Goreme- August/September 2022
The day started off great, we made it through airport security twice without a hitch. Istanbul Airport screens visitors as soon as they enter the building, which makes sense. Only passengers with tickets go through the more in depth, liquid check. We were surprised our $12 upgraded seats on Turkish Airlines were first class. Too bad the flight was only a little over an hour. In that short time, they served us warm sandwiches and drinks. Just as we finished lunch we started to descend. The plane was going side to side. We held ourselves up in the seat to prevent the spine crushing landing we were sure was evident. The plane’s wheels were about to touch the ground when suddenly we flew back in our seats and started a steep incline. Back up in the air we made a wide circle and attempted to land again. Once the plane finally hit the ground the whole cabin applauded. At least we had a little more time in first class. The Nevsehir airport used to be a military base and is unusually short.
Outside the airport we found our name and followed the driver who put our bags in a van and walked us to a different van. Jim snapped a photo of the license plate. The driver said to wait and went back for more passengers. Kind of weird, but OK. We arranged the shuttle with our host after all, it should be fine. We waited in the hot van for our driver, as four other passengers, all who had their luggage with them, started piling in. As we waited, we saw the van with our luggage take off. How did they know where to take our luggage and whose luggage they have? When the driver came back we asked about our luggage and he just kept telling us, no problem, no problem. An Australian passenger joked that we would be buying a lot of “I love Cappadocia '' shirts with cute sparkly cats on them. Jim laughed and whispered to me, "I could use a new blue shirt and closet update." I didn't find this funny.
The 45 minute drive to Goreme looked a lot like southern Arizona, a vast barren desert. The driver's oil light kept going off and beeping every 10 minutes. The driver pulled over in the town before ours, which we assumed was to drop off one of the other passengers. He opened the door and told us this was our spot and our luggage was on the way. It was a small village, dust covered everything, the place looked deserted. After a few minutes of trying to explain to him this was the wrong spot, we got it figured out and jumped back in the van. The Australian said, “Mate, that was a close one, even I wouldn’t stay there.” We drove to an intersection and waited in the van on the side of the road for our luggage, which eventually came and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
We were the first in the van to get dropped off at the correct place. The lockbox code wasn’t provided so we hung out at the restaurant below while we waited to hear back from our host. The restaurant owner called the host and also received no answer. We had a beer and laughed about almost being stuck in the middle of nowhere without our luggage. Our host eventually called back. She apologized profusely and came by to make sure we were inside. The room was nice, equipped with a kitchen and balcony overlooking our street.
We caught the bus to Avanos for 30 tl. We thought the hair museum would be a neat spot, it was actually quite disgusting. Locks of hair labeled with names and phone numbers filled a small cave that didn't allow photos, due to privacy. The story goes that a woman had to leave her friend, so she cut a piece of her hair and left her name and number on a note so they would one day reunite. Since then, literally millions of strands of hair have filled every inch of this cave. I passed through dead hair hanging down, trying to avoid the tiny white particles living on them from touching me. I told Jim a lice check would be in order and he replied I am sure glad I shaved.
We visited a pottery store where we watched a guy make a beautiful piece of pottery which he destroyed when he finished so we could see inside. He explained that men can't get married unless they know how to master it. Women have to master weaving, before they can get married. We were taken to a “private collection” room which housed pottery glazed with phosphorus which glowed in the dark after being put in the sunlight for a few seconds. It was truly remarkable work. The prices were a fraction of the price they were asking in Goreme.
Jim's obsession with Micky D’s was strong that day, so we stopped in, had two meals for under $10. With his homesick feeling relieved, we walked across a suspension bridge that made our legs wobble for several minutes after, and finally crossed the Red River, an ancient river paralleling the Silk Road.
A mile later we entered the Guray museum, an underground cave filled with more pottery and art, but happily paid $1.50 to escape the heat. They had some amazing work from local artists and a few old pots. The AC was intoxicating. We took a taxi back to Goreme for 110 tl, after giving up on a local bus.
PIGEON VALLEY HIKE/UCHISAR CASTLE
The plan was to take a taxi to Uchisar, see the castle and then walk back to Goreme through Pigeon Valley.
