Visit Sultan's Land - Cappadocia Turkey (Day 5 - Day Trip)

After a bit of freshen up from our early morning adventure, we had breakfast at hotel restaurant.  The breakfast here was even better than that of Istanbul hotel.  We had a buffet of cheeses, cold cuts, breads, fruits, vegetables mainly tomato and cucumber.  Sounds similar to what we had.  Well, what made it better was the selection of eggs, freshly cooked eggs.  There were fried eggs, omelets and scramble eggs for us to choose from.  If I remember correctly, I had omelets on the first day.  It wasn't an omelet that I used to have.  Normally, an omelet would be in a cigar shape but here it was an half moon shape, they basically just folded in half.  Despite the different shape, it was delicious nonetheless.  Satisfied with our meal, we prepared for our trip.  

Uncle Hassan, our driver, told us to wait at 9am, so we waited in front of the reception.  We were picked up about 9am as he said.  He came with our guide and another 4 people.  Our guide was a young girl whose character somehow, I think, didn't fit the surrounding at first.  She was a small girl who looked really energetic, cool and fashionable.  She was very colorful and I kind of think that she was more like a city girl and not a guide in the middle of nowhere.  Anyway, she was here and we all really liked her.  Though, My friend and I only took it as a day tour, we were lucky to have this guide for both days we were there.  For our first stop, we visited Kaymakli Underground City.  That just made this area even more interesting; living in cave was strange enough let alone underground.  
This thing is very old, they said that as old as Hittite period.  People were resourcing to live in the underground in order to escape being captured and plundered.  Despite being told about the reason behind underground existing, we were still amazed on the efforts of people to dig this underground place.  This place is not just a hole in the ground but, more like a mansion in the ground.  If I remember correctly, there are 4 levels with different rooms for different purposes.  There are even stable for live stocks and storage rooms for crops.  These people were also very thoughtful to dig a ventilation shaft through all level and all the rooms were planned around it.  Before we headed down, the guide cautioned us that it would be very cramped especially for a big person (we had one big guy in our group).  The atmosphere inside was very damp and cool.  Even from the first chamber, we knew that it was going to be very tight but, there were some walkway that I thought that I wasn't going to make it.  That would be so embarrassing.  Well, I got through them all with a few bangs at my head.  Once we got down to level 3 (I think), the guide showed us the living quarters, church and storage rooms.  They even made several basins on the ground to store grain and wine. 

Our guide had to find us some quiet spots to explain about the city.  It was pretty crowded as this is one of the major attraction of this area and basically every tour had to stop here.  We were down there for roughly almost an hour before making our way out.  We had to be careful when going up, not only because the ceiling was low but, the ground also quite slippery.  The only thing they didn't prepare was the stair, maybe it was a waste of time to make.  After taking care of personal business, we were off to the next destination.  Now, we were heading into the Soganli valley and its cave churches.  Along the way, we passed many fairy chimneys.  What is fairy chimneys?  My first thought when I heard this word was fairy godmother.  Don't know why.  These are thin spire of rock, soft rock which usually appear in a desert area.  They form in various size from a human size to a gigantic one that human could make a living inside. 

As mentioned before, the government banned the living inside of the cave as well as these fairy chimneys for the safety reason.  However, when we passed one big chimney with a sign of residence, our guide said that this is about the only one chimney with a local lives inside, an old woman.  It has door, windows and some decorations like flower pots.  I guess they might not have a heart to evicted her.

We headed further inside the valley and to a cave church.  We stopped at Black Head Church (Karabas Kilise).  I understood the 'black' part of the name since the fresco inside was blackish with different types of dye as well as smoke from bonfire.  However, I don't know why it was called 'black head'. 

The church is a small complex consists of different chamber.  The right most one is the church.  It's a simple church with a plain alter.  The fresco on the wall is typical of Christian church. 

Sadly, the eyes of the image were scratched out.  It's said that after the church was abandoned, it has become a refuge for people.  Those who came to stay inside the church thought that the eyes looked scary, like they were starring at them so, they committed a terrible thing by vandalizing the fresco.  We walked around the complex and checked out different rooms.  Then, we went to visit another church which was closed by.  

It's called Snake Church.  It's a strange name to give to a church but, it came from a fresco of St. George slaying a dragon.  However, the painting looks like a snake instead so, there goes the name.  

This church is a little bigger than the Black Head Church with more colorful fresco.  I can't remember them but, we were told that the fresco consisted of several saints and depicted the usual story of Christ.  Looking up at the walls and up at the ceiling, we were sad and annoyed that there were graffiti all over the paintings.  I could never understand what people were thinking when they decided to leave their names or messages on the fresco.  Why??  How could they think that this was a cool thing to do, just to be cursed by the later generation?  It was a super stupid and inconsiderate act!!  Seeing it just made me really mad.  Good thing that the ceiling was fairly untouched.  After that, we walked along the small road to our waiting van.  

