Saturday, September 04, 2004
Thursday, September 02, 2004
fairy chimneys in cappadocia
Okay, so it falls to me to write the next installment.
Cappadocia. We spent 4 days here, which as we only intended 2 suggests it must have something going for it.
The region is famous for it's unique rock formations. People have lived in them for centuries and appear to still do, though that may just be for the benefit of the tourists.
Anyway, the best way to see all these villages is either on an official tour, mountain bike or scooter. Now, growing up I was always told that almost everything was allowed except getting an earring or riding a motorbike. Having reached 32 without ever breaking these rules, I decided that Sam getting an earring last year meant it was time for me to finally break free. So we hired a scooter.
Riding the scooter was never really likely to put us in any danger though. The fact that we were the only people (probably ever) to wear helmets meant that all the locals knew instantly we were tourists and gave us a wide berth. If the helmets didn't give it away then the 10 mph speed probably did.
Our route around the village was dictated by the need to avoid left hand turns and not run out of petrol. We also managed to avoid going in any of the nice churches (with beautiful frescos, apparently) that Courtney wanted to. Lunch was spent in the company of 3 elderly Turks (German taxi drivers in the winter and village elders in the summer it seemed). They taught us more backgamon moves and seemed to like our company so much they insisted the bar owner go to the supermarket, buy us lunch, take it to another restaurant to cook it, and bring it back for us to eat. Turkish hospitality at its best....
Clearly hiring a scooter 2 days running was way beyond the budget so the next couple of days we went walking. First day was easy. Everytime we got lost there was a local handily placed to point the way. Once we'd established that, yes, we did wish to walk to the next village and, no, we didn't wish to walk back to where we'd just come and get the bus, then it all worked very well. Grape pickers, dustbin men and 3 generations of the same family all helped - the photos are below.
Emboldened with this confidence we set out to walk Pigeon Valley the next day. The woman in the tourist office suggested we'd need a guide - the path was tricky to follow. The guy we'd hired the scooters from was also adamant that we'd get lost without a guide. Even the Rough Guide said you needed a guide. So clearly we attempted it alone. Funnily enough they were all right and we (or let's be honest, I) were wrong. Only by sheer luck did we manage to avoid getting more lost than we did. We certainly never walked Pigeon Valley.
Anyway, this is becoming a bit too much 'we did this and then we did that' (though it's hard to find inspiratıon when surrounded by 20 screaming kids playing computer games in the internet cafe). Fairy chimneys? Well, the rock formations where people live are supposed to look like them.
Cappadocia. We spent 4 days here, which as we only intended 2 suggests it must have something going for it.
The region is famous for it's unique rock formations. People have lived in them for centuries and appear to still do, though that may just be for the benefit of the tourists.
Anyway, the best way to see all these villages is either on an official tour, mountain bike or scooter. Now, growing up I was always told that almost everything was allowed except getting an earring or riding a motorbike. Having reached 32 without ever breaking these rules, I decided that Sam getting an earring last year meant it was time for me to finally break free. So we hired a scooter.
Riding the scooter was never really likely to put us in any danger though. The fact that we were the only people (probably ever) to wear helmets meant that all the locals knew instantly we were tourists and gave us a wide berth. If the helmets didn't give it away then the 10 mph speed probably did.
Our route around the village was dictated by the need to avoid left hand turns and not run out of petrol. We also managed to avoid going in any of the nice churches (with beautiful frescos, apparently) that Courtney wanted to. Lunch was spent in the company of 3 elderly Turks (German taxi drivers in the winter and village elders in the summer it seemed). They taught us more backgamon moves and seemed to like our company so much they insisted the bar owner go to the supermarket, buy us lunch, take it to another restaurant to cook it, and bring it back for us to eat. Turkish hospitality at its best....
Clearly hiring a scooter 2 days running was way beyond the budget so the next couple of days we went walking. First day was easy. Everytime we got lost there was a local handily placed to point the way. Once we'd established that, yes, we did wish to walk to the next village and, no, we didn't wish to walk back to where we'd just come and get the bus, then it all worked very well. Grape pickers, dustbin men and 3 generations of the same family all helped - the photos are below.
