The Weather in Cappadocia

Today we moved on from Göreme.

This morning the Clingon asked about the strange noise outside. I'd recognised it: rain. Something I didn't imagine we'd encounter in this high, rocky, dusty country. We've been lucky with the weather, so far, though the Clingon says snow is predicted tomorrow where we are now: Avanos.

We flew over the landscape in a balloon on our first morning in Göreme. The balloons haven't been up since due to winds, and now, rain.




Wednesday morning we hopped into a minibus provided by the Flintstones Tour Company, and went off for the day with 12 fellow travellers from China, Korea, Spain, Italy, and our guide Selim. After a quick shifti at the panorama of Goreme, we went to Derinkuyu underground city, where the Hittites/Phrygians hid out from their enemies between the 15th and 12th centuries BCE. Four underground floors in this city, and stables, kitchens, but bathrooms consisted of clay pots.




Hundreds of underground cities in Cappadocia with tunnels linking many of them. A 14 km tunnel from Derinkuyu to the next city.

A wander around the Selime Monastery. Had a lunch of river trout beside the river and then a short hike up the Ihlara canyon, the second longest canyon in the world, according to Selim, our guide. It's a Unesco World Heritage Site. We stopped at a church carved into the rock with extant paintings of Jesus and various saintly types, all of which were achieved with natural pigments: the white is pigeon poo, of which the ancients had an abundant supply. You can still see the pigeon houses carved into the rocks.

The Romans really hated the early Christians and chased them down, and then the Crusaders invaded to finish the job. Here I was thinking that the Crusaders invaded to flatten Islam, but no, they were just as anti the Orthodox Christians.

After the hike, we were whisked off to place where they tried to flog us onyx and Zultanite, a newly discovered gem that changes into 5 different colours in different lights (though they only managed to demonstrate two colours). The next day--for the Clingon and I signed on for a different tour with the same company the next day, dear readers--they tried to flog us pottery and carpets, which took up more of our time. So, not so many photos on that day. I'm all for seeing the way they harvest the silk from silkworm cocoons, that was interesting. As was the information about the different carpets, but it went on too long for me, especially as I don't travel to shop. I'm still recovering from the hard sell.




This morning our lovely hotel owner drove us here to Avanos, where my Googling back in Sydney had told me there was a market.




We visited the market--quite small and not particularly colourful, but worth a run through, I thought. The Clingon was not of the same opinion, I think, and remains singularly unimpressed with Avanos.

After the market, I dragged my reluctant fellow traveller to visit the old part of town, where I walked gingerly around the ruins, shooting the dilapidated houses of the Greeks who were forced out in what the locals refer to politely as "the population exchange" of the 1920's.




These abandoned houses, the falling walls and roofs, were exciting for me to shoot, but also, the sight was sad. Imagine the reluctant exhangees. To this day, nothing has been done about those decaying houses. Couldn't read the signs I saw around, so I don't know whether anything is planned for them, but I hope not. They are a poignant reminder of a history of tears.


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Göreme

A long day, and I'm exhausted. Arrived at Göreme yesterday in time to see the sunset at what I thought our concierge was calling "the sunset pint". Willy is from Afghanistan, but speaks, so he told the Clingon, six languages: English, Turkish, Arabic, Uzbek, Hindi/Urdu and Farsi. Strange about this place: every street you walk down, men ask where you're from, hoping you'll step into their restaurant or shop. I always ask the same question back, and so far I've encountered no-one who's "from" Turkey: Kazakstan, yes; Turkey, no.



This morning Butterfly Balloons picked us up from the hotel at 5.30 and drove us down to their headquarters for breakfast, after which we were transported to the balloon lift-off pint. My urge to see the fairy chimneys was the main reason for coming here to Göreme. And I was not disappinted. The landscape is unbelievable. And most of it is out there, waiting for people to experience for free. There's a great deal of it in the outdoor museum, available for a price, which we paid. But too many other people paid the same price and it was a bit of a tourist frenzy. When we left the company of all the other tourists and went for a walk among the fairy chimneys, we were left to ourselves, with the sunshine, the landscape and the birds. We even saw a couple of raptors right overhead; the Clingon was of the opinion that they were stalking us, waiting for us to die.



Thank god there's no hope of getting a tourbus down into those magic valleys.

We walked towards what we were promised would be the Rose Valley, but every sign we saw, no matter how far we walked, said it was 2 km ahead. It was difficult walking, with lots of going up and down slopes slippery with loose sand and gravel, so when we saw the cafe, we decided we'd visit. Surreal, among the weird shapes of the eroded valleys to see a cafe where there are no houses or people, except for the few tourists, who aren't on buses. It was surreal in another way, too. It was a cafe with no coffee or tea or food. The only thing for sale in this cafe was pomegranate juice. We bought a large glass. The cafe guy was blonde, deaf and with dirt-engrained hands, which he used to push dried apricots into my mouth.




