A Trip to Kayseri - Özkonak
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by Fred Moore - September 2007
We leave home on Friday afternoon and travel north for Goreme. Our friends Don and Jill have invited us to join them this weekend. Our trip is uneventful until we get well past Pozanti and onto the narrow two-lane winding highway through the mountains.
The route through this region is a serious climb as it curves first one way then the other, as it ascends the Taurus Mountain Range. We maintain our position in the ever increasing train of vehicles (cars, trucks, tankers, dolmus vans and farm tractors) while we watch others pass on blind curves and short stretches of straight away. Many are extremely lucky to get one or two vehicle lengths ahead of their past position in line; the chances of getting in serious trouble passing on this road are not worth the risk. Fortunately, many who take the risk are afforded the opportunity to pull in between other vehicles as they need to because no one wants to see anyone killed. Fate smiles on a number of lucky motorists who make the dash between vehicles successfully. Thirty minutes out of Pozanti, our van overheats from the climb and we pull off into a service station to assess the situation. Don checks it out and has no idea what may be the problem; the water is adequate, as are the belts. We decide to simply let the van cool down and we go to the restaurant for an early dinner. There are a number of meat choices in the counter cooler and we opt for both lamb and chicken plates; all plates are 8 Lira. We're the only people in the place, but it's very early for most Turks to be eating dinner. Had it not been for the van we probably would not be eating now either. With the amount of food displayed in the cooler however it seems evident the owner is confident their will be many more to serve this evening. Our meals are very satisfactory and after a forty-minute rest stop, we continue on our way.
Just before we reach Nigde road construction slows our progress; the highway department is laying fresh tar covered in crushed stone. It seems the world over, no drive is possible without the slow down inherent in road repair; the tar is very thick here and the stone lightly applied so we pick-up lots of both. I mention to don he's getting an undercoating for his van, what a mess this is. Our drive is made longer by this short slow down and darkness over takes us only two-thirds of the way to Goreme, but we make it with no further incidents. Now in village, Don drives the van up a narrow and curvy one-lane street to the top of the hill towards the 'Canyon View Cave Hotel', our designated accommodation for this visit.
We enter the Canyon View's large reception area two steps below the car park level through a double wood arched door. There's a large bronze bell hung directly in the center of the arch, a truly wonderful old 'doorbell'. We're in a large cave room that also serves as the breakfast room in the winter; the floor slopes slightly toward the back of the room as we walk further into the cave space. Carol and I have never stayed in the Canyon View but Don and Jill stay here often; they know the owner 'Hasan Uludag' well. The hotel boasts nine rooms, most of which are cave accommodations. Several of the rooms are extremely large and family friendly. Carol and I are assigned to Room 4, just out of the reception area to the left. We walk down another slight incline and through another wood door onto the courtyard level, our room is only steps away.
There's one room prior to ours on this level but only the one; the full complement of rooms here are on multiple levels, several above ours and a number below. Don and Jill have Room 3 down the steps below the courtyard level. Out in front of our room across the courtyard are two terraces on either side of the stairs leading to the lower levels. The left terrace is eight to ten steps above our level and the right one is on our level. Each terrace has space enough for two tables and four to six chairs; this is where we'll have our breakfast. We ask and we're told breakfast is at eight; Carol and I tell everyone good night and go to our room. The long ride has been tiring and it's really too late for us to visit anywhere, we simply retire for the evening.
Our room (I've dubbed it the mihrab room) has several Turkish Carpets/Kilims hung on the walls and many more fully cover the floor. On either side of the bed, there are fairly new prayer carpets or mihrab motif rugs. We're in a larger cave room with a smaller cave room off the side that's been conformed into a bathroom. The room is well appointed and tastefully decorated but be sure to bring your own toiletries - none are available in the bathroom. We never travel without our own pillows but here we find very nice ones; it's unusual to find a soft pillow in any hotel we've visited in Turkey. The bed is queen, maybe even king size; there are two night tables, a desk and chair, a large square coffee table and a dresser/side board. In the back of the room, three cabinet doors have been installed over a small cave space to provide the room with a very spacious closet. There's a carved space above the closet and it has a chest set in it to accent the space. There are also a number of other traditional Turkish handicrafts hung and sit about the room.
