On the Road Again!

Time to leave the arid landscape of Cappadocia for our day's drive through greener  pastures toward Ankara, the capital city of Turkey.Two UNESCO sites for the price of one today. We arrived in ancient Hittite country, first visiting a sacred two-chambered outdoor sanctuary of natural rock, with carved deities dating from the 2nd century B.C. The main feature, however, was "down the hill and across the road". Hattussas was the capital of the empire, (enemies to the Egyptians). This city site covers a huge hillside of leftover stone foundations to what were  once 40 foot tall cedar wood  private and administrative buildings, temples, and the like. The Hittites were among the first cultures  to provide  written records offering details about their culture.
A great Mediterranean lunch awaited us at the "new" Hattusas village restaurant before our last leg of travel (napping on the bus?). We arrived late afternooon at Ankara, the very modern, upscale, university and political center of the country. Our high-rise Hilton is next door to the Iranian Embassy, but Salih tells us we can have all the bacon we want here in the morning ;-). Upon arrival we  had a guided walk on the "main drag" before being turned lose for our own evening's explorations. The Saturday night scene is jam packed with young folks in this university  city (7 million population).
Pix: rock art; jadite alter in the the temple where we sacrificed a few virgins today (just checking to see if you're still reading); another picture for the "foodies".

Up, Up in the Air...

Awoke to the 4:30 Muslim call to prayer this morning. Ten of us piled into vans and road the bumpy roads to the site of our "beautiful ballon" for the highlight adventure of our trip. Moon setting, sun rising, we lifted off in our 16 person vehicle and soared over the strange and magical tufa landscape of Cappadocia's hills, valleys, and towns explored by foot yesterday. This amazing hour long ride was truly a "high", followed by champaign, certificates, and t-shirts.
After breakfast we gathered the whole group for the day first visiting a beautiful, upscale carpet school, where we watched women hand-looming, from the silk worm on and were tempted to spend thousands on magnificent Turkish Oriental rugs.Open air lunch break and more to our budget shopping at a panoramic viewpoint above the conical formations in the valley below.
This afternoon we visited our Grand Circle sponsered school. We joined a 4 - 5 grade class of children eager to show us their work and introduce themselves in English. We exchanged songs and when we each, in turn, announced our professions they responded, in kind, with their career dreams. Turkey's school system is not dissimilar to ours. We visited the new science lab that we GCT travelers helped pay for.
Turkey has some beautiful pottery and Cappadocia is home to one of its well-known potters, who hosted us in his studio in a cave with a demonstration of this artestry. Of course, the cave opened up into a beautiful showroom  :-)
It was a hot, long day of activities today and we were getting weary, but Salih had one last surprise for us -a delicious Mongul style dinner in a "cave" restaurant. A sunset drive home to pack up tonight for the next adventure. We are nearing the end now, so Ankara, here we come.

Highlights of Cappadocia

Cappadocia is a geographical region unlike any other place in the world! It is a limestone plateau of volcanic ash and lava from millions of years ago. When mixed with water it produced a mud-like substance that slowly hardened into soft rock called tufa. Centuries of erosion by wind, rain, flooding shaped the tufa into a  surreal moonscape of cone-shaped pinnacles (and they are particularily impressive with tonight's full moon). In the 4th century private dwellings and churches were carved into the rock as dwellings. The homes were occupied till the 20th century! Modern construction with bricks made from this tufa are slowly replacing these residents with cute tourist towns. Prior to the building of these homes there existed 110 underground cities, man-made caves dug down as deep as 14 stories in some cases, built for people to escape persecution from invading tribes. We were able to explore just one of them, only going down three stories into the labarynth. Not for the claustrophobic.
Along the way we made an unscheduled "learning and discovery" stop at a secondary school where the 8th graders were holding a science fair outdoors on their grounds. It was great fun strolling through their exhibits and encouraging them through our limited English/Turkish exchange. Salih says it was a wonderful opportunity for them to actually see Americans, changing stereotypical impressions of us as seen through TV ("John Wayne" movies, etc.).
We spent the afternoon at  the Goreme  Open-Air Museum, an amazing UNESCO World Heritage site, home to Medieval Christian monks who carved 12 churches out of the volcanic tufa. Beautifully painted New Testiment frescoes have still survived after 700 years.
Lots of steep climbing today in 86*, sun- drenched weather. Our optional activity came this evening on the way home. We attended a performance of the Whirling Dervishes (the sect of Sufi Muslims) at a beautiful caravanserai.
Pix: Tufa pinnacle homes; our rock cave lunch stop; monastery rock "church", Whirling Dervishes

On the road again - to Cappadocia!

