Gang Aft Agley
Saturday 20th September 2014
Certainly by the 4th century the region had become a very important Christian community. There are a lot of cave churches here. Sadly most of the frescoes have been defaced but historians have made a good stab at figuring out who is who, and which biblical events are commemorated from what remains.
We kick off in the museum then take in a couple of castles. The place is still full of tourists this late in the year. Days are warm but it is pretty chilly at night.
In the evening we go to a lovely restaurant I picked out of the Lonely Planet guide, for its authentic local cuisine. It's very good. We all have variations of lamb with a soup starter and a few bevvies. It's up a very steep hill in Göreme but we take advantage of their pick-up and return service so don't get too knackered. A good day all round.
There is a knock on our hotel room door
at ten to five in the morning. I am up and about but the other two are
still asleep. Come, Come the balloon bus is waiting.
It's our early mornIng wake up call. The silly old Germans have forgotten to put their phone time forward one hour since we entered Greece, and so are are snoring on, blissfully unaware of the time. I thought 4:45 was the wake up time, not the actual bus time.
As for that much vaunted German efficiency, it's not present and correct today at least.
So it's a pair of pretty sleepy fellows who stumble out of their respective pits and clamber onto the bus, hastily stuffing shirts into trousers and checking they have cameras and money.
In the event it's a completely busted flush. The weather looked ominous last night with thunder and lightning, though not much rain. This morning the sky is overcast and more importantly, it's rather windy.
We all hang around the breakfast buffet at the assembly point until the expected news arrives. Flying is cancelled today. So it's back to the hotel for more sleep (lazy foreigners) and a chance to catch up with the blog diary (stalwart Brit).
Over breakfast we lash together a new plan for the day. It involves a visit to the Göreme Open Air Museum followed by a gentle bimble around this extraordinary province.
Cappadocia is known to have been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Not a lot is known exactly why these ancient people built several large underground cities though one presumes Bronze Age Health and Safety was a driving force as a succession of marauding expansionists from the Far East came barrelling through the region.
They also found that the porous volcanic lava stumps left sticking up as the landscape eroded was a cool place to excavate a house.
It's our early mornIng wake up call. The silly old Germans have forgotten to put their phone time forward one hour since we entered Greece, and so are are snoring on, blissfully unaware of the time. I thought 4:45 was the wake up time, not the actual bus time.
As for that much vaunted German efficiency, it's not present and correct today at least.
So it's a pair of pretty sleepy fellows who stumble out of their respective pits and clamber onto the bus, hastily stuffing shirts into trousers and checking they have cameras and money.
 |
| The Goreme open air museum |
In the event it's a completely busted flush. The weather looked ominous last night with thunder and lightning, though not much rain. This morning the sky is overcast and more importantly, it's rather windy.
We all hang around the breakfast buffet at the assembly point until the expected news arrives. Flying is cancelled today. So it's back to the hotel for more sleep (lazy foreigners) and a chance to catch up with the blog diary (stalwart Brit).
Over breakfast we lash together a new plan for the day. It involves a visit to the Göreme Open Air Museum followed by a gentle bimble around this extraordinary province.
 |
| Cave houses and cave churches |
 |
| High rise tenement |
 |
| Selfie in the open air museum |
Cappadocia is known to have been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Not a lot is known exactly why these ancient people built several large underground cities though one presumes Bronze Age Health and Safety was a driving force as a succession of marauding expansionists from the Far East came barrelling through the region.
They also found that the porous volcanic lava stumps left sticking up as the landscape eroded was a cool place to excavate a house.
 |
| Cappadocian village |
Certainly by the 4th century the region had become a very important Christian community. There are a lot of cave churches here. Sadly most of the frescoes have been defaced but historians have made a good stab at figuring out who is who, and which biblical events are commemorated from what remains.
 |
| Castle arch |
We kick off in the museum then take in a couple of castles. The place is still full of tourists this late in the year. Days are warm but it is pretty chilly at night.
In the evening we go to a lovely restaurant I picked out of the Lonely Planet guide, for its authentic local cuisine. It's very good. We all have variations of lamb with a soup starter and a few bevvies. It's up a very steep hill in Göreme but we take advantage of their pick-up and return service so don't get too knackered. A good day all round.
Tomorrow we have another crack at getting some assisted elevation round here.
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| Dried fruit market |
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| Pigeon Valley |
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| No longer inhabited |
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| Get your ethnic tat here |
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| Oh look a castle! |
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| Bijou residence, all mod cons NEXT POST |
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