We left the hotel this morning at 4:30am to catch a flight out of Izmir. The sky was so clear and the full moon lit up the mountains….which if clear tonight should beautiful. We didn’t realize it wasn’t a direct flight. Instead we had to fly to Istanbul and then board another flight to Kayseri. Rather than checking our luggage, which is getting very heavy, we sent it with our driver Ahmed. He left yesterday around 6pm to drive to Cappadocia. Nice eh?

Cappadocia is known for its moonlike landscape, cave houses, fairy chimneys, underground homes, and old churches. We drove to the Sognali valley,which was inhabited since the early days of Christianity and has churches that date from the 9th to 13th centuries. Sognali, like other valleys in Cappadocia exemplifies the harmony between man and nature. We took a hike, which we thought was supposed to be a leisurely walk, through the mountains. Everyone else in our group had hiking shoes, but we only had our Tevas. Sezgin was very helpful offering a hand when needed. Two little girls were playing on the caves running, climbing and no fear. But what a view. The cave dwellings were remarkable. We stopped in one church that had frescos painted on the walls and ceilings but many were ruined from graffiti. Some of the structures had small holes with white paint around it. Those holes were for the pigeons. They collected the pigeon poo for fertilizer. Not my kindof job.

Next was lunch in the village. Today we had pancakes filled with cheese and herbs. Kindof like a quesadilla, very thin dough, but the cheese wasn’t stringy. In the little market mom bought a tablecloth. I just looked. I was more interested in taking photos of the women selling their wares or making dolls. One woman was so hunched over from osteoporosis.

We drove through Uchisar, which means big rock on the top of the hill, but will spend more time there tomorrow. We stopped at Pashag to see the mushroom shaped fairy chimneys. The cone is constructed from tufa and volcanic ash, while the cap is of hard, more resistant rock such as lahar or ignimbrite. Various types of fairy chimneys are found in Cappadocia. Among these are those with caps, cones, mushroom like forms, columns and pointed rocks. Monks used to inhabit these structures,

Then we drove through the imagination valley, or that’s what the locals call it. The formal name is Devrent Valley. There was one rock formation that looked like a camel.

Lastly we checked into our hotel, MDC Hotel. It’s only 16 months old. Even though there’s no air conditioning and the temperature here is quite warm, it’s not too bad.

Before dinner we went to a Whirling Dervish presentation that lasted an hour. It was beautiful and so was the music. There were 6 dervishes, one was in charge and didn’t spin, and four musicians. The first thing they do is shed the black coat that represents their ego. When they begin to whirl, their right hand faces up to collect the energy from the universe. Their left hand faces down, to send the energy to the earth. Their head tilts to the right to help the flow.

Dinner was wonderful and early to bed for an early start. I’m taking a hot air balloon ride and we leave at 4:45.