Emboldened with this confidence we set out to walk Pigeon Valley the next day. The woman in the tourist office suggested we'd need a guide - the path was tricky to follow. The guy we'd hired the scooters from was also adamant that we'd get lost without a guide. Even the Rough Guide said you needed a guide. So clearly we attempted it alone. Funnily enough they were all right and we (or let's be honest, I) were wrong. Only by sheer luck did we manage to avoid getting more lost than we did. We certainly never walked Pigeon Valley.
Anyway, this is becoming a bit too much 'we did this and then we did that' (though it's hard to find inspiratıon when surrounded by 20 screaming kids playing computer games in the internet cafe). Fairy chimneys? Well, the rock formations where people live are supposed to look like them.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
happy birthday sam
....from both of us.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
happy birthday to me
well, another year older and deeper in debt - or something like that.
strictly speaking it is tomorrow but i guess few people will read this before then anyway. courtney has just informed me not to expect a card but i'm sure the restaurant will produce a huge cake as if by magic..
crucially, being my birthday means i have complete veto over all activities. as a 4 hour long horse ride was on the proposed agenda, my 32nd year couldn't have arrived at a better time.
more than one point on the table for Crystal Palace and not being bottom might have been a good present... alas, it was not meant to be. the wooden spoon awaits..
love to all.
strictly speaking it is tomorrow but i guess few people will read this before then anyway. courtney has just informed me not to expect a card but i'm sure the restaurant will produce a huge cake as if by magic..
crucially, being my birthday means i have complete veto over all activities. as a 4 hour long horse ride was on the proposed agenda, my 32nd year couldn't have arrived at a better time.
more than one point on the table for Crystal Palace and not being bottom might have been a good present... alas, it was not meant to be. the wooden spoon awaits..
love to all.
cappadocia
below are some photos of cappodocia. imagine the flintstones and you've got it. scooter rides, trekking through valleys and water tunnels, long back gammon lunches, the friendliest people ever, free grapes, free apples, fairy chimney hotel room... more details to follow soon..
plus look at nemrot dagi following this - decided to go photo crazy on the site...
plus look at nemrot dagi following this - decided to go photo crazy on the site...
dad, grandma and 2 sisters show us the way (and lovely apples).. 
well, mum, if sam can get an earring then surely it's free rein over all the rules..
i learned the hard way.... (newly updated and with photos below)
Well, I was in a bit of a rush when I started this posting - since I was trying to get it done before the end of the Crystal Palace match. Now that we have a bit more time there is lots I'd like to add...
It began with this:
... do NOT, ever, no matter how hungry you are eat 40 dried apricots in one sitting. I made that mistake on our last day in Istanbul and spent the plane ride to Malatya (the apricot capitol of Turkey ironically) in agony -- worst indigestion EVER -- I actually cried, can you imagine the shame?
Since Pete is busy watching Crystal Palace lose to Middlesborough on the internet (stangely sitting next to a guy from Croydon who is also a CP fan) I thought I would get caught up on the last few days... and he's not looking over my shoulder telling me not to write 'then we did this, then we did that' so I intend to take full advantage!
Anyway - back to 'then we went to Malatya'... Malatya, it turned out, apart from being the apricot capital of Turkey was not much else, so we got on our way quickly to Nemrot Dagi a mountain hosting 8 2000 yr old headless sculptures.
The new bits:
The trip to Nemrot was in a mini-bus with 3 other fellow tourists and what seemed like at least 3 other Turks simply catching a lift to their villages. I did my good deed for the day by translating a letter for them from French to English and made some friends for life. The bus ride was 3 hours (with a lunch break) up and down some of the most spectacular mountains I've seen (better than New Zealand, I swear!) and past villages that make EU membership for Turkey look like a long way off...
The Gunes Hotel when we arrived was literally one of the most remote places I've ever seen (and I've been to Cochrane - Jen, you know what I mean). With surroundings that looked like the moon they had somehow managed to cultivate a lush green lawn! The photos don't do it justice.
After some akward moments with our 2 Japanese and one Turkish tour party partners (the language barrier seemed insurmountable) we headed up to the peak (2200m above sea level - I was very short of breath). Sunset was spectacular, and was made most special by the glorious scenery looking out over the Euphrates river valley. By now we had broken the ice with our new friends and it didn't seem to matter that we had about 20 words in common between us!