The door is quite wide but short; we have to bend down to go through it. Beside the door is a double window with wrought iron grating on the outside and two set of drapes inside. There are two small cave windows above the large window that have been filled with glass as skylights. The bathroom is nice size and is tastefully tiled.
I'm up early as my internal clock doesn't allow for holiday hours. I go out into the courtyard and then through the reception hall to the upper rooms; there's a curving stairway to the terrace on the roof of the rooms above ours. The view from up here is awesome! I can turn in any direction and see the entire valley from this level. As is normal for Goreme this time of year, the sky is filling with hot air balloons; many have already reached altitude and here's one directly overhead. The people contained within the gondola are chatting away as they float just above my head. I can nearly see their faces with the excitement of their adventure. Several are waving at the people on the roof across the way from me in the next hotel; they may have come from that hotel this morning for their flight.
While I'm up here, I get a couple of photos of the balloons (as if I need more)
and the magnificent landscape spread out at my feet. I meet a gentleman from
home up here as well, the Anderson family has been visiting since Wednesday.
After a few minutes of viewing and talking with Mr. Anderson, I return to the
courtyard fronting my room and make myself comfortable at one of the tables
on the lower terrace to await our breakfast. While waiting on the others to
make their appearance I meet the Stewarts and the Bohneys who are visiting from
Ankara. Carol joins me after a little bit and we sit and enjoy the morning.
We're so pleased to have escaped Adana and the HEAT, even for just the weekend.
It isn't long before other families appear on the upper terrace and then Don
& Jill come up to join Carol and me at our table. There are a couple of
families from Ankara staying here this weekend. As we talk with them, we're
delighted to hear they all have been enjoying their visit to the Goreme area
and their time in Turkey. We always welcome a conversation with people who have
come to visit different regions of Turkey and have found this amazing country
as wonderful as we have found it. I have to be very careful because sometimes
I tend to go well beyond enthusiastic about Turkey. The opportunities for learning
here are endless, the history of this country never ceases to amaze me as I
visit the same and different places.
Breakfast is a set menu; a plate with a slice of tomato, a few slices of cucumber,
a large slab of white cheese (very good cheese), a triangle of soft cheese wrapped
in tinfoil, a half dozen olives in a square side dish, a few peanuts, a couple
of dried apricots and bread. Scrambled eggs are available if you so desire.
While enjoying conversation and the meal, we plan our adventure to Kayseri (a
major city about an hour away). It's the city of birth for Turkey's new President
Abdullah Gul (not the reason for our visit). Don and Jill want to see some of
the old ruins of the city; we've been there in the past so they want us to help
them get around. We talked about the city walls, the old bedistan - covered
bazaar and of course the carpet shops. We learn in the course of the conversation
there are two other folks who want to ride along on today's discovery.
After breakfast, Don phones the others (they are staying at another hotel)
and he tells them of our plan and checks to be sure they're still interested
in our day trip. In just a few minutes, we hear all is a go and Don goes to
configure the van for two more people. Don's van has a pop-up third seat in
the rear so in becomes a small dolmus. We all make a final rest stop and load
up our van to head down off the top of this hill. At the hotel below, we learn
our new traveling companions are Julie and Jane both who work with Don back
home. With everyone comfortably in place, we set off for Kayseri.
As I indicated earlier, the drive between Goreme and Kayseri is about an hour
and we make the trip with ease. Unfortunately, the view today is obstructed
and the beautiful mountains around Kayseri are not visible; especially Mount
Erciyes, the sky resort which is very lovely in the spring. Once in the city
we follow the signs to the city center. We encounter the high black walls of
the inner city fortress in just a few minutes and drive around them until we
find a suitable parking space. Kayseri was occupied by the Byzantines in the
6th century and they built these walls to surround the city. The parking attendant
(there are many in this area) meets us in the street and I decide we need to
pay for five hours; no need in cutting corners we don't know how long we might
be. Better to pay for a longer time and not worry about getting back to the
van at a particular time.
We're about a block away from the entrance to the covered bazaar and in five
minutes, we're wandering the crowded alleyways of this labyrinth of commerce.
