Trip to Cappadocia

Last Thursday we took a four day trip to Goreme, a small little town in the Cappadocia region of Turkey.

 Goreme

Ruby navigating a tunnel

Ruby and Brewer leading the way

Tiny Brewer, large rock

There are no direct flights from Alanya to the area so we traveled there and back by bus. Bus travel is very common here and is quite comfortable. It's similar to airline travel in that passengers are provided drink and snack service, reclining seats, and movies (albeit In turkish).  The only trouble we had was that the drivers and attendants spoke exactly zero English so lots of hand gesturing and guessing as to when our next stop was and how long the break would be. With stops our trip was 9 hours (1:30 to 10:30 pm) there and 8 hours back (10:30 pm to 6:30 am).   The kids did great although the overnight ride back was a little rough on Brewer, Alan and myself.  (Ruby on the other hand fell asleep as soon as the engine fired up and never woke again until we got to the coast.)  

Kitchen room inside one of the churches; note the soot

sitting around at the open air museum

Ruby admiring El Nazir

Our trip was spent mostly hiking and exploring the area as there are tons of trails everwhere. Brewer was our leader on every trek and loved exploring all the caves and tunnels. It was great to hike in the cool weather (highs in the low 70s while we were there) stopping along the way for snacks and water and just taking in the scenery.  On the second day we hiked about 1km along the town's cobblestone streets to the town's "Open Air Museum" a world heritage site where you paid a fee to see a preserved, protected area filled with breathtakingly beautiful cave churches.   Christians settled in Cappodocia as early as the times of Jesus but the churches still standing in the area are estimated to date from the 10th and 11th centuries. The restored paintings on the cave walls were amazing.  It was so inspiring to think of the labor that went into them and people communing and worshiping beneath them all those many years ago.  Unfortunately, our pictures of these masterpieces are limited. No flash photography was permitted inside (the flash damages the paint). - Kelly

Exterior of El Nazir Church, which dates from the 10th Century

Natural dye painting inside El Nazir