Cappadocia

With three days left in Turkey, Hannah and I decided to throw our budget to the wind and fly to Cappadocia. The land of beautiful horses in Hittite, it’s also the sight of some incredible Dr. Seussian landscapes. Fourth century Christians carved hundreds of caves in the soft tufa stone, as protection from Arab raiders. Hoteliers have continued the tradition today, providing tourists with a place to stay that remains cool in the summer sun. We actually took a tour for this part, so we felt a little out of control, but given time and transportation limitations it made more sense. Besides, we got to meet some fellow travelers, albeit all older than we are, and share stories of our journey.

We flew to Kayseri Tuesday morning, and were picked up and taken to our hotel in Urgup. It was a beautiful place, with a real Arabian nights vibe. We had enough space to entertain, and plenty of Turkish music video and fashion channels on TV. We went for a short hike in the morning, and then toured an underground city with room for 15,000 temporary inhabitants. There were networks of these things, and tunnels of many kilometers connecting them. Not the most comfortable place to stay, but it beats being killed.

Wednesay we toured an open air museum of various churches, with some more incredible frescoes. While some are well preserved, others were badly damaged during the iconoclast era, when depiction of human figures was deemed a sin. Still, there’s plenty of Jesuses left. In accordance with the great church-icecream pact, I now owe Hannah many rounds at Ben and Jerry’s.

Today we flew back to Istanbul, and Hannah caught a flight to Paris. It’s sad to see her go, as we’ve had a great time together. We’ve seen great sights, stormed castles on two continents, and made it to the Orient and back alive. Quite a bit better than the historical inspiration for our trip, the actual Children’s Crusade. We were not cut to bits by the natives, but managed to get from the Vatican to Istanbul (not Constantinople), and back in one piece.

I now travel onward to Jared in Jordan, then to Lebanon, and hopefully to James in India. This assumes that my visa situation works out, and that the political situation doesn’t further deteriorate. The Lebanese couple we met on our tour of Cappadocia were pleased that we were coming to their country, until I told them where we planned to go. Then they ‘forgot’ to give me their contact information, and told me that ‘peaceful tourism’ was more up their alley. Well, I agree, but having done enough historical sights for a while, I’d like to see what the current situation is like. I’ll post reactions from Lebanon as internet access allows. Until then, dear reader, I am off.