It's Saturday so we are consumed by a mass of humanity as we wade into the first
passageway. There are shoes as far as the eye can see down this first alleyway.
As we cross another alley going perpendicular to ours there are scarves and
clothes. Our passage is steady but labored as we move through the throng of
shoppers. Every cell of shopping has product out along the passage and hung
from every available wire, nail or crevasse in the masonry. We're not in the
hustle and bustle of the crowd for ten minutes when we come upon a familiar
face, the brother of the carpet shop owner where we bought a carpet almost a
year ago! He calls Carol by name and we don't remember his at all - we feel
so bad (we learn it's Mehmet), but he simply shows his joy at our return visit
to his city. We introduce our friends and he wants to know where in the States
everyone is from. We talk for several minutes in the cacophony of the crowd
before moving on. He asks if we are going to the carpet shop and we tell him,
of course. We find we are even headed in the right direction as we're trying
to remember the right path through this collection of jammed passages.
In another minute, we're stepping down into one of the old entry ways of the bazaar. The steps we descend are very irregular and centuries old; they're smoothed and rounded by the many generations that have come before us. Mehmet tells us the history of the doors we've just passed through; they are tall and steel plated timbers that must be two inches thick. At the foot of the stairs, we encounter Ali the bother who runs the carpet shop (Pinar Carpeting). There are warm greetings all around. We introduce our friends and spend a few minutes looking around the hall we're standing in. well above our heads is a large domed ceiling held aloft by massive pillars. Carpet shops surround us here; there must be six or eight in this entry hall. As everyone takes in the reality of the surroundings, Ali is telling Carol and me how he was just yesterday searching his card file and finding our friend's card and wondering where we were. Ali is certain his card find yesterday has brought us to visit today. We bought one carpet here and even now, we're old friends who do not come often enough (this is true Turkish Custom, they never meet a stranger). Still engaged in full conversation, we go into Ali's shop to see what's new since our last visit.
Once we're all comfortable in the shop, we're offered and receive refreshments
as we look through one stack after another of kilims and carpets. Ali has some
of Turkey's most popular regional pieces; some young and many old. Carol and
I see a couple of pieces we should not leave without. We have several carpets
taken from the shop to the outdoors so we can see them under the sun; a carpet
should never be purchased without careful study of structure (we look for repairs)
and color. True color can only be seen in the full light of day and be sure
to look from both ends, as carpets change color from one end to the other. After
all the pieces are looked at once and then again; we all get away without a
purchase but pledge to return for another look later in the day.
We've been an hour or so now and we ask Ali about a good place for lunch. Last
time we visited he led us to a very nice kabob place and we ask about it again.
It's too small for all of us now he says because it has moved; he leads us to
another great place (Dedenin Yeri) owned by one of his friends. We sit out on
the sidewalk behind this little café between the buildings. The area we're seated
in is very much a courtyard with one end open for exit. As tables are reconfigured
and we're seated we notice there are a number of wedding dresses hung between
the buildings at the enclosed on of the courtyard. We don't know if they've
cleaned or they are made in one of the shops down the way. The waiter brings
our drinks along with our clean plates and flatware. Everyone has a meal of
his choice; there are many selections available. Carol and I have ayran (a yogurt
drink); it's generally served in a glass at home but here we get it in a tin-lined
copper cup with a spoon; it's served this way in Sanliurfa as well. It's very
cold and quite good. There are three side dishes brought to the table, then
our individual plates are brought along with bread. We all decide this was an
excellent choice of restaurants, thanks so much Ali Bey. Before we leave, we
get a card so when we return to Kayseri we can return here to eat. With lunch
now behind us, we walk down the street a block and go into the courtyard of
the Ethnographic Museum, an old Medrese. We've told our friends; this is a must
see.
When we enter the courtyard immediately on our left is the gatekeeper. This
is a very large building (entry is 2 Lira per person - standard for sights across
Turkey) enclosed within the old city walls. The courtyard is well maintained
and there are some ruins to be observed around the outer walls and in the grassy
landscape. Once we've paid, we head for the old wooden stairs to the upper level
of the building. On the landing at the top of the stairs, we have several options;
to our left is a doorway, in front of us is a doorway and up another set of
steps on our right is another entry door. We all go in different rooms; I go
into the first room to the left at the top of the stairs which is actually three
rooms. In separate display cases, these rooms have weapons, pottery and textiles.
