After a very busy week in Istanbul, we woke up at 3:00 am to drive to the Asian side and catch our flight (which, by the way, was a $23 flight) to Goreme, a small town near the middle of Turkey.
The landscape is hilly and dry. While there was snow on the ground when we landed, you can tell that the summers here are hot.
Cappadocia area is well-known and included in most of the tours I researched while we planned our Turkey trip. The landscape is very unique, having been formed by four main volcanoes. The land is dotted with cone-shaped "fairy chimneys". They are natural formations, but many have been turned into homes over the centuries. So, not only is the natural landscape interesting, but windows and doorways have been added, making it almost surreal.
Cappadocia is also famous for hot air balloon rides. In the mornings, hundreds of balloons will lift off and quietly sail over the land as the sun rises. Then, if you land, you get a champagne toast! This attraction certainly made it on our list to do.
So, we went to Goreme to stay in a cave and ride in a hot air balloon.
I literally spent half a day looking at hotels alone while we were planning way back in Bangkok. We ended up staying at Grand Cave Suites. It was perfect. Our rooms were carved out of rock, but warm rugs lay on the floors and a jacuzzi tub sat in the bathroom. Outside was cold, but inside was cozy, so we were content to spend time inside.
However, before we got to truly appreciate our rooms, we were on our way out on a tour of the area, the Green Tour, to be exact.
We started our day from a viewpoint, taking in this place we found ourselves. Unfortunately, pictures don't do it justice. And I don't mean just iPhone photos. I had looked at plenty of pictures online while planning, and still nothing quite prepared me for the reality.
From the viewpoint, we traveled down to the underground city. Centuries ago, many Christians lived in these valleys, however they were often in danger of attacks. So, they dug into the ground for refuge. They had tunnels and chambers and traps. We had to bend over to walk through some of the passages. There was a kitchen, storage and a church. They could live down there for months at a time. We saw it as tourists, while we could never imagine, we could wonder what it was like to run into those caves faring for your life. Gloria pointed out that it was certainly an example of the human will to survive. I cannot imagine being down there in the dark and smells and sounds of hundreds of others surrounding you, knowing it was this or death. Truly unbelievable.
After emerging back on the surface we visited an ancient church and monastery that had been carved into a group of fairy chimneys. They are kind of amazing. Also, a certain George Lucas wanted to film a certain movie here.... They didn't let him. However, you can definitely see the inspiration for some planet in Star Wars here (I don't know that movie that well, but I know pop culture enough to recognize that).
From there, we went to Ihlara Valley. We took a hike through the bottom of the Valley along the river. Caves were visible in the walls of the canyon as we walked. There was another ancient church in the rock, this one painted.
At our last stop (an Onyx shop, obviously, there has to be a place to shop), there were some muttering a that the hot air balloons would not be flying the next morning.
With our fingers crossed we returned to our hotel eager for the weather report. Alas, the hot air balloons would not be able to fly the next morning due to the weather. It was disappointing, but after our 3am flight and all-day tour we were all a little relieved to sleep in, we would be able to try to fly again the next day. So, we basically disappeared into our own little caves for the night. Why can't we live in a cave? Especially one with a jacuzzi? I'm adding cave room (and I mean actual cave, not a "man cave" or anything, I'm talking we're digging into the earth for this room) to my list of what to include in our future and internationally-inspired home.
The next morning, we had breakfast (which was actually better than the Istanbul breakfast, if you can believe that!), then Matt and I walked into town to buy our bus tickets for the next day. Then we wandered. There were a lot of textiles hanging from nearly every shop and it was so hard to resist. Also, my purse, which my mother-in-law had previously gotten for me in Turkey, and I had used around the world, gave up once it returned to Turkey. So, we found a man who makes Turkey Bags (as we lovingly call it) and he fixed her up good as new... I know she can make it all the way around the world now!
We also found the best carpet and kilim shop. It was beautiful and felt like a nomadic home layered with carpets and kilims. I sorted through every kilim pillowcase they had. The man who owns it was the perfect carpet and kilim shop owner. He just loves carpets and kilims. He told me he goes to villages to buy his carpets. The girls make them for their homes they will have once they get married, like a dowry, I suppose. Most of his rugs were at least 40 or 50 years old. He had some that were 200 years old! They were beautiful and incredibly hard to resist, but I had my pillowcase, which is far more practical.
The same shop had a jewelry shop and workshop in the front. A German woman made some of the jewelry. Matt was excited by her work and ordered a custom silver ring made from 999.9 silver to replace his 925 silver ring. Apparently, purer silver is more malleable, so not generally used in jewelry. But, sometimes numbers outweigh practicality for a mathematician. We talked quite a bit about Precious (that's my secret and un creative name for it) while he waited to pick the ring up. I think it cost $13 and is the only souvenir he's gotten just for himself.