At the last minute I found a path leaving Goreme up and out of the canyon all the way to Uchisar. We stopped at a little market where we bought 3 liters of water. As we started walking out of town, it was a slow incline before we reached the top of the ridge where it leveled out for a bit. There were beautiful views, vineyards, squash and fruit trees all in the middle of the desert. Soon after I noticed the tracks... the big tracks of a wild animal and started to panic. Jim was sure they were just dogs as the town has plenty of friendly street dogs. I was convinced we would die in the desert by the chiseled teeth of a gruesome unknown beast who stalks American tourists gone astray. That is one way to get me to keep up with Jim. After an hour or so we came to the south end of Uchisar.
As we made the transition from dirt road to asphalt, we found another track...a pretty cool one that didn't cause me such panic.
The restaurant's speakers blaring Rianna was telling us how bright we should shine. Seemed like a great spot to stop after escaping all the wild animals still lurking out there. We sat at the edge of the valley and had a great breakfast with an awesome view. After we finished, Jim noticed the restaurant actually had steps leading down to the trail below into Pigeon Valley. It was a different sort of walking than before. Now we were walking through the canyon, exploring every nook and cranny.
We took off to see if we could get into a cave carved into one of the canyon walls. It was amazing, there was a whole house dug out, with multiple stories. After pressing on we came to a sign leading up to the castle or down to the valley and into Goreme. We went up...up and up, step after step in the blistering sun which had us both questioning our sanity. Soon we made it to the base of the castle. People dressed up for pictures hopped out of cars as we walked by wiping the sweat and dust out of our eyes. We walked the 200+ stairs to the disappointing views at the top. This is the highest point in Cappadocia. We could see towns and villages in 360 degrees, all covered in dust. I imagined it would be nice in the morning or evening, but at noon, it looked lifeless.
By the time we walked back down, my legs were shaking. Jim offered to get a taxi but something in his voice sounded pitiful, almost defeated. I reluctantly agreed we came this far, we might as well finish the trail and loop back into Goreme. We continued on the trail back down passing a few people. At one point we walked into someone's home on the side of the cave. I was happily ready to turn back and hail a taxi when this little old lady pointed to a small trail through the side of her yard, which had the words Goreme on a metal post.
We kept pushing on, walking, hiking, tripping and taking pictures. We ran into a guy that was ahead of us. He said it was too dangerous up ahead. Jim checked and sure enough it was washed out, the trail ended. So we made quick introductions. Along with our new trail partner, Eddis from North Macedonia we decided we would find a way down to the trail home without having to backtrack and accept defeat.
Jim's Version of Fun!
After many unsuccessful attempts of climbing rock after rock, looking over brush and boulders, we found a way. The first hurdle was sliding down the top of the slippery mushroom head formation only to be stuck again without a way out. Eddis and I agreed on one route, that although hairy, could technically be done. It involved scooting down a long slippery decline to get to the lowest point before probably falling to the bottom. Eddis went and I saw him hit hard. He was younger than both of us and came up like a champ, a slightly crooked champ. I scaled down stretched out like I was on a water slide. I threw down my 20 lb backpack, slid down as far as I could and then let go, trying to plant my feet before falling further down the canyon. Alisa said there was no way she could do it. Eddis and I got into what Alisa called the foothold cheerleading spotter pose...She put one foot in each of our hands as we tried to guide her feet down. Mind you she's wearing shorts. Short, short shorts scooting down on her butt on an incredibly steep decline. Images of camel footprints kept flashing before my eyes. The valley was wide open. Eddis respectfully kept his eyes down, when he could. When she reached the ledge, I put my hand up, let go of her foot and she jumped into my arms and I lowered her down.
We walked lower and lower and finally found the trail again. We stuck with our new hiking buddy for the next half hour until we reached Goreme. We shook hands and went our separate ways, promising a beer together soon. I’m still not sure who needed who more during that hike, but it sure was nice to have an extra hand on the trail, especially since Alisa is far less vocally fearful when others are around. My guess is he won't soon forget that valley.
