular stone building and the features on the arched entrance.

After leaving Acigol, got stopped by the police doing spot checks. Quite obvious they were looking for a certain person and a foreigner like me gets waved past. I did stop my car and when the policeman noticed my GPS he asked if it was a GPRS (sic). Not wanting to extend my stop I just said yes. Before long we were chatting about the spots I passed today, and I showed my cookie crumbs on my Garmin GPS to him.

1838hrs: Made it to Uchisar Castle, waiting for the sun to set. The door closes at 7pm so I probably don’t have time to see the sun going below the horizon, based on the timing from the last 2 evenings, sun setting a little past 7pm here. The castle is an interesting piece of work, and an entrance fee of 3TL is charged. It started off as a rock hill and ages of digging out cave compartments means and it becomes an anthill of sorts. Several flight of stairs later and I’m at the top, being careful not to step off the edge. There is a nice panoramic view of Cappadocia here, but nothing perfect due to the evening shadows meaning there will be spots of utter blackness when shot with a DSLR.

At the base of Uchisar Castle

Uchisar Castle is just a rock outcrop that was carved all the way till it becomes a livable building... It is also the highest point in this area

Evening in Cappadocia

And this is my final sunset in Cappadocia, before leaving tomorrow morning...

Watched my last sunset in Cappadocia from here, tomorrow I will leave this place and return the rental car. Has been a long drive today, but not too many strenuous walk or climbs, so that is good. Dinner tonight has to be a pottery kebab which this place is supposedly known for. And ending the night with sweet baklava and a glass of Cappadocian red wine.

Tomorrow, I will spend the day in a big city, Kayseri.

Sunset in Cappadocia, outside Goreme

Continue to Kayseri…

*end*

View of Cappadocia from Uchisar Castle

Dandelion in Soganli

Every tourist here in Istanbul seem to have Cappadocia on their itinerary. I overheard many talking about their plans. I’m no different, but instead of a package tour, I plan to go with a rental car. Price of petrol seems quite steep here, but the plan is set and the wheels are in motion. Hoping to be able to get out to the countyside early in the morning before the sun rises and before sunset, so a car will be useful. I will be flying into Nevsehir, not too many flights per week, and then transfer to Urgup to pick up my car and drive to Goreme for the night. Goreme will be my base for this trip.

Cappadocia is, of course, famous for 2 things I am aware of. First are the cappadocian horses, which I don’t expect to see this trip, and second the rock cut churches where the first christian cultists practised their religion in the early years, away from the eyes of their Roman masters.

4 September 2009:
0728hrs: Airport pickup at my hotel in Istanbul. This is one of those shuttle that picks up a bunch of people in different hotels. Cost 10TL so it is cheap. This morning is not a good day for the driver as all the passengers are late out of their hotel except for me. The driver and I exchanged complaints about late passengers while we waited. You could guess what kind of passengers. Follow your stereotypical instincts.

1143hrs: Arrived in Nevsehir after a standard flight. Nothing special to report about. The landscape on the way didn’t look too spectacular and the place looks dotted with many small villages. I can imagine driving to those places looking for high ground for a better view.

View from up high...

Nevsehir airport is quite far away from the city. Nothing much here, just an airport in the middle of nowhere. On arrival, I get picked up by a shuttle I booked online and next destination Urgup. The minivan zips through some desert and a town or two. Towns here look like typical eastern european mid sized cities, with a small town center and everything else is made up of standard issue apartment buildings made to be utilitarian rather to look good. Realised I was talking about Nevsehir! Nothing to see here, so we go past it on the way to Urgup.

Not too many flights to Nevsehir airport. Today there are less than 5.

Nothing special about Urgup either, but the city center looks more tourist friendly than the previous one. This is where I pick up my rental car. This time I get a sedan Renault Clio 1.4 but before it sounds like a car of the year, the one I got is a wreck, or half way to becoming so. There are knocks all over, and I swear it looks like this car is made of fiberglass. The knocks looks like it is. The cigarette lighter is not working, not a showstopped but I will have issues with my GPS power if this is the case. And even for a rental car company as big as National, this one gets delivered with no fuel in the tank! All I get is a tip on the nearest petrol kiosk on the way out to Goreme.