The next room I enter has a number of display cases filled with coins of gold,
silver and bronze from multiple generations past. I climb the next set of steps
and enter a room with carpets and old copper utilitarian pieces. On a separate
deck just above the landing level is a yurt (a nomadic tent); a very lovely
Kars Kilim stretches out across the front of the yurt as well. From this landing
you get a feel for the ancient wall of the city as it stretches out as far one
can see straight in front of us.
Once we've all come back together again on the porch landing, we descend the
stairs to the lower level of the building. The architecture of this building
is 13th century and the ceilings on the interior are not to be overlooked. The
first hall we enter on the ground level is lined in wood carved and painted
panels; the work is striking from one side to the other and all across the ceiling.
We enter into an opening that becomes a stage within ten or twelve feet. On
the left up a couple of steep steps is a doorway to the women's salon; there
are a number of mannequins dressed in traditional custom standing and sitting
at different daily scenes and again the room is paneled in beautiful ornate
wood.
Back in the main hall now, the men's chamber, there are a number of mannequins
in differing repose dressed in native custom. Some of these are posed with musical
instruments and others with trades of the era depicted. It's very obvious that
the curator has spent a good deal of time making these representations as realistic
as possible. To the right of the stage there's a doorway leading into the lower
kitchen, a small space with a set of steps leading into the main kitchen. Once
again, there's a mannequin dressed traditionally, she's shown bent over a board
making pita bread. A lamp has been added to the underside of a large cooking
pot to provide the illusion of fire in the hearth. This female mannequin looks
almost alive! This diorama is very well presented too. From here, we step into
a vestibule with rooms to our right and to the left. The ceiling in the room
to our right is magnificent, it has an incredible ornate center all hand carved
and beautifully painted; it appears to be some sort of flower blossom. Also,
to our left just past the door of the room on our left is a steep staircase
ascending to the room well above us. Immediately in front of us is the exit
door back into the courtyard. This facility is well worth a visit should you
be in Kayseri to discover new sights.
We leave the museum grounds now and head back to the bazaar walking along side
the city walls that tower fifteen or twenty feet over our heads. Right here
in this same square is Kayseri's Ataturk House which we pass up this time. Many
cities have an Ataturk House - a place Turkey's first President stayed while
he visited their town or where he may have had his military headquarters during
the war of independence. In just a few minutes, we're back inside the covered
bazaar headed down new passages looking at new things. We find ourselves at
the end of a passage and I go out to see if we can get back inside down further
without walking in the afternoon sun for too far. I take a very short walk outside
and find that yes, we can get right back inside just around the corner, I summon
the others to follow.
Just as we round the corner we run into Mehmet again, he seems to be everywhere.
I remember back to our first visit here and how Mehmet seem to materialize out
of no where as we walked the streets. He leads us inside the old caravan entrance
and tells us about the place as we proceed. He moves toward one column with
a steel plate door about two feet square and explains this is where the payments
were kept when some one choose to stay over in the caravan quarters for more
than three days (three days were free). Mehmet opens the outer plate and revealed
the inner opening and the small cavern that rests behind both. He then moves
on to talk more about the structure and its history as he understands it. In
just minutes, we're back at the carpet shop where our morning had begun.
We all take another look at the carpets/kilims we had looked at several hours
before and decide to pass on them all except one small kilim that Jane decides
to purchase. Ali is not very pleased and tries very hard to get other sales
but we all stand firm and assure him we'll see him again another time. We thank
him for the lunch suggestion and all his time, we bid him farewell and head
for our van. Ali insists his brother lead us out so we don't get lost; we don't
need his help but accept it graciously.
Once back in the van we make our way out of the city and head for Urgup so
Carol and I can pickup a carpet we left several months ago to be repaired. The
ride through the country is again uneventful and we're in Urgup in no time.
