Day 15: September 19. A day of adventure!

Had a lovely breakfast this morning at the hostel before we embarked on our tour. The tour was guaged to go from 9-6:30ish, and took us on 200 km of terrain, all throughout Cappadocia.

Our first stop was Pigeon Gorge, although the guide only spoke briefly there. We went on to visit the underground cities, parts of which date to the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C., and which housed from 2000 to 40,000 people in different eras. The city we toured was ingeniously laid out, with areas for animals, communal kitchens and living spaces, a church, a missionary for studying, safe-guards against attackers (as the cities were bulit as a refuge for the Turkish people when under seige), a temporary graveyard, and even a winery! It was an ingenious set-up; Karla and I were thoroughly impressed.

After the underground city, we were taken to Ihlara Gorge. There, we saw a couple of cave churches whose paintings were still visible from the 10th century! We hiked 3 Km (about 1.5 miles) and then stopped seemingly in the middle of the woods for lunch (more beef stew!).

After a nap in the van, we arrived at the Selime monastary. This was outstanding. We had to climb up quite a bit in order to see anything, but once we got up there, we were able to explore these caves built into the side of cliffs that were used by monks, and later nomads and herders. By far the most impressive was the cathedral: it was huge and carved out of the cliff...complete with frescos and all! We couldn't really even imagine what it would have been like to live there, having to climb that far up to get home, and greeting every day perched on what felt like the end of the world!

After taking in as much as we could in the allotted time at Selime, we got back in the van and drove to a different viewpoint at Pigeon Gorge. This time we listened to an "explanation" about how jewelry is made, which was really a thinly veiled shameless plug for this onyx store.

Instead of staying at the store and eventually taking the van back to Goreme, Karla and I joined a fellow American on our tour (named Joe) on a hike through Pigeon Gorge. This was outstanding. We had a bit of trouble finding our path, but with the map, three good senses of dorection, and the help of some friendly Spaniards, we were able to walk all the way back to Goreme. The Gorge was even more beautiful from the bottom: we saw more caves that aee currently inhabited, as well as the owners harvesting the veggies that were growing in their gardens. The sun was starting to set as we entered the village, and the view was incredible. Even our pictures don't do it justice!

Hungry from our long walk, we three sat down to a great dinner, then were joined for dessert by our friend Jake (who we had met on the train to Ankara) and his new buddy Daniel.

Tomorrow we'll go see the Open Air Museum!
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