So, I had my pillowcase and he had his silver ring (today he told me he loves me and his ring).
We enjoyed the day in our cave and eating Turkish food. It was perfectly restful. That night we watched the time closely, knowing that the fate of our balloon would be decided that evening. We hurried into the office and with great anticipation looked to the board. CANCELLED was scrawled across our flight. Sadly, we were out of time. We found out that the next day, after we had left, did get to fly. At least, it provides a good excuse to get ourselves back to Goreme someday.
That evening, the staff at the hotel, all young men and women just out of college, invited us to share hot wine with them. It had some delicious spices, so was quite tasty. We learned about their lives. They studied tourism, worked seven days a week, went to school together, had had internships in the states at hotels, had plans of future businesses. It was really lovely getting a glimpse. One of the newer employees was from Afghanistan. He spoke very good English, having worked as a translator for Americans, now he was in Turkey, learning Turkish. The others reached out to him in small ways, but he was quiet and you couldn't help but have a bit of a broken heart for him, so far from family. Ah, the lives of people are so interesting! Matt played guitar as we sat together.
Here's a picture with two of them the next morning: Matt wanted to make omelettes for breakfast, so they let him use the kitchen and even provided a Turkiah costume for the occasion.
The next day, we had all day before we had an overnight bus to catch. So, we took our time in the morning, then the hotel manager offered to drive us to the nearby town of Avanos. Avanos was famous for pottery, so we were eager for a visit. She decided to take us to Chez Galip, a family-owned potter workshop. The four of us had our own private tour as we were the only ones there.
We have been on plenty of workshop tours that end with a shop, but this one was amazing. We walked into the room with the pottery wheel and learned about the process and the family. Mr. Galip, the head of the family was the master artist. He had learned this from his parents and grandparents and grew in fame. He had been on TV and in magazines, Martha Stewart had been to his workshop, so you know, that's a big deal. He looks like Einstein, with wild hair and a big mustache.
During the presentation, they do a demonstration, and it was Einstein Galip, himself, who did it for us. He just nonchalantly walked in (as we were drinking our apple tea- I told you they just give it away), sat at the wheel and started spinning. It was incredible. He made it look so easy, but it isn't.
When he finished, he looked straight at me and, I swear he could see into my soul, he gestured to me to come try! It was like I was in a dream. A master maker letting me try his craft! Oh Heavenly!
It is not easy, I had a lot of help from one of the family members, as in he fixed all my mistakes, and even then it was still a funny looking bowl. But, Mr. Galip said bravo to me and now I want to take a pottery class when we get home.
To show us how strong their pottery was, he threw a piece on the ground then had me and Gloria stand on it. It was strong, it didn't break. For doing this, he gave us little pots with his autograph.
We continued through the workshop and were all very impressed with the intricate paintings of the pottery. Mr. Galip had even developed a style that glows in the dark; we asked them to turn the lights off more than once for that.
(Those are Hittite designs, which I think is ridiculously cool.)
Isn't it lovely when outtings you hadn't planned turn out to be wonderful?
When we got back to town, we had lunch then went to another carpet shop. Here, the owner had lived in Seattle, so he bonded with Gloria and offered us a latte, which was definitely the best coffee we had in all of Turkey. I bought a pillowcase, because a. kilim pillowwcases are amazing and b. lattes are also amazing.
His shop had more new carpets. In fact, he employed 500 weavers (it use to be 1000). Women could be at home and work on the carpets as they had time. It was a way for them to make money and keep a tradition alive. He went on to tell us that in a few years, there would not be any new weavers, and therefore, no new rugs. He said that a law had recently passed that all students must go to school for 12 years. He said that after all that school, the girls wouldn't want to weave anymore. It was an interesting conundrum. As a lover of handmade crafts I do not weaving to die, as a teacher I want everyone to have access to education. I thought it was interesting that he claimed that due to the additional education, they would not choose to weave. I don't know what to think about that. I'm not sure if he was selfish in his loss of weavers or mourned a way of life in which women could take care of their home and earn their own income while keeping a tradition alive. I guess I can't judge or determine his feelings, but it was an interesting thought to ponder.
That night we said goodbye to our sweet hotel and headed to the bus station for our overnight ride (because we didn't learn from our first overnight bus ride).
I loved Goreme, and not just because we had a lovely cave to sleep in. I liked the people and the landscape and the little town. Someday, we are coming back here.