It was a four and half hour hike, from one town to the next, up and down the canyon three times and over 8 miles. We were exhausted and starving. We were dead to the world after and we had to be up at 3:30 a.m. for a hot air balloon ride. Real sleep never came, just grunts and soreness. But in between the aches and pains and that weird feeling when you’re too tired to change sleeping positions, we lay thinking of all we overcame that day. We pushed ourselves beyond anything we thought we could do. Sure we won’t be able to walk for a few days but who gets to see camel footprints twice in one day?
BUTTERFLY BALLOONS
Just as expected, interrupted sleep ended at 3:30 a.m. when we woke up to get picked up for the hot air balloon ride. It was beautiful but a one and done kind of activity. We both could barely stand. Jim was told to get in the basket first. He looked for a door and was told to just hop in. He looked like a 90 year old trying to saddle a horse and flung one leg over and stumbled towards the center of the basket.
Shortly after liftoff, the radio, flames and other tourists stopped making noise and it was amazingly peaceful. We dipped in and out of the canyons as the sun rose and fell to our east. It was such a different perspective from above. We waved at the people below snapping pictures.
As we started the descent, the pilot called the ground crew and they pulled into an empty field with a trailer. This guy actually landed a huge basket full of 20 people right on it, impressive.
My hair was singed, Jim was deaf and burnt but we enjoyed our complimentary champagne and strawberries anyway. They dropped us off close to our home and we crashed for an hour. It was 98° outside but that didn't stop the street maintenance crew from working on installing the new water pipe under the street. We zombied our way through the day, said farewell to Judy, both glad we didn't have a 12 hour bus ride in front of us like her, what a trooper!
GOREME OPEN AIR MUSEUM/DARK CHURCH
We decided to walk the mile from our place to the Goreme Open Air Museum. If you wanted the audio guide it was more and you had to present your passport, so we just paid 300 tl ($16) and walked on our own. It was basically a bunch of caves that had pictures and showed some way of past living, like a table etc. (Jim: Wait a second Alisa, this part of Turkiye, specifically, these caves do not just have pictures in them. They house century old paintings, albeit partially destroyed representing the struggle of Christianity in a very inhospitable time located in a desolate place. They also represent years and years of backbreaking work, literally carving out an existence in constant fear of imminent death.) Whatever, it seemed sort of lame since we explored caves on our previous hike that we didn't have to pay to explore. We paid an additional 100 tl ($10) to go into the Dark church, which was a single cave with just a small altar and Christian pictures covering the ceiling and walls. "Yep just pictures and such." For us the visit wasn't really worth the price.
What was worth it was the little bar after exiting. Cool place called the Duck Bar, $4 for really good cold beers served in an old stein with a lid. They also had great music and comfy chairs. For dinner that night we had the hottest red pepper chicken dish. They must have mistaken Jim's tan for an evil Turkish doppelganger who no doubt brought shame onto the cook and the cook's family, because we were served no less than 100 Thai peppers, sprinkled with chicken. They were so hot we picked out only the chicken to take home leaving a full plate of smoking hot peppers.
COOKING IN CAPPADOCIA & KAYMALKI UNDERGROUND CITY
On Jim's mom's last day in Goreme, she shared with us how she searched everywhere for a cookbook called Cappadocia Home Cooking - Secret Recipes. It was out of print, a local said they banned it due to loss of revenue in the restaurants. Jim loves a good challenge. He found the author of the cookbook and gave her the number. She texted and within minutes they replied, "yes we have them." She actually thought about re-booking her trip home that day to stay to get the book and take the cooking class. However, that wasn't necessary because Tolga, the "author" offered to send his sons on the bus to deliver the books and actually granted her request to autograph them. About an hour before her bus took off she received her cookbooks. The quote by Tolga read, "These foods make us hot!" She loved it.
Since Jim loves to cook and we've never done a class and had some days to kill we reached out to schedule a class. Tolga, the father, the son, the chef, picked us up at our place and drove 45 minutes to his home. His knowledge of the different agricultural landscapes kept Jim occupied. He lived in a village of 1,000 people and he said he knows every single one of them. His house had been passed down from generation to generation. He introduced us to each member of his family, his whole family! Amineh - his mother, Tuba - his wife, Mustafa, Husain, his two sons and a daughter gave us a warm welcome as we tried to negotiate the language barrier. We were seated around a low table where we all enjoyed way too much tea, homemade coconut cookies and dried apricots from their garden. It wasn't until Jim said he was from Texas that Amineh perked up. The beautiful elderly lady almost started floating when he said where he was from. "Texas, Rick Perry, Governor!" She repeated it a couple times in case we missed it. Tolga said Governor Perry was there a couple of years ago. He said he had no idea who he was until the end of the dinner, when one of the security members pointed it out. He must have left quite an impression on Amineh.