Don parks just down the street from our friend Murat Guzelgoz's carpet shop,
'Le Bazaar D'Orient' and we go to get our rug. Murat as usual offers refreshments
and he has several new pieces he insists we must see. There are a number of
Suzani table cloths from Uzbekistan and then some new carpets from Afghanistan
that are very lovely. Carol and I left a Kemaliye Carpet with Murat several
months before to be repaired and he has come up with another he would like us
to look at; this will be only the fourth Kemaliye Carpet we've seen in over
25 years. We apologize to Murat and beg off on any further showing because we
have a dinner engagement in Goreme at the 'Kose Pansion'. Murat has our carpet
wrapped up and we're off to Goreme.
It's a very short drive to Goreme and we drop Julie and Jane at there hotel
and head up the hill to ours. Once in the parking lot we find the van is overheated
again, Don decides it's all due to air conditioning usage and vows to leave
it off from now on. We have some time before dinner so Carol and I decide to
walk to the pansion; besides we want to stop and see some friends on the way.
We go to our room and drop off our extra stuff and then walk the back way out
of the Canyon View. We traverse the narrow streets as we descend into the central
shopping area of Goreme. It's still fairly hot so we walk leisurely through
the streets trying to avoid direct sun. Half way to our destination, we stop
at Tribal Collections to say hello to Ruth, Faruk and Hasan; we find Faruk is
not there but will be later. We visit with Ruth for a short time and then get
on to our dinner engagement.
As I mentioned, we're going to 'Kose Pansion' for their evening meal; this
pansion has a set menu dinner for guests and others who sign up before three
in the afternoon. Jill has introduced us to this setting before and the meal
is very fine. We arrive before the others and sit out on the porch to await
their appearance. Dinner is at 7:30 and minutes before it is served our friends
join us. The first course is a cold yogurt soup, a most excellent start. The
main dish is chicken, eggplant and zucchini squash cooked in a small clay pot,
served with rice and a very nice green salad. Our dessert today is lemon ice
cream over fresh fruit; ops, watch those grape seeds! All of this for 10 Lira
plus drinks; what an outstanding value!
Over dinner, we talk about our day and simply enjoy each other's company. Each
course comes and goes too quickly but we spend an hour savoring them. After
dinner, Carol and I excuse ourselves to walk back to the Canyon View. We intend
to stop once again at Tribal Collections to see Faruk who should be there by
now. It's dark so we walk toward the main street where the light is more prevalent.
We cross the main street and walk the inner avenue where there are a number
of carpet shops and other tourist kiosks. It's only five minutes to the carpet
shop and we find Faruk sitting at his desk; no customers this evening. We sit
and chat for a bit and I spy a silk Kilim I've seen in the shop before; it's
small but very fine and I decide to purchase it this time. Faruk's repairman
does a small thread repair on it and Hasan gets me a bag to carry it in; then
I suggest to Faruk that he take a look at our carpet collection. I have my thumb
drive with me that contains a number of photos of our collection in the United
States. We spend an hour looking and re-looking at the carpet/kilim pictures.
Faruk jokingly offers to buy a number of our pieces as he previews the collection;
we talk about how these pieces are no longer available in the marketplace. We
have a lovely visit and it's late so we offer our farewell and continue our
walk toward the hotel. The evening is warm but not like Adana so we enjoy the
night air and take the long way up the hill to the hotel. By the time we reach
the hotel it's eleven o'clock and we simply retire.
Sun rise this morning is awesome; I'm sitting on the higher terrace just outside
my room. There's no one else around and I scan the landscape blanketed at my
feet. The labyrinth of tiny streets below me are fascinating with the locals
beginning their day. There's one lone goat in the collection of houses out before
me crying for his breakfast. I can't pinpoint his location but it's got to be
one of the cave homes immediately across from me, the sound of his voice is
so forlorn it's saddening. I had goats as a child growing up and in can see
this one in my mind's eye, small not yet full grown and all alone. Now a cat
joins me in the chair across from mine; he has beautiful olive green eyes. There
are four or five cats that roam the terraces at mealtime. Breakfast was supposed
to be early today but it appears it will be later than yesterday; no matter,
Jill and Don are just now joining Carol and me. Jill goes in to check on our
breakfast and in short order it's brought out for us. It has been prepared,
we simply didn't know we were supposed to go request it.