Finally, an old man came clopping up to the cafe in his horse and cart; he offered to take us back to town for 20 TL. I declined, but thought better of it when it was too late. It was 4km back to town and by the time we arrived I was not good for much except sitting on the bed and groaning. I could not even drag my sorry arse out to the sunset pint.



So here I am, in bed, nice and cosy. Eyes almost closing as I write, but I must finish this.




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Bye Bye Instanbul

Sadly, our time in Instanbul has come to an end, and I did not see half the things I wanted to. As I mentioned in the last entry, we intended to go to Taksim, Tunel, etc yesterday. I told you that those places were on the Asian side, but, because of my map reading skills, I was mistaken. In fact those places are on the European side, just on the opposite bank of the Golden Horn from Sultanahmet, the old city, where we are staying.
Here is a google map of Instanbul. If you blow it up, you can see that Beyoglu, and all those places I mentioned in the last blog, are clearly on the European side of the city.



We didn't know that a marathon was running, but the trams weren't, so we walked along the tram line, to the Galata Bridge and across to the other side of the Golden Horn, and Beyoglu. The walk was pleasant--everyone else was doing the same thing--and the roads were easy to cross; we weren't dodging cars (even on the footpaths) and trams. First intention was to visit Istanbul Modern, but the entrance appeared to be firmly shut. Oh well, I thought, perhaps they'll open again later when the the Marathon's over. We kept walking.


The runners (actually, only the walkers and laggers at this late stage) were still streaming by. The road was coated with empty water bottles and sponges, and crews of cleaners were clearing up. Then we noticed a group of tardy walkers ahead; they'd stopped completely and were all pointing their camera phones excitedly at something we couldn't see, just around the corner. When we came up to them, this is the sight that greeted us. (Just the stairs, silly, not me sitting on them. I haven't managed to be in two places at one time yet. That's spooky.)


(I hasten to point out to you, dear reader, that I had not been swigging the local amber as we walked. That was something the Clingon decided to retain in the image as a joke on the woman who bore him inside her body for nine months.)

I had intended to visit these stairs but had forgotten about their existence in the rush to see all the other features of the city. And here we were upon them without planning.

We walked up all those stairs . . . and back down again, when we realised we'd have trouble getting to Taksim from the top. My knees were protesting, we were sweating. We both divested ourselves of layers.




We stopped for tea at an expensive up-market cafe when we reached Taksim. And then we followed the crowds to Istiklal Cadessi, the most famous shopping street in Istanbul. Also devoid of traffic. Not sure whether it's always like that, or was only that way yesterday because of the marathon.

We had lunch, the trams started running again, and we got on. The Clingon was of the opinion that we had to change trams, so we got off that one. It filled to overflowing before he realised that he had made a mistake, so we walked back to Sultanahmet.

Called the airline to confirm flight and tried to do check-in on-line. The Turkish Airways website told me that my flight hadn't been ticketed. (I have a ticket number, and a reservation number.) Worrying! Didn't know what to do, so late last night I called the travel agent I'd bought the tickets from. He told me he'd check at the airlines and get back to me. When he did, he said that yes, the flight had been ticketed, but Turkish Airlines didn't know which plane was flying to Kayseri yet (???????), so they couldn't let us check in on-line. So anyway, that's the way it stands at the moment. The shuttle will pick us up at 9.00, in a couple of hours, and I hope I don't have too many (mis)adventures to report to you in the next instalment.


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Predawn Shoot

Enjoying my interactions with the Turks. I think I expected them to be like the Greeks I encountered in Greece. I found them to be generally unhelpful. But there's a sweetness about the Turks, and I feel completely safe in Istanbul, confident to go about before dawn to take photos. The only thing that does scare me is barking dogs, which I encountered yesterday morning.

I was walking to the waterfront from the hotel before dawn, when a taxi stopped for me and dropped me where he said I could take good photos. I walked down a little hill to the water and two great dogs lunged at me from out of the shadows. The dogs' handler appeared from nearby to quiet them. They were chained up, but they were big and I wasn't going to trust the chains to hold them. The dog whisperer waved me on down the street, but a fence was blocking my view and I wasn't sure about the safety of the industrial setting. I went back to the main road and followed it--Kennedy Caddesi--and my nose to a tram stop. Such a delicious smell in the air: baking. I was hungry.

There was no movement at the tramstop. So, further up the road I wandered, taking photos of a beautiful hotel. Still following that delicious smell. Ah yes, a bakery, with lights on. Could I buy what was baking? A cat sitting out the front. (Cats are everywhere in Istanbul.) The baker was moving about inside, but the doors were quite firmly locked against me. I wasn't able to go in and have coffee and biscuits, but I got a killer image--the best shot of that predawn shoot.



A few shots of the New Mosque (Yeni Cami)--completion between 1660 and 1665-- in Eminomu, and then I spied movement at the tramstop. Those fishermen must know the timetable.