The view was very peaceful.  It was pretty windy though, so hard to take good pictures with our messing hair.  We passed a few caves before getting to our van.  The next on our agenda was lunch.  It was expected that we would stop at tourist pit stop kind of restaurant.  However, the place that they took us was pretty cute and localized.  We got there quite late so, most of the tourists already left.  We chose an outdoor table since the weather was so nice.  Our group was small so, we were able to fit into one table.  We had a choice for our main course; beef casserole, chicken casserole and egg casserole, I believe, like a stew vegetable with egg on top.  Predictably I chose beef casserole.  While we were waiting, they brought us some appetizers; feta cheese, honey, olive, pickled pepper and bread.  I don't know what kind of bread it was, probably a local variety but, it was great, crispy & smokey on the outside and soft on the inside.

After a bit of eating and chatting, getting to know each other, our main dish came.  My first impression was where was the beef??  The taste was beef alright but, the color was rather pale than what we used to see.  

It was basically beef cooked with some vegetable like onion and pepper, served in hot earthen dish.  Its taste was a little bland but, it wasn't bad.  I at least finished it.  Eating with the delicious bread helped.  Then, we were off to an old Roman church, Sobesos.  Actually it was more like a ruin with only a colorful mosaic floor and lower wall left.  

The guide said that it was still under excavation and wasn't a proper tourist place yet.  She just wanted to show us different cultures.  The mosaic was amazing to survive this long and even better, the color was still quite fresh.  There were also some stone carving with intricate design.

On the side of the church, we saw stone carving in the image of a cross.  I truly can't remember why this stone was on the ground.  We then headed to another cave church.  On the way, our guide took us through Taskinpasa Village with a quick stop at its old mosque and library which was turn into a Medrese or a school for town children.  We didn't get to go in there as it was closed on that day.  

From the look of its aged door, I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the inside.  The carving on its front was amazing, very detailing.  We then moved on to Kesklik Rock Monastery.  The church that we had been to earlier was small compare to this one.  

This one situated in much bigger rock and contained more rooms.  We first went up a flight of stair to a huge room with paintings.  I'm not sure what the purpose.  Unfortunately, it was forbidden for us to take pictures inside.  Then, we moved on to another low ceiling room on the other side of the complex.  The guide said that the function of the room has yet to be confirmed but, from the stone carving, we thought it was pretty sure that it could be a dining room.

We entered to a long hall with triangle holes on the side, possibly for fire, like lamp.  To the left, there were three long row of rock carvings.  It very much looked like a long dining table with seats.  Simple design but, it worked.  Dig two trenches and you got dining table.  To the right, there was a walkway through trees on their full bloom.  Really like it.

Another church (I think) was there, a small one but, the colorful fresco made up for the size.  The main colors were black, red and yellow.  It was both a decoration and served to tell story of Christ.  And......the graffiti again?!?!  What's the matter with people!!!

We craned our neck trying to catch everything, every image and pattern then made a run for our van cuz our guide was waiting.  

We were not done for the day yet.  Our guide had another stop for us.  We were going to visit an Old Greek Town (Mustafapasa).  We were riding through a countryside, more mountains and even a lake.  That was where our trouts for yesterday dinner came from.  Along the way, we saw two Western backpackers walking along the street.  Our driver and guide, bless their soul, asked our permission to take them on.  Well, how could we refuse...all aboard!!  Amazingly, they had been walking from village to village for almost a week already.  I just couldn't believe it.  I thought that this area was so confusing.  Even with car, I think anyone would have problem with direction.  These women, yes they were women, knew exactly which direction they should be walking.  Once asking where they were heading, it turned out that they were going to the Old Greek Village too.  What's more, they had a room reserved at the oldest hotel there.  Our guide told us that we were heading to that hotel too...cool!  

The village was as small as other places around here, or that was what I felt.  We arrived in front of the hotel.  It was old, alright.  It was a two floors building with a balcony right on top of the entrance way.  There were carving as well as colorful paints.

We entered and I felt like being in one of the old explorer movies like Indiana Jones.  Once we entered, we were in the lobby.  The atmosphere, the painting, the carpet and everything brought us back to the old days.  

Our rescued backpackers, after checked in, asked whether we would like to see their place for the night and of course we said yes.  We went up the side stair to the rooftop.  From here, we could see almost the whole town.  Then, we ventured inside the hotel to look at other rooms (someone, from our tour, already scouted and said the rooms inside was nice).  This hotel must have been someone's home in the past cuz, the room we went to look at was more like a living room.  It was decorated with wooden floor and ceiling. 

The ceiling was particularly to our liking because it was colorful.  How could they think of painting ceiling in yellow, green and blue.  The wall was painted with beautiful pattern.