We eat leisurely, as we enjoy the hint of morning breeze across the terrace.
After our meal, we return to our rooms and get what we want for our day trip
planned by Don and Jill. They're taking us, along with Julie and Jane to Ozkonak
just north of Avanos. This is a forty minute drive from our hotel in Goreme.
We load up the van and head down the hill to Julie and Jane's hotel. Don explains
that we'll be traveling today without air conditioning to prevent the van from
over heating. The drive to Avanos in easy and we drive through the village and
out the north side. The road beyond Avanos is narrow, paved, but fairly rough.
We rise steadily over a hill as we climb toward our destination. The countryside
here is dry and nearly lifeless on the whole but agriculture is evident; we
see wheat stubble not yet burnt off; the harvest was not long ago. There are
a number of grapevines laden with fruit too but the ground around them is still
very dry out here.
We re-trace our path as we leave the monastery and head for Ozkonak. As we
approach the village we find a very lovely new home for sale; it's quite odd
though because it's encased in aluminum siding! It looks so strange to see a
building clad in siding here in Turkey; one just does not expect to see aluminum
siding here and certainly not this far out of a city. Architecture in Turkey
is primary masonry, not wood frame and aluminum siding just seems way out of
place.
Ozkonak is one of the purported 150 underground cities in the region - this
one is fairly small and only discovered by accident in 1972. A local farmer
is reported to have been watering his garden when he noticed the water draining
away in an odd manner that drew his attention. During his investigation of this
anomaly, he found the hidden underground city. This one is open to four levels
currently. It is thought that many of the underground cities across this vicinity
of Turkey are connected by an extended tunnel system.
After a time of shopping in the local tourist kiosks, around the entry to the
underground, our friends descend into the site. Carol and I remain above ground.
I tend to be claustrophobic and find the underground to be a little too tight
for my own comfort. Instead, Carol and I go the refreshment stand and have drinks
and a 'Magnum' ice cream bar; the gentleman we bought a few things from insists
we have fresh grapes too and cuts them from the arbor just above our tables.
It isn't long before our friends are back with us and we all sit for drinks
and ice cream.
Yesterday the proprietor of the 'Kose Pansion' invited us to join them for her
son's circumcision party, so we must get back to Goreme. When we arrive the
party is in full swing, we find a parking place and Julie & Jane decide
to forgo the party. They will walk back to their hotel from here. The rest of
us go into the garden. The music is extremely loud and even though it's outside,
I tell them I can not stay. Carol takes our monetary gift to the young lad who
is being honored and we depart on foot. I have a serious aversion to loud noise;
I suffer serious headaches so try very hard to never sit in situations of this
type. Don and Jill stay for the meal and entertainment.
Carol and I walk back to the village center and stop by to see Ruth at Tribal
Collections. Ruth is quite busy with customers so we simply sit and watch what
the couple chooses to purchase. Faruk is there so we talk with him while watching
the couple pick carpet pieces. They've selected some beautiful yastics (small
tribal rugs); they will be making them into pillows later, once they get them
home from their holiday. Ruth asks if we're hungry and offers us chicken donor
wraps, which we readily accept. In just a few minutes, our sandwiches arrive
and Hasan presents them on plates with napkins. We enjoy the visit including
lunch and after an hour or so, we thank them and continue our walk back to the
hotel. There's a new carpet shop in the village that we wanted to check out,
'Hali, Kilim Tamir Atolyesi'. This is a small shop that does repair work as
well as sell a few carpets. We look at many very lovely pieces and talk about
each of them until the young men we're dealing with discover we know more than
the average tourist about carpets. We look through most all of the carpets/kilims
they have to offer and put two pieces aside for tomorrow. We need time to think
about a purchase and they try to get me to decide right now. I tell them it's
no use; should I really want them, I'll return for sure tomorrow.
We continue our walk toward the hotel; Carol suggests we take a side street
across the lower part of the hill where our hotel sits to avoid walking the
steep drive on this side of the hill. We come out on the street that runs just
below our hotel. We climb the hill and then the stairs to our room. We make
a rest stop and then Carol collects her crocheting and we go sit out on the
upper terrace to enjoy the rest of the day.