Leaving the Turquoise Coast we head to the interior of Turkey, climbing over the Taurus Mts. (the first of their 3 ranges). A long day's drive allowed Salih to field many topics of  further discussion about this country, it's history, customs, religion... These mountains, unlike the Rockies, are in strata which absorb the snowmelt, soak down to underground rivers leading to the sea. Once there the waters mix with the salt ocean, thus creating the turquoise color. We also saw one of the last remaining Lebanese cedar forests.
Two special stops today: After learning a bit about Mevlana Rumi, popular 13th century mystic and poet, we visited his mosoleum in the holy city of Konya.  Rumi founded the Whirling Dervishes. He was not an orthodox Muslim, but preached tolerance towards all peoples and religions. A gourmet lunch followed with Turkish ice cream - goat's milk and honey, thick enough to cut with knife and fork. Heavenly!
Our second stop was to explore Sultan Han, the largest Seljuk caravanserai (camel "motel") in Turkey. These rest stops were popular from around 100 - 1200  A.D. Run by the state, they provided safe passage every 19 miles for the many camel-laden murchants following the Silk Road from China, Afganistan, Syria.
Arriving in the large region of Cappadocia tonight we see that a strange new landscape awaits our exploration for the next few days.
Pix: rock strata; Rumi's tomb/ mosque; pilgrimers drinking from the sacred fountain; Sultan Han caravanserai

In and around Antalya

Making the most of our last day in Antolya we began with a side trip for a short peek at  another Hittite-to-Roman city (ruins), Perge. Paul preaches here, too. He got around!  Other than the theater and stadium, I think it is most famous for all the little old Turkish ladies selling "tchotchkes" to us tourists.
Today was our cooking lesson from a Turkish chef, still going at 91. Great entertainment and tasting! This afternoon free to return to Old Town, go to the beach, take a Turkish bath, nap...or pack. Off to Cappadocia early tomorrow.
Pix: Perge stadium (167 meters long); my 85 year old seatmate bartering with the Turks; cooking demo.

Losing their "Marbles"

Enjoyed a sunny, 78* day in this beautiful city by the Mediterranean's Turquoise Coast, surrounded by  the Taurus mountain range. (I hear Colorado got snow! Just watched Denver's mess on CNN.) Lots of ex-pats make this city in Anatolia their home. The city, Antalya, hosts the most beautiful museum, which we visited at length his morning. We are beginning to get a grasp on one of GCT's assigned "controversial topics", the pros and cons of repatriation (returning antiquities to their original country). Greece and Turkey have, indeed, lost their marbles.
Free time for lunch on our own near Old Town. I had an outstanding lamb gyro topped with tsasiki (yoghurt, cucumber, olive oil, spices). The Mediterranean diet is the healthiest in the world!
Pix: Antalya scenes

Another Day in "Ruins"

A misty morning as we left the Valley of the Wolves for more mountainous country. This morning's "walking history lesson" found us at the archeological "digs" of Aphrodisias, the Pre-Christian era, turned Roman city (boy, did those Romans get around!) to honor the goddess  of love, Aphrodite. The site has a very impressive museum, as well. Huge marble quarries  made this town the largest despensory of sarcophogae (tombs). We are finding the restoration stories almost as interesting as the historical facts.
Our lunch was at a delightful indoor/outdoor restaurant where I had the most delicious trout, baked in a clay dish. Food has been excellent, in general, especially the buffet, make-your-own salads. Lentil soup seems to be the standard starter here, and we compare it at each stop :-)
Traveled through real Colorado type mountains this afternoon, on-again off-again rain, to return to the sea to sophistocated Antalya, a city of one million. Back to the upscale hotels, this time a "designer" hotel on the waterfront, listed in the WorldHotels book. Funky almost '50's-ish, complete with hot pink shower curtain! I'm on the 17th floor! You could skate across the diningroom.
Pix:  marble sarcophogae; symbollic gate to Aphrodesias, lentil soup with hot, out of the oven bread, baked trout (for you "foodies").