Goreme is easy enough to find. Just follow the sign that says Goreme Open Air Museum. Next stop, check into Kelebek Hotel. I have the coordinates in my GPS but still it took some time to look for it. Not too easy considering it is perched on top of a hill. Nice views from here. I get to have a cave single room that apparently used to be a small chapel during the early Christian times. Along the way to Goreme I passed the open air museum and the whole landscape is dotted with little caves carved into rock. The stone here is flaky, which explains why it doesn’t take too much effort to hack one out. But thinking about it, if the early settlers here all have chapels, and at time Christianity was banned, this place starts to sound like a 4th century cult compound!

Did I mentioned this hotel is nice? I dont have time to check it out, left my things and packed for the afternoon outing.

1416hrs: Took the short drive over to the Open Air Museum. Car park charges 3TL for parking fee and the entrance charges are 15TL for main entrance and 8TL extra for Karanlik Kilise. In summary this is an area where there are many early churches carved into the rock, some with frescoes, some with slightly modern painted walls and ceilings. Needless to say, the extra entrance fee into the Karanlik Kilise means that this is the one with the best preserved paintings. Most of the faces have been chipped off except for the ones up high. Not too high so I guess they got midgets to hack it. Easy, old frescoes dont have images and are mostly red in coloured, some iron oxide based pigment. New ones are more colourful. The churches are next to each other, which makes me wonder who gets to go to which. And they get higher and higher, meaning that there is a slope to climb. The whole trip took two and a half hours for me. And that is hanging around waiting for tour groups to pass before I go in.

Goreme Open Air Museum: Interesting rock church

Goreme Open Air Museum: Area Plan

Goreme Open Air Museum: Signboards come in 4 different languages

Goreme Open Air Museum: Waiting room

Goreme Open Air Museum: Metal grills cover holes on the ground that used to be tombs where they bury early Christians, at the entrance to the churches

Goreme Open Air Museum: Tour guide coming out of one of the churches

Goreme Open Air Museum: Slightly more modern and better looking Church fresco

Goreme Open Air Museum: More frescoes

Goreme Open Air Museum: And more...

Goreme Open Air Museum: This is an early fresco that is less professional, quite obviously not made by a professional artist

Goreme Open Air Museum: Some more...

Goreme Open Air Museum: Believe it or not, this is supposed to be a canteen. They sit in the trench.

Goreme Open Air Museum: Rock churches are small on the inside, and can be very dark.

Goreme Open Air Museum

Rock cut church

One more on the Open Air Museum

1658hrs: Done with the Open Air Museum and the sun is still out in full force. I spot the start of a trail so instead of going back to Goreme to a boring evening I decided to turn my GPS on and start trekking. The foot path is not just one and sometimes the whole area is full of it, so understandably it is easy to get lost. But where I am there are the loud whirl of tour buses so I will never get lost. Not like I can cover more than a kilometer or two in this terrain. After a few minutes I get to a cliff, but the landscape here is unique. I am at Rose Valley and the rocks are eroded to rounded cones here. Very surreal (if not for the plants growing all over the place). The camera comes out although it is close to impossible to balance myself with a DSLR around my neck. It could have been much better when the sun is much lower, close to sunset but no way I will wait 2 hours for that. I go on and before long I’m back at the car park. On the way back to the hotel I noticed a dirt track to my right that seems to go right into Rose Valley. I follow it for a kilometer or two and there are lookout points with rock structures that are like the ones that Goreme is famous for. By now the sun is starting to cast a slight hint of an orange glow, which is great! I stopped a couple times for the photoshoot and getting dust all over my bag and gears.

Now for the terrain, this part of Cappadocia is no where near flat. There are slopes. The stone that makes up all the structures here crumble easily. In fact it is entirely possible to pry a rock out of the block if you want to. With a finger. The path are mainly sandy, which makes walking up a slope that much difficult. Even more difficult considering I have a bag hanging on my right, left hand holding a lens bag, and a camera around my neck. Got to move with bent knee for the stability I need. And you have to be careful for sudden cliffs than drop tens of meter into the abyss. Not idea what is down there and no plan to find out either.