We asked about the Turkish quote inside the book Judy bought. He said it means, "Think of us when you eat these foods." We both agreed to let her think Google had the right translation. Tolga told us how his business started and how his kids are now attending culinary school. We were given our Turkish names, Lily and Jafin. Lily being the flower and Jafin meaning a creek. Tuba pointed out that the Lily needs water and just left it at that. Tuba also shared she was from Kaymakli and we told them we were planning on going there to visit the underground city sometime. Tolga offered to drive us after we ate, which we happily accepted.
Shortly afterwards, we were brought into the kitchen. Shelf after shelf stored foreign spices. It was filled with dried herbs, lentils, pickled jars and fresh veggies. We made red lentil soup, meat stuff eggplant, kayseri ravioli and dolza with honey straight from the hive in their backyard.
When we were done preparing and cooking, we were seated. We ate at a beautifully set table with many appetizers in front of us, each explained by his sons. Then they brought out our dishes one by one sharing how to eat them with what seasonings. Meanwhile there were other tables set for customers that reserved a seat for lunch....actually eating what we helped prepare.
Tolga drove us to Kaymakli, the underground city. While crouching for the staircase going down the Galata Tower was doable, this was just painful with a stuffed stomach. As Tolga drove us back to Goreme he showed us how the farmers are using caves to store their produce. Some big enough to have six or seven semi trucks inside at once.
FAIRY CHIMNEYS - Jim's version
Our last full day in Goreme was spent exploring the Fairy Chimneys, ancient rock formations that resisted time, weather and wars. Here, the mighty stand alone, displaying their phallic power over all that happened upon their gaze, basically we walked through a valley of dusty old dicks. Our taxi driver didn't understand why two tourists wanted to be dropped off on the outskirts of town, with nothing but a mountain before us. Shaking his head, he reluctantly took our money as we began our ascent on animal trails almost too small to recognize. (Alisa: He wasn't the only one shaking his head.) Once we hiked to what we thought was the top, we admired the valley below.
We stood way too close to cliffs trying to find the next route over and across the mountain range. A few trails were no longer used by whatever made them so we had to backtrack. One trail simply eroded, leaving the choice of certain death by falling or certain death by slipping. There were no footprints, no people, no noise. Nothing but nature and some cave dwellers, but they weren't there either.
We hiked up and out of countless canyons, discussing possible routes and tactics. I thought about our time here in Goreme and how a simple past internet search for destinations led us to this very spot, at this very moment. All the thoughts of balloon rides, research, logistics, time, money and soreness faded. We were here, now, maybe for the first time since we arrived. I drank it up, feeling the vastness and isolation only a desert can bring. Without saying a word, I looked at Alisa and she knew too, this was truly a magical place. All our effort, our aging bodies and our crazy plans brought us here at this specific moment, together. Alisa finally broke the silence, turned to me and said, "Well, if you've seen one dick you've seen them all, ready to go?"
Sure honey..
The trail eventually led us to the backside of the Fairy Chimneys. We were greeted with many more chimneys crawling with tourists walking on well established brick trails. As we exited the monument entrance I looked at the fee of 60 lira, $3. It was the best $3 I've saved.
We walked a dirt trail back to Cavusin, picking grapes off the vine - thank you Turkish farmers. Cavusin is dryer than a small baptist town in rural Texas, no beer here. We waited at a bus stop for awhile but no luck. But we did meet another wanderer, we named Feather.
After deciding to just walk back to Goreme, Feather decided to accompany us the entire way. We took a small dirt road instead of the highway. After a few hours we finally arrived back in town. We had some hummus and ice cold beer. Alisa hid the rest of the bread and gave it to Feather who was still waiting downstairs.
Goreme and all the people in the surrounding villages will always hold a place in my heart. Enjoy your time in Goreme if you ever make it there. And give Feather our love.
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