I look out across the village from this height and see a massive collection
of ancient and modern architecture, as well as cave dwellings. This part of
Goreme is surrounded by hillsides as if enclosed in a box canyon. Many roofs
stretched out across the landscape are covered in vegetation and numerous daily
projects. One roof has twelve pans of tomato sauce drying to become tomato paste;
another roof has two tarps covered in grapes drying to become raisins. This
is the same procedure they use for drying apricots we buy in the local stores
back home that say: 'Product of Turkey'. Other roofs are circled with containers
of plants; I see tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and numerous herbs.
In the street below us are children with bicycles and little tri-wheel rides;
they are climbing the hill and riding down the street yelling as they race faster
and faster; oh to be that young again! The whole time the kids are racing up
and down the street, cars, tractors and vans are also traveling up and down.
Everyone watches out for the children and the children simply appear oblivious
to everything but their pleasure rides.
As night falls all around us the streets in the village become far more evident to us. The vehicles traveling through the village illuminate the streets we're unable to distinguish during the day. One street we discover as it darkens is one directly across in front of us, it appears to cut through the center of one building as the headlight of the vehicles dance off the walls. On the hilltop across the valley to our left, we begin to see vehicles coming straight toward the rim and then turning away as they follow it for a time and then fade away. There's also one road down off the rim where we watch headlights fall away and then turn first right then left as they traverse the curved pavement into the village below us. It's fascinating as it gets far darker and we see more and more traffic coming and going through this collection of buildings laid out across the valley.
Don and Jill have not returned from a hike through Pigeon Valley and Carol
decides we need to phone them to be sure they are OK. They went with Julie and
Jane for what they were assured was an hour or two but it's well past dark and
hiking in the dark has to be a challenge. Carol phones and we learn they have
just returned to Julie and Jane's hotel; all is well. In another thirty minutes,
our friends join us and we all sit out here under the stars to have a glass
of wine and talk of our discoveries. The evening marches quickly away and we
retire for the night.
The sun bursts into my room and wakes me; all the walking yesterday allowed
me a good nights rest. I rise, dress and go out to meet the day before anyone
else. The sun is well over the horizon this morning and the activity below is
in full swing. There's a gentleman just below me, he has emerged from one of
the courtyard gates, and he goes to the fountain. He's not carrying anything
to collect water but before I get a second thought he's splashing water on his
face and over his head; I cringe as he continues to splash, that water has to
be very cold! Another guy was walking by but is gone down behind the buildings
now. There's a gate opening on the street immediately below, a little girl is
coming up a set of steps and out into the daylight. She stands in the street
now looking toward the sky; she begins shouting for her mother to come out.
When her mother emerges, the girl points at the sky all excited about the balloon
directly overhead.
OH, here comes the guy I saw earlier; he's carrying fresh bread! I can't wait
for mine that should be coming shortly with our breakfast. As I look up I notice
that just across the rooftops to my left a balloon is landing. I've not seen
this before and take note of how it's descending. The pilot sits it down now
and from this perch where I sit, it appears to be very gently done. I hope those
riding in it today feel the same. As I watch the canopy deflate, it takes ten
or fifteen minutes before it actually begins to fall toward the ground. Then,
one more balloon has landed near by and is deflating; it appears to be falling
faster than the first. As many times, as we've been visiting here I've never
seen this before. I continue to watch until both balloons are fully flat to
the ground.
Don and Jill have now joined us and breakfast is served. We eat and prepare
to depart. Before we leave Goreme, Jill wants us to see her friend's home up
the hill a little bit; she phones and we head for the meeting and tour. We're
meeting with Sinan Aydinoglu who owns 'Goreme Suites - 4 special suites'. Sinan's
suites are nothing short of fabulous! The view from each suite is of Uchisar;
the rooms are extremely well appointed and very spacious. The whole home is
available for rent or rooms can be leased individually. After a few minutes
of tour, we thank Sinan for his gracious hospitality and leave.
