Turkey update - Mustafapasa and Soganli Valley

It's seems like we've been traveling forever, internet connections are poor so I've delayed in posting anything until now. Even though we are in a 2 bedroom flat in London I'll recap our trip in Turkey.

Cappadocia is like a lunar landscape, no one can explain why only here did a volcanic explosion create such a unique landscape. Old Greek villages to underground cities. We were all in awe at how many civilizations lived in this harsh environment.

We based ourselves in Goreme, staying at the Kelebek Hotel & Cave Pension. We were served breakfast on a terrace overlooking the fantastic view every morning.












Our days here were full, we visited Rose, Pigeon, Sun and Red Valleys on ATV,s. The village of Mustafapasa was a highlight. Called Sinasos until WWI it was a predominately Greek village. There is many beautifully decorated Greek stoned carved houses, some being restored, some crumbling. The Christian legacy is everywhere, we even stumbled across a wonderful old church currently being restored on the outskirts of the village. The local workers allowed to enter the building site and have a look.










-Greek house in the village of Mustafapasa, formerly known as Sinasos.










The main square is home to Ayios Kostantinos-Eleni, erected in 1729.




From Mustafapasa we took the 40 minute drive to the Soganli Valley. We felt like adventurers here, very few tourists and all the sights are in their original form. No safety guards or climbing ropes here. The valley was first used by the Romans as necropolises and later the Byzantines built cave like churches. The churches are filled with hand painted frescoes, many with their faces or eyes scratched out. When the Christians fled, the churches were vandalized and the eyes scratched out of the faces due to the fear of "the evil eye".




climbing the very steep rock surfaces to acces the rock cut churches in the valley. Not for the faint hearted.






















The kids really enjoyed the adventure of scampering through private tunnels, discovering underground dining rooms, kitchens ( we presumed they were as the roofs were blackened), everything here is still in it's raw state. I'm sure if we come back here in 5 years time there will be bus loads of tourists.







Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Cappadocia's rude bits!

An early morning flight had us arrive into Kayseri Airport, into the region of Cappadocia. This is Central Anatolia. Dry, arid rocky country. The landscape here is unique, made by a volcanic eruption thousands of years ago. There are valleys with rock cut churches, cave houses and deserted Greek settlements. We've chosen to stay in the town of Goreme as our base. The conical domes you see in the background are known as fairy chimneys, many locals live in them.




Our first adventure out was on ATV's through Rose Valley and Love Valley. Rose valley is self explanatory. The colour of the earth has a rosy pink hue especially at sunset.







Love valley can be self explanatory also. Have a good look. What do the conical fairy chimneys look like? These were formed when erosion wiped out lava covering the tops, leaving behind the conical shapes. They are then topped by caps of harder rock resting on pillars of softer rock depicting the shape of a males nether parts.








Can you tell?












- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Goreme

Underground Palaces and Flying Carpets

Our visit to the Basilica Cistern, and underground palace that supplied the city of Constantinople is so far a highlight of our trip. The Byzantium Emperor Justinian built this in AD532 to supply water to surrounding buildings.









Eventually for some reason or another this underground palace was forgotten. During Ottoman days it was treated as a dumping ground for junk and even dead corpses.







After our visit to the Cistern a leisurely 10 minute walk took us back to the Grand Bazaar where we were suckers once again. We came across a carpet seller that has ties with Australia and ended up bargaining for another Turkish rug. Do these guys ever tire from folding and unfolding rugs? They must of unrolled at least thirty rugs by the time we came across the "one".










Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Konak Sk,,Turkey

Ice cream Bribery

Thank goodness for the ice cream sellers on every corner. Since we've arrived we've seen many a show these talented guys perform. It seems purchasing an ice cream here is not just picking your flavour and handing over your money.

A series of acrobatic antics are performed with ice cream cones, ice cream appearing and disappearing on the ice cream cone offered then as quickly taken away to be planted on your nose, your head, or as with Lucas a whack of ice cream targeted at his nether parts.

All in all heaps of fun and laughs with a yummy reward in the end for our younglings.









-











Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Streets of Sultanahmet

Haghia Sophia

It didn't take us long to figure out that Allanah's interest in history is non existent. The crowds here are big, entering any historical monument takes quite a bit of energy and before we've even started Allanah has had enough. The pool and ice cream have been our constant bribes. Let's hope this form of bribery works till Friday.

There is only one word to describe Haghia Sophia and that's "wow". Nothing can compare you for the magnificence of this place. Most of the original decorations of Haghia Sophia have been covered up with white wash when Constantinople fell, but in the 19th century portions were removed to reveal the icons made out of mosaics.







It is interesting to see the Arabic calligraphy amongst the Christian icons. It did spark a lot of discussion amongst the kids as to why there has to be a religion at all. We walked the tunnels to the top of Haghia Sophia and discussed how along these tunnels thousands of children were massacred as they spent weeks here hiding until they were discovered.

It makes you wonder if there was no religion could we all live in harmony?







-






We have already made our first carpet purchase at the Grand Bazaar without even meaning to. While Lucas and Allanah had a relax with Yiayia and Papou we though we'd have a quick squiz at the Bazaar. Let me tell you those carpet sellers are good. Before we knew it we were looking at carpet after carpet, being served drinks and walked out with a sizable carpet. No tactic John used could out surpass the comebacks of our friendly carpet seller. They say a fair price is when both parties are happy. I was happy, the carpet seller was happy, don't know if John was so happy!

Location:Istanbul