Nice Cappadocian landscape just across the road from the Open Air Museum. Will require some climbing though...

After a short walk, I got to see this nice vista that is, I think, Rose Valley. If you pay close enough attention, you can see the rectangular cuts of the old cave dwellings

And more surreal landscape...

And of course this is not just pure desert here...

... there are flowers...

... and there are berries here.

But this is why I'm here.

And there are farms here too, among the scarred landscape.

And some strange looking rock formations

Walking around is not difficult with paths like this one...

And sometimes the signs can be so crude, you would wonder if you can trust it.

Sometimes these rock cut churches or houses can look the same, and they are everywhere you look

And you need to find your way back to the road before sun down...

But this is also the time when the light is the best for taking photos...

When 7pm came it was clear why this called the Rose Valley. The setting sun casts a red hue onto the whitish rocks. However I don’t plan to stay here for too long after dusk. A short drive back and its time to stock up on the water, which all goes into the car boot and dinner consisting of Moussaka and pitta bread. Nice and light. 12.50TL for the meal in a restaurant.

Then it is time to call the day. Will have to do some research on what to do tomorrow now that I managed to get Goreme out of the way.

Dinner: Moussaka

Managed to snag a cave room tonight

Goreme: Off the town center

5 September 2009:
This is a driving day. So the plan is this, I will cover all the places around Goreme that can be done by car (be surprised, rental cars do go to many places!). Off the main plan, at least Devrent Valley, then a caravanserai where travellers stop to rest during the Seljuk era, then swing down back to Urgup, down to Mustafapasa and down to Soganli to see more rock cut churches.

Before 0500hrs: Have no idea what time it is, but the morning prayers woke me up. My cave room is nice, fell asleep right away last night without thinking about it being haunted by earlier versions of Christian theology, if they believe in bad spirits then.

A quick nap,and I woke up again, this time seeing balloons being inflated down in the valley outside Goreme. There has to be at least 20 of them, quite popular even considering the price they charge for it. An earlier 2 balloons rose first and were brought towards east, and it is possible to see the others keeping the altitude low and drifting westwards. The sun is about to rise, and I don’t know, watching sunrise from a balloon? Other than being romantically enticing, it is probably interesting in the sense it’s another way to watch sunrise. I’ve seen sunrise while cruising in an aircraft, and its the same sun. Without being a spoil sport, I drove at 6am off to a point outside Goreme but was disappointed. All silhouette, wrong direction. Will have to return in the evening then. Time to go back to sleep.

It is not easy to stay awake early in the morning, chasing good light. This is on the way back to Goreme.

Morning is so quiet here you can hear the hot air being blown into the balloons. I took the car up to a nice vantage point outside Goreme to see what the fuss is all about.

Goreme: Balloons and cave dwellings.

But seriously, at this moment, the light is probably too bright already to shoo anything exciting from up there.

1003hrs: And the driving day starts. The sun is out in full force, almost a sunny f16 day. Oh, and this morning, wondering whats wrong with my M6 meter, I changed the battery and lo and behold it is sunny f16 accurate again. This means that up till now I have been overexposing by up to a stop. No worries, will develop it accordingly.

The good thing about driving is that I could stop anywhere I feel like stopping. I could just run off into the desert to look for the right shot. The plants in this desert around Goreme are the dry type, sometimes looking more like dry grass. It has one irritating thing about it. It propagates by seeds with spikes, and they do get just about everywhere I dont want it to be in. Like between your shoe and socks, so every step hurts. And it takes effort to pry it loose. Makes me try not to wander off the path too much. Started the drive out of Goreme up pass Cavusin and turned right towards Zelve.

On the way to Zelve

There is another outdoor museum, similar to the one in Goreme, but I will give this one a miss.