Before we leave Goreme, I ask Don to stop at the carpet shop Carol and I visited
yesterday afternoon. I ask the young man we spoke to yesterday to get the two
carpets back out into the sun this morning. Carol and I walk around them once
more and decide they must return home with us; we buy them now. While they are
being packed up for us, I return to the van and bring out the Kemaliye I had
repaired by Murat's repair person. My intent was to get their impression of
the piece since it's old and they seem to know older pieces. I drop the piece
on the sidewalk and instantly the older repairman says, 'Murat from Urgup'.
This gentleman who is currently repairing a carpet in his lap has performed
the repair on our carpet; we're stunned and impressed at the same time. Carol
immediately decides we need a photograph of the gentleman holding our carpet.
After fifteen or twenty minutes, we're again under way headed out of Goreme.
We head out over the hills and up through Uchisar on our way to the closest
service station for petrol. After a short stop there, we head off for Nevsehir
and then toward Nigde. We decide due to road construction near Nigde to take
a longer route back to Adana. Don and Jill have not done the long way back and
we direct them to the proper turns and get us on the right road. Some have said
this road was not completely finished but it's fully done and well done. We
travel for an hour and a half in perfect weather with very little traffic to
contend with. Both Don and Jill find the countryside out here photogenic; we
stop a number of times to capture the landscape on digital camera.
Jill says, wait, there was a sign for a restaurant back there. We turn around
in the road and in just a moment see the sign and turn down this narrow side
lane. We're driving through apple orchards and the trees are fully burdened
with fruit. The apples are probably a couple weeks away from full maturity but
the abundance of them is obvious as we drive through more and more orchards.
The road turns first one way then the other as we look for the restaurant or
more signs pointing us in the right direction. We've dropped further below the
main road and drive into a vastly greener environment where streams run with
crystal clear water.
There it is, the sign pointing out a right turn to 'Ecemis Alabalik Restaurant'.
This is now a one-lane tractor path falling toward the creek. As we break over
the last rise, we're confronted by a large building surrounded by concrete tanks
filled with fish. There's a large fish hatchery here along this creek and the
restaurant is also set on the creek bank. We park on one side of the creek and
walk over a small bridge to the restaurant. We select a table at creek side;
the water is not deep but flows freely and is clear as glass. We learn the menu
is fish, there is nothing here but FISH. I don't eat fresh water fish but the
others all have a filet and I eat two plates of magnificent salad. Three of
us have ayran too. Many times, we've been told to forgo ayran if we're eating
fish but our hosts make no mention of this and we have no ill effects. My friends
tell me the fish is excellent. Carol has me try some; it tastes like fish to
me! I simply choose to pass.
This is one of the most beautiful settings for a restaurant; weeping willow
trees surround us, the creek runs gently below our table settings and the shear
rook face of an extraordinary mountain rises far above us behind the restaurant
building. Words can barely due justice to the immense beauty we find ourselves
encased in. We linger here for about an hour. I go inside while Don and Jill
take photos and pay our bill, 20 Lira for three plates of fish and the two large
salads. We cross the bridge and load into the van to continue our trip home,
driving along the foot of the mountain. I've dubbed this side trip, Jill's detour;
we're all very pleased we've gotten off the main road and up next to this majestic
mountain. Photo opportunities continue to present themselves and we take one
shot after another.
It isn't long and we come into this small village Demirkazik and next to the
road we find this two-story log home; on the sign it says, 'Sobek Travel, The
Leader of Adventure'. Unfortunately it's not open today; we continue on. Carol
and I discover as we make the next turn in this village that we've been here
before but turned around in the village center and went back the way we had
come, thinking there was nothing more to be seen further down the road. Had
we only known then what we know today!
We continue to meander towards Pozanti and stop again at a ski resort area
and the Safak Pansiyon. It's run by a retired Turkish elementary school teacher
and his family. His English is flawless; he happily shows us several of the
rooms and talks about the two and four-day hiking tours he guides through these
magnificent mountains. The ski area is actually on the other side of the mountains
we see directly in front of us from the pansiyon's porches. I have to have a
photo here!
Sadly, we come to the end of our mountain road and hit the freeway to Adana.
That concludes another excellent weekend trip. We've all had a grand time and
the new sights and discoveries continue to add to our appreciation of this awesome
country.
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