Dinner back at the hotel was tasty and chatting (I use the term losely as we had even less shared vocab with the locals than with our tour group) was good - somehow I found myself doing the washing up as a dare! Bed early as catching sunrise meant a 4:30 am start.
Sunrise was even more lovely than sunset - but very cold! By now we were sure that we wanted to stay another day...
We said farewell to Serkut, Katero and Miomi and promptly went back to bed! 4 hours later after recovering from the early start we woke for a chilled out day on the lawn followed by a hike into the mountainside.
Another sunset on the peak and hello to the incoming tour group of 'the clever brothers' and 3 very nice Turkish uni students followed. I think Pete will say it was the fantastic scenery that made this place so special - but for me it was the characters in our 2 tour groups and the hotel staff who made it special (the cook who could only say 'danke', our chain-smoking minibus driver who Pete christened 'Carlos', and the hotel manager who asked us to help him with his English translations while reading the sexy bits of a Barbara Cartland romance - can you explain 'upthrust'?).
After 2 idyllic days we got on our way to Goreme (where we are now) in the Central Anatolian region (more westward) called Cappadocia arriving tired and crabby after 8 hours on a cross country bus.
It began with this:
... do NOT, ever, no matter how hungry you are eat 40 dried apricots in one sitting. I made that mistake on our last day in Istanbul and spent the plane ride to Malatya (the apricot capitol of Turkey ironically) in agony -- worst indigestion EVER -- I actually cried, can you imagine the shame?
Since Pete is busy watching Crystal Palace lose to Middlesborough on the internet (stangely sitting next to a guy from Croydon who is also a CP fan) I thought I would get caught up on the last few days... and he's not looking over my shoulder telling me not to write 'then we did this, then we did that' so I intend to take full advantage!
Anyway - back to 'then we went to Malatya'... Malatya, it turned out, apart from being the apricot capital of Turkey was not much else, so we got on our way quickly to Nemrot Dagi a mountain hosting 8 2000 yr old headless sculptures.
The new bits:
The trip to Nemrot was in a mini-bus with 3 other fellow tourists and what seemed like at least 3 other Turks simply catching a lift to their villages. I did my good deed for the day by translating a letter for them from French to English and made some friends for life. The bus ride was 3 hours (with a lunch break) up and down some of the most spectacular mountains I've seen (better than New Zealand, I swear!) and past villages that make EU membership for Turkey look like a long way off...
The Gunes Hotel when we arrived was literally one of the most remote places I've ever seen (and I've been to Cochrane - Jen, you know what I mean). With surroundings that looked like the moon they had somehow managed to cultivate a lush green lawn! The photos don't do it justice.
After some akward moments with our 2 Japanese and one Turkish tour party partners (the language barrier seemed insurmountable) we headed up to the peak (2200m above sea level - I was very short of breath). Sunset was spectacular, and was made most special by the glorious scenery looking out over the Euphrates river valley. By now we had broken the ice with our new friends and it didn't seem to matter that we had about 20 words in common between us!
Dinner back at the hotel was tasty and chatting (I use the term losely as we had even less shared vocab with the locals than with our tour group) was good - somehow I found myself doing the washing up as a dare! Bed early as catching sunrise meant a 4:30 am start.
Sunrise was even more lovely than sunset - but very cold! By now we were sure that we wanted to stay another day...
We said farewell to Serkut, Katero and Miomi and promptly went back to bed! 4 hours later after recovering from the early start we woke for a chilled out day on the lawn followed by a hike into the mountainside.
Another sunset on the peak and hello to the incoming tour group of 'the clever brothers' and 3 very nice Turkish uni students followed. I think Pete will say it was the fantastic scenery that made this place so special - but for me it was the characters in our 2 tour groups and the hotel staff who made it special (the cook who could only say 'danke', our chain-smoking minibus driver who Pete christened 'Carlos', and the hotel manager who asked us to help him with his English translations while reading the sexy bits of a Barbara Cartland romance - can you explain 'upthrust'?).
After 2 idyllic days we got on our way to Goreme (where we are now) in the Central Anatolian region (more westward) called Cappadocia arriving tired and crabby after 8 hours on a cross country bus.