Next stop: Devrent Valley. In a small area cramped with tour buses, differential erosion in the valley caused a high concentration of pinnacles, much more than the other areas per square km. It is possible to walk between them, following paths. This is nothing very personal at all, you share the walk with countless tourists, but still not as busy as Goreme Open Air Museum. The bright sun and dark shadows make it impossible to shoot too much with my DSLR, so I make this my stroll. It is possible to branch off the road to Goreme to the left and have a view of the valley from an elevated position. The area is not too big, hence the high concentration of cones, and in less than half hour, I’m back at the car.

Road through Devrent Valley. If you squint hard enough, you can see the tour buses parked on the roadside.

Another view of Devrent Valley

This is why tour groups love this place. Drop off tourists on the road-side and they can take a 30mins walk around the cones and back to the roadside where the tour bus would be waiting, and then lunch!

More Devrent

Its time to swing up north again along a road to Avanos filled with potholes. At the outskirt of Avanos I follow a sign pointing towards Saruhan caravanserai, my first.

Leaving Avanos, Next stop: Saruhan Caravanserai in the middle of the desert

Saruhan is a caravanserai by its own in the middle of farm area and with a highway passing right in front of it. This one has been renovated and hosts dinner functions and evening whirling dervish dance. There is a small entrance fee charged to go in and entering the nice door with arch designed similar to most mosques I have been to in Turkey so far, I am in an open courtyard with resting area and covered rooms. It is possible to visit the venue of the dervish dance, which is in a cosy place on the inside,a square platform surrounded by seats. The roof is accessible via stone steps and there is a small mosque above the entrance. I was expecting caravanserai to be shabby wooden structures, not expecting this relative luxury. Must have been nice to rest here in ancient times while on the trade route.

Saruhan Caravanserai: Interior Courtyard

Saruhan Caravanserai: This place has been renovated, but still striking

Saruhan Caravanserai: Something tells me this is Seljukian architecture

Saruhan Caravanserai: Interior courtyard, probably where the merchants would hang out, resting from the hot sun

Saruhan Caravanserai: Inside

Saruhan Caravanserai: Whirling Dervish performance area

Saruhan Caravanserai: Surroundings

Then it is time to backtrack towards Avanos, and then past Urgup to the south. After exiting Urgup, saw a sign indicating a church.

1223hrs: The road turns off the main road and a few km later, I am at Sarica Church, cut into the rock on a hill. There is an old man in a little inverted V shelter talking on his mobile. As I walked towards the church he came towards me, and I guessed it means there is an entrance fee. I paid a few TL and was issued a ticket. He then walked down with me and opened the gate into a door in the cliff face, and turned on the lights and explained where to go in Turkish. There are signboards and explanation panels inside, along with an award from the EU commission of something. The church has frescoes as usual, and this one is relatively bigger than the ones I have seen in the Open Air Museum yesterday.

On the way out the old man told me to explore the other churches carved into the rocks on the open valley floor but I told him it is too hot. What ensues is quite interesting. I dont understand Turkish but he mentioned he is 76 years old and he goes to all the churches everyday. So we chatted, hoping each other knew what the other was saying and in the hot afternoon sun. After taking a few photos of the old man, we waved goodbye and he walked me to the car before going back to his small shelter to wait for the next tourist.

Sarica Church: Portrait of the church caretaker. Nice guy.

Sarica Church: Surroundings

Sarica Church: Well renovated

Sarica Church: Frescoes look similar to the less sophisticated ones at the Open Air Museum in Goreme

Sarica Church: Once you are done with Sarica, it is possible to walk down to the valley floor to have a look at other churches. It was too hot, and I had a long journey today, so skipped it.

There is another church down the road, but decided to continue down south. Passed Mustafapasa, an interesting town. There are many greek sounding places when I ram right into the city center looking for the way out south. There are churches to be explored and greek houses. And the city center had buildings made out of the same sand coloured stones so it looks very uniform and pleasing to the eye. Before long, and a few loops in town, found my way out of town, towards Cemil, Taskinpasa and Sahinefendi.

Mustafapasa is an interesting small town with a greek feel to it

Downtown Mustafapasa

After Sahinefendi, the road climbs out of the valley floor hugging the cliff face till it reaches the top of the cliff. There are many warehouses carved into the rocks at the top on the right and left of the road and it is clear that these are modern, the doors and locks speaks plenty.

