Garfield in Cappadocia (or is it Capadoccia?)
The ride from Bandirma to Capadoccia went without incident, though was both a warm ride and a long one yet again. As it was dusk and didn't want any night riding, it was decided to take a stopover in a small town just before Goreme. That way there was only a short stint the next morning, to get to the intended destination. Glorious sunshine and a clear blue sky heralded our arrival.
The spectacular scenery of Cappadocia hits fairly quickly, and after a 20 minute ascent past hilly scrub, the surrounding land gave way to something resembling a moonscape. The rocks appear to have been carved into the land or set in place by some gigantic hand, and to add to the effect, the shaping of the rocks had been added to by man. The term Fairy Chimney's had been coined to describe the style of building, in which people had made their homes. Research shows that Troglodytic living has been a tradition in this place, going back at least a couple of thousand years ...
We took a modern cave-room in one of the modest paynsion we'd short-listed, so air conditioning wasn't needed. It stayed a fairly even temperature night and day, and became a cool sanctuary after a day’s exploration. Bjorn booked a balloon flight, so an early start saw him disappear for an arial-photoshoot. Later that day we rode along to the open air museum. The museum it turned out, was a monastery who's history spanned a couple of millennia, and was evidently a place of Pilgrimage during much of it's time as a place of worship. While often primitive in style, the paintings inside many of the cave-churches were an evocative reminder of the lifestyle of earlier inhabitants. There was evidence too, that mealtimes were very important for these early inhabitants, as dining tables and benches had been painstakingly carved directly out of the rock inside several of the caves. Christianity was the influence, as there was a representation of the last supper painted onto one of the walls.
The spectacular scenery of Cappadocia hits fairly quickly, and after a 20 minute ascent past hilly scrub, the surrounding land gave way to something resembling a moonscape. The rocks appear to have been carved into the land or set in place by some gigantic hand, and to add to the effect, the shaping of the rocks had been added to by man. The term Fairy Chimney's had been coined to describe the style of building, in which people had made their homes. Research shows that Troglodytic living has been a tradition in this place, going back at least a couple of thousand years ...
We took a modern cave-room in one of the modest paynsion we'd short-listed, so air conditioning wasn't needed. It stayed a fairly even temperature night and day, and became a cool sanctuary after a day’s exploration. Bjorn booked a balloon flight, so an early start saw him disappear for an arial-photoshoot. Later that day we rode along to the open air museum. The museum it turned out, was a monastery who's history spanned a couple of millennia, and was evidently a place of Pilgrimage during much of it's time as a place of worship. While often primitive in style, the paintings inside many of the cave-churches were an evocative reminder of the lifestyle of earlier inhabitants. There was evidence too, that mealtimes were very important for these early inhabitants, as dining tables and benches had been painstakingly carved directly out of the rock inside several of the caves. Christianity was the influence, as there was a representation of the last supper painted onto one of the walls.
Cook-up at the paynsion
Goreme valley turned out to be another unexpectedly pleasant spot, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend anyone visiting it. There's enough to see and do to keep most visitors interested for the better part of a week. And although it's a touristy, didn't find it prohibitively expensive. Travelogue over, and back to the BLOG.
A 2-night stay, and we were once again on the road East ...
Two more towns, two more stopovers and our migration across the map of Turkey was nearly complete. There was a definite change somewhere after Erzincum. One of the hotels asked us not to bring our beer inside the building to drink, which was an indication that the mood of the country was becoming less moderate. The other more dramatic change was that we were shrinking into the landscape, as the scale of everything increased. The mountains were bigger and loomed ominously in the distance, across often windswept and desolate looking plains.
This wind was to add to the factor of difficulty on some rides, with us sometimes having to compensate by riding at an angle several degrees off of vertical. A truck goes by and we fall away, as it briefly blocks the incessant gale. Eventually we get to learn to judge the moment, and are able to make the necessary adjustment. So neither fall off the road, or depending on the direction of the blow, veer dangerously in towards the oncoming traffic.
With Turkish earth moving under our wheels eating up the map eastwards, the Iranian border beckoned. But before that was one more stoppover in demi-Asia. Dog-Biscuit!
This wind was to add to the factor of difficulty on some rides, with us sometimes having to compensate by riding at an angle several degrees off of vertical. A truck goes by and we fall away, as it briefly blocks the incessant gale. Eventually we get to learn to judge the moment, and are able to make the necessary adjustment. So neither fall off the road, or depending on the direction of the blow, veer dangerously in towards the oncoming traffic.
With Turkish earth moving under our wheels eating up the map eastwards, the Iranian border beckoned. But before that was one more stoppover in demi-Asia. Dog-Biscuit!
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