Derinkuyu

I really enjoyed a restful night in the quiet of the country. After breakfast, I joined a day trip.

First they drove us in a van to the nearby town of Uçhisar where we viewed the tuff rock outcrop and had the geological stuff explained to us.

Then we went to the piece de resistance, the Underground City complex at Derinkuyu. These cities, of which Derinkuyu is the best known, were believed to have been first excavated in the 7th or 8th centuries BC and then enlarged by Christians in the Byzantine era. They were used to hide from marauders in times of invasion. The figures are awesome: 11 floors extending to a depth of 85m, capable of housing tens of thousands of people together with their livestock and food stores. Entrance to the city was controlled by a "millstone" with a peephole that could be rolled to seal the passage from the inside only. What's more, many such cities were connected in a network by kilometers of underground tunnels. Naturally, the electrical wires you see here do not form part of the original installation, hahaha.

Only about 10 percent of the city is open to tourists. I'm sure archaeologists are kept busy studying these cities.


This is a small chapel in the depths of the city. I admit to feeling uneasy with the tons of rock above me.

Then they took us to see an impressive gorge.

After lunch, they showed us the odd conical mounds that were used as a backdrop for the original Star Wars film. Certainly looks other-worldly out of context.

More of those mounds.

They took us to see a caravanserai. Caravan is a group of travellers, and serai is related to the Turkish word saray for palace or an enclosed space. Remember Topkapı in Istanbul? Its full name is Topkapı Sarayı.


These rest stops were set up by rulers to provide safe lodging for travellers, especially merchants. Asked about charges and so forth, the Turkish guide joked: It's like a motel, $30 for a bed, $10 for dinner, etc.

Finally we ended up back in Göreme, within sight of the fairy chimneys. You can plainly see the effects of differential erosion. Somehow you have the feeling that this is what an elf's dwelling might look like, if they existed.

Here it's plain to see that the harder rock "hats" belong to the same stratum.

A closer look with a telephoto lens.

Wonder how much longer before these topple.

There is a church carved into the rock here.


Guided tours often end in some inducement to shop and this one was no exception. They left us near some pottery shops. This was within walking distance of my pension so I decided to leave the party there and then. There had been a pair of NYC sisters on the van. One of them had just returned from teaching in Russia. I wondered if I would bump into them again in the evening in town, but it never happened.


At dinner the Canadian regaled us with an incredible story of being grilled by Israeli customs officers on leaving the country. Now that's paranoia.

Göreme

I slept episodically in the bus. Sometime between episodes I noted the brief stop at Konya, one of the larger cities of central Turkey. I had however decided to leave it out this trip.

In the cold dawn I found myself in the small village of Göreme trying to stay warm in my jacket while waiting for my backpack to be unloaded from the hold. Quite a change from warm Antalya. It was a short walk to the Köse Pension where I had a reservation. Everything is close by in this small village of a couple of thousand. The Pension was neat and cozy. I had a non-Turkish breakfast here for a welcome change, then napped a bit to reduce my sleep deficit.

Göreme lies in a national park and the main attraction here is the fairy chimneys. Dawn, the proprietress, recommended a walk through Rose Valley. The valley is an open air museum and an admission charge is levied. I entered from the top and walked downhill. The trail was a bit treacherous due to the loose sand particles and I slipped a couple of times. But it was great to breathe fresh air.

This area was once the site of ancient volcanic eruptions which laid down layers of soft tuff and harder basalt. The hard layer protected the soft tuff underneath from rain erosion, while wind erosion carved the soft tuff. The result is other-worldly formations shaped like cones, mushrooms, etc. Caves can also be easily excavated in the soft tuff to form troglodyte dwellings which are remarkably comfortable because they stay cool in summer and retain heat in winter. In fact some hostels and hotels in area offer the novelty of staying in caves.

The region has a climate suitable for growing grapes and this is one of the major wine producing regions of Turkey. On my walk I passed vineyards.

I took a beer break at a restaurant on the trail. There were a group of French tourists having their lunch there. A couple of Slovenian girls walked past while I was quenching my thirst. I later caught up with them on the trail and we chatted about Australia and Slovenia. Their hometown was near the border with Italy. We exchanged email addresses at the end of the walk. One of the girls was Irena. For the next year or two we corresponded sporadically, then lost touch. In my blog of my 2007 trip to Slovenia, I have already set down how I was tempted to visit her hometown while driving around Slovenia.

If I'm not mistaken, this is a church carved in the rock near the town. This area was settled in the Roman period and Christianity was the prevailing religion then.

Back at the Pension, after a nap, I eyed the swimming pool in the now hot day but decided to let the day cool a bit and the water warm a bit. It didn't make any difference: when I tried the water it was chilly so I had a quick dip and gave up. By this time it was evening, so I took a walk around the village. There wasn't much action except the tourists around the souvenir shops and a small farmers' market.

Dinner at the Pension was excellent because the produce was fresh. At the table were a Kiwi couple, a couple from Brisbane, an English family and a Scotsman. Much of the talk was about travelling around the Middle East. I must have had a tiring day because I went out like a light when I hit the sack.