Natural warehouses by the road side just up the hill after Sahinefendi

The way to Guzeloz are all high up on a plateau, with farms on both side, very different from the earlier route before Sahinefendi. A few km later, the road drops down to the valley floor again and passed Guzeloz, a small agricultural town. Taking the road leading to Kayseri.

The plateau just after Sahinefendi has some of the nicest landscape views around this area

And roads straight as hell...

1418hrs: Soganli. The road to Soganli branches off the the right. Soon I am in a valley surrounded by tall eroded cliffs that are vertical on the top. The view is beautiful, nothing that can be captured in photos, just something to experience. This small town is poor.

Before hitting the ticket office, there is already a church on the road which required some climbing up rocks on worn steps.

After ticket office and paying the small entrance charge, I was explained to go in with my car, which is a good thing as I was not sure I am in a mood for ong walks. Turned left first and drove all the way to the end: Tahtali Kilise awaits me. This one required crossing a small wooden bridge and a climb up a small slope.

Then on the way out where I came in, the first church I skipped earlier is Church with Deer (Geyikli Kilise). No idea what deer, didn’t see one on the frescoes.

Then time to make my way to the churches on the right of the entance. First on right: Karabas Kilise, then Yilani Kilise at the end. the next few churches are on a hill with footpath leading up to it. Up the hill, first church is the Domed church (Kubbeli Kilise) and after that, one called Hidden church. It is hidden alright. All these are set in the Soganli Valley, with strange rock structures everywhere.

It is a nice walk if not for the sun. On the top of cliff, it is possible to see little holes cut into the rock at impossible height, mostly with white markings on the door. This place used to be a burial necropolis in ancient times, has to be the Roman empire.

Soganli: This is one of the first churches when you get to Soganli by car. Don't get misled by the photo, the steps ARE steep...

Soganli: Now I don't remember the name of this church, but it is definitely fancy

Soganli: And this one I'm sure what it is called. Kilise is turkish for Church, of course.

Soganli: Entrance to Tokali Church

Soganli: You come here to see the exteriors. The inside of the churches are not better than the ones I have seen so far.

Soganli: Surrounded by amazing cliffs. There are windows carved out of it!

Soganli: Square windows visible this time. I read somewhere the this was used as a burial crypt... Did not climb up there to check it out...

Soganli: Requires a little trek at the end of the right turn. Soganli has two branches, one left, and the other right.

Soganli: At the top of the crest at the right arm of the park

Soganli: One of the earlier churches close to the entrance

Soganli: Karabas Church

Soganli: More views from the slope

On the way out of Soganli Valley back to Urgup/Goreme before the sun sets

A good hour or more later, backtrack along the cookie crumbs back to Urgup, passing through Mustafapasa again to take sone town photos.

1755hrs: Back around Goreme, and decided to catch the sunset at rose valley sunset point. This area is really for the sunset only, apart from being the trail head for rose valley. There is an entrance fee for cars at 1TL per person.

This rock formation outside Urgup is quite popular with the tour buses

Where there are tourists there are souvenir stalls. This is at the area where the twin rock formations are found.

Sun set over Uchisar Castle

1940hrs: Back in Goreme after sunset. Been a long day today. Been through a large area and diversity of sights. First was the Cappadocian landscape as told by tour brochures, then explored my first Caravanserai. On the way to Soganli, passed a few old style villages where agriculture is the main staple. And ending with sunset among the cones in the sunset point just outside Urgup.

Ground brush at Soganli

Self portrait at Sunset Panorama point outside Urgup

Dinner: Chicken Stew. Looks normal, but tastes good. Maybe I was hungry.

Interesting looking carpet shop in downtown Goreme that I came past after dinner...

Sunset over Cappadocia...

Tomorrow, my last day in Cappadocia, I will drive down to Ihlara Valley and on the way, visit some of the underground cities that the early christians lived in to escape from the invaders.

Continue to Cappadocia Day 3…