Back at Sultanahmet, I found an open cafe. The young waiter invited me to sit down under the heater, and then went off to get a blanket which he draped around my shoulders. First breakfast of lentil soup and cafe latte. A full bowl of baguette hunks rounds on the table.

More photos around Sultanahmet and Ayia Sophia, and then back to second breakfast at the Grand Peninsula.



We decided to hit the museums, as our three day pass would expire, so we followed the hordes into Topkapi Palace. After that we segued into the Archaeological Museum. Lots of cups of tea and pastry to sustain us.


Today we go to the Asian side of town: Beyoglu, Galata, Tunel, Karakoy. I want to visit the Museum of Innocence (a museum created to illustrate the novel "Museum of Innocence" by Orhan Pamuk).

Location:Çetinkaya Sokak,Cankurtaran,Turkey

iSTANBUL!

Arrived at 5 a.m. on Thursday, which is why I found myself up writing my blog at 3.30 a.m. today. Body not keeping up with time zones.

Weather misty, overcast. Light rain at times, but not enough, so far, to keep us indoors.

We are walking round, mouths open, trying to understand the weight of ancient history and stone, the vastness of great open spaces inside and outside. The first photo above shows a dome of the Sultanahmet mosque, called "The Blue Mosque" by outsiders. A wide open floor space, carpeted; quiet, despite the numbers of visitors. Few of the faithful praying while we were there: the middle of a work day. Below is the Sultanahmet Mosque behind the van of a pretzel seller.



People here seem friendly, helpful. The men in the Old City smoke outside their shops and restaurants. The beautiful flagstone streets wear cigarette butts, like punctuation marks, between the stones. The men try to lure you into their shops, but seem polite enough when you refuse. But it's the women that I appreciate most. Every time we get on a tram, a woman gets up and offers her seat to me. One time a woman invited me to sit down, and a man tried to jump into the empty seat. She told him, in no uncertain terms, that the seat was for me. I'm always happy enough to sit down; my knees are suffering from all the walking. I've never been offered a seat in a train or bus in Sydney.

Here are three young women who were happy to allow me take their photo. They're wearing the blue scarf that they were given when they visited the mosque, as I was.





Yesterday we visited the Grand Bazaar and then went for a ferry trip up and down the Bosphorus.







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Location:Çetinkaya Sokak,Cankurtaran,Turkey

Sojourn @ the Chiang Maan Residence

Finally arrived at the accommodation on Sunday evening. A tiny, tiny little lodging in the old town. A young woman in a big white van drove us from the airport. She manoeuvred the van's big bum bravely through the narrow lanes. Thought we wouldn't find the Chiang Maan Residence (a rather grand name for four miniscule rooms below the family house) & we would have to get out and lug our cases through the dark laneways. But she didn't want to let us do that. . . I suspect because of my advanced age. When I found the address on the Internet she said the address didn't help in this part of Chiang Mai. I told her the accommodation was opposite  Wat Chiang Maan, but when we arrived opposite the Wat, we couldn't see it. She drove about, commenting agitatedly, called a friend for help, and eventually found it. There was no light, just a small sign which we couldn't see in the dark. She laughed at me: "You say "opposite" but it behind." Well, in my own defence, it looked opposite on the map, as I didn't know where the front entrance to the Wat was. In fact, I didn't believe the place I had booked on the Internet was real, despite seeing the photo, until we actually arrived. 

Spent Monday morning and this morning wandering around the streets, shooting while the Clingon lay back and caught up with his beauty sleep. It's a wonderful place to explore, but the traffic, the din of it and the fumes, are unrelenting. Today we met a Chinese woman visiting Chiang Mai, as we returned from Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. She was from Beijing; she remarked that Chiang Mai was very clean. There are a lot of fascinating features of this city but its sanitation is not one of them. The Clingon and I wondered about the state of the Chinese capital.

Last night we went to the night markets. I've done something to my knee and I can't walk very fast or far now, so the Clingon left me in the mother-minding area while he explored the markets. They kept me supplied with Singapore slings.

One more day in CM and then it's off to Turkey tomorrow night. 

Airport

So, what a smooth ride so far...I mean from home to gate 60. Thanks to my wonderful driver!

The Clingon ran off to grab a handful of phrase books while I played on the Internet. Tried out the Australia Post travelsim data offer. Turned on the Internet, opened Flickr, and about 2 minutes later had used my $10 daily limit. So, now I know. Then discovered that there is now free wifi at the airport. (About time. Wonder how Macquarie Bank agreed to give anything away for free. Last time I was at the airport trying to use the internet, the twin bandits Telstra and Optus were selling 30 minutes for $20. I see now that Australia Post is just as bad.

Flight boarding families with children now, but unfortunately, the Clingon is too old to be considered a child now.

Will sign off now. I think we'll be called to the queue soon, and I've already achieved my first blog entry.



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Location:Departure Plaza,Mascot,Australia