Monday 20th August (Goreme)
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| Pigeon Valley |
Wakened up to luxury this morning. Radio 2 on my laptop. Sadly no
Sarah Kennedy. She's ill and could be off all week, but Aled Jones
standing in quite well.
Quite an overlap on today's trip. After all, if you've seen one
cave, you've seen maybe not them all, but probably most of
them.
We initially called in at pigeon valley, named because the
residents kept a lot of pigeons in this area. The "houses" that you
frequently see on the cliff faces are in fact pigeon lofts. Pigeons
were important in the life of the inhabitants. They were a means of
communication. The white of their eggs was used to make the white
plaster that we can still see in the many churches, and their
droppings used for fertiliser.
Next on the programme was a visit to Derinkuyu underground
city. There are nine underground cities open to visitors in this
region, Derinkuyu being the biggest. The caves date back to 2000BC,
and were built to provide protection from the constant threat of
invading armies. In more recent times, they provided a refuge for
the Christian population who felt it wiser to keep a low profile
from the Crusaders, who wanted their money or their animals, and the
Moslem armies who wanted them dead!
As a means of protection, the tunnels are narrow and steep. The
accommodation is on several levels and goes down to 45 meters.
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| Cat Swinging not an Option |
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| Underground Stables |
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| An Underground Church |
On to the Ihlara valley now. This made a change from caves and
tunnels! The walking was not finished, however, as the valley is
16Km long. No, I didn't! But we did walk 4 or 5 Km. The valley
was one of the first settlements of the early Christians trying to
escape the Romans. There are over 100 Byzantine churches built
into the valley walls. it was eventually abandoned because of
recurring earthquakes causing rock falls.
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Another new experience now. The night bus to Pamukkale. Busses in
Turkey are very efficient, and most people use them for their long
distance travel. I was taken to the bus station for my transfer,
which meant catching the long distance express bus to Denizli, and a
local connection to Pamukkale. The bus left promptly at 7.30. My
original plan was to read for some of the way, but within the hour
it was quite dark, so I had to go to plan "B" and get some shut eye.
Every couple of hours the bus would stop at a service station for 30
minutes or so. I would guess that these are designed round long
distance busses from the number using them. As far as service,
cleanliness and prices go, the UK has a lot to learn. I had a
sandwich and a can of peach nectar for 4YTL (about £1.50. Beat that
anywhere else.)
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| Goreme High Street |
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| A Street Vendor Selling "Turkish Babies" |
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| A lace Seller |
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