Also, it was decorated with wooden furnitures and chandelier.  On the side, there was a sitting room which has long couch.  I could picture a family sitting around on the couch sharing tea and sweet pastries.

We headed down to rejoin with the rest.  Our tour agenda ended there but, our adventure still went on.  We asked our guide to drop us off in the town center instead of back at hotel because it was still early.  

We walked around the town a little but then, we think that we hadn't had any snack in the afternoon which was strange for us.  So, we looked around a bit and found a pastry shop.  Tea, coffee and sweets were our snack.  I chose a dessert that similar to baklava but made of noodle like dough.  Its sweetness was no less than baklava that of which was really sweet.

After resting for awhile, we decided to make our way back to the hotel.  Our guide already gave us the direction how to get there, we just need lots of energy because we basically had to walk uphill almost all the way.  There was a road leaded from the right side of the town up and around the mountain.  Along the way, there were more caves for us to see.  Most of them have already been turned for different usages.  Some were cafe and restaurant and some even become a parking garage.  It was kind of strange to see a modern car parked inside an ancient cave.

The walk was quite lovely because we got to see more of the town until we got tired of the none-stop uphill exercise.  Once we got to the back of the mountain, we saw more cave hotels.  A few of them looked quite nice.

After awhile walking, we started to think that we might not be on the right track.  We didn't think that we would have to walk this long.  I was getting tired and sweating even when the temperature was getting cooler.  Every time we saw an entrance, we kept thinking that was it but, then it wasn't.  Should we go back, should we ask other hotels, we started thinking of what we should do.  Before both of us have had it, we found the hotel drive way.

We were so happy because it was getting late.  We didn't want to be searching for hotel when it was getting dark.  Instead of going straight to our room, we stop at the reception office.  After such a walk, we didn't want to go through that again for dinner.  So, again, we asked hotel to prepare us the dinner.  Between our room and the restaurant, there was a path leaded uphill.  After leaving our stuff in the room, we decided to do some exploring.  The path took us on top of the hill and great view of the town and the whole area.

There was still an opening which I recognized as the area the hotel set up breakfast during the summer time.  It would have been nice to have a meal up here and enjoy the view at the same time.

Before getting ready for dinner, we did some look around our compound.  It was so still and peaceful.  We could barely hear any vehicle sound.  I just love this place.

We then, went to the restaurant for our dinner.  Since not many people were having dinner at hotel, the waiter was actually waiting for us to come.  Our day was going to end that way but, earlier today, our guide suggested that we should experience more of Turkish culture by attending the sema dance.  I have seen it before on my last trip.  Sema is the whirling dance which is believed to represent the mystical journey of man.  The men look like they were in trance and reaching up to the higher being.  Our guide really recommended us to see it here as they would be more realistic than that shows in Istanbul.  After some discussing, we agreed to go.  This was not included in our tour.  The place we were going to see the dance was called Saruhan. (http://www.sarihan1249.com/)  This place is old, it was built in 1238 and it was supposed to be an old roadside inn.  This was where traveler stop for a rest.  It has courtyard and an indoor area including a Turkish bath.  In present day, it was turned into tourist place.  Our uncle Hassan picked us up at our hotel at 9pm. From our tour, only us were going.  After around 15 mins drive, we were there.  When arriving, it looked like a palace in the middle of desert.  It was lit up so brightly.  There wasn't many people there yet when we arrived.  Uncle Hassan leave us with a staff who took us to a seat and brought us apple tea.  It was getting chilli so, hot tea was a welcome thing.  

Before long, more tourists started to arrive.  First, we all gathered in the outer courtyard where they started showing a presentation.  I was wandering what was going on, we were here to see whirling dance, not this.  Well, the real thing was inside.   After the presentation, everyone was moving inside.  Our Uncle Hassan, again, showed us the way and leave us with a staff who took us to front seats.  Everyone was pre-notified that we were not allowed to take picture, clap or cheer.  This was supposed to be a spiritual dance, not just a simple tourist show.  This set it apart from the show I saw in Istanbul.  What I experienced in the dance was like watching the real spiritual ceremony.  Everyone was so quiet and still.  We all respected what these men tried to achieve during the ceremony.  When they whirled around, they really looked like they went to different place.  How could they whirled around with eyes closed and avoid bumping into each other?  Practice, probably but, I like to think that they really were in trance and all of them synchronized their mind and body to reach spiritual maturity.  Oh well, when it ended, it was like we were waken from our own trances.  When we were leaving, it was raining outside and we didn't see our driver.  Strangely, that just unsettled us a bit.  I think we were getting used to having Uncle Hassan looking over us all the time.  We followed the rest of the tourists out to the parking and looked for him.  We didn't even know where he parked.  Finally, our Uncle Hassan came toward us from the far side of the parking and we were heading back to our hotel.  


To be continue...