when in Goreme...

After Ren's exhaustive entry on Cappadocia I don't think there is really much more I could say about the area. I'll try to fill in some of the gaps anyway.

Goreme was the first place in Turkey where the tourists seemed to outnumber the locals. Kiwi's Aussies, Japanese and Germans were everywhere!

the town catered slightly to western culture.

we rode with the family down the street through the courtesy of blistered feet. We stayed at the Kose Pension, a really mellow environment with all the comforts of home. Chess, laundry service, veggie meals for Ren, plenty of tables for playing shithead*, wi-fi, and use of the lovely pool. We were told that at this time last year the pool was thumpin' and bumpin' (as pools are known to do) and the weather was hot! Luckily for us the first two days we were in Goreme it was snowing when we woke up.

we had full access to the pool at Kose. Goreme is a bit of a backpackers paradise, but the touristy aspects of the the town were far outweighed by the beauty of the surrounding area, and in less then 10 minute walk you could be out of town and engulfed by a surreal landscape.

View from just outside of town. note the snow on the mesa. On most of our hikes we were guided by the Kose affiliated Spotty, who knew where all the best vista points. Mark and fellow backpacker Tavi overlooking Rose valley. View from the top of aformentioned mesa.Inside the valleys the hills and rocks were riddled with carved caves and churches. Some of the carved out areas in the walls were pigeon houses. The locals would use pigeons for many things. The eggs for eating and egg whites for mixing paints. The pigeon droppings were good fertilizer, and the pigeons were good messengers. But even more interesting were the churches. Most were built during Roman times by early Christians. Hidden in the rocks becuase at the time Christianity wasn't even considered a religion, it was more of a cult.

Action Mark poking his head out after climping up to a pigeon house.

What might look like this from the outside......could look like this on the inside! wow! (this one had many rooms)

Some churches looked like they were decorated by Ron Rege jr.

Other churches like the Karanlik Lilise (or dark church) were filled with frescos.

The eyes and faces were scratched out of the frescos due to the muslim belief in not depicting the face.
creating some very eerie imagry.

While still other carvings will remain shrouded in mystery for all eternity.

While Ren and Tavi rented scooters and Mark spent the day doing work, Anna (aussie backpacker) and I went to Derinkuyu, the sight of the largest of the underground cities. The area of Cappadocia is also filled with about 36 underground cities located out and about the surrounding area. Derinkuyu is 85 meters deep and consists of 7 different levels. It was originally dug by the Hitites as a grainery to keep produce fresh for as long as possible. Eventually, as more levels were added, it was used to hide from rampaging hordes. They would live down there for months at a time. The underground city was equiped with stables, a church and a school. as well as a fully working winery and communications system. Pretty neat.

view of the underground city from above ground.Under the ground. I was trying to take photos without a flash, but most came out very blurry. Sorry!

Also, while in Goreme, I came closer than I ever have before to finding the answers I've been looking for. (it's the whole reason i joined up with GlobTrans in the first place)

Goreme's world famous Ufo museum and cafeteriaOnly 50 meters away from the answers! I am glad to know i am not alone!!! (somebody's gotta be holding the camera)

At the last minute I turned back from the ramshackle shack containing the proof I'd been searching for since jr. high school english class. I learned long ago from shows like the "X-files" and more recently "Lost" you should never find any answers, only raise more questions (that way they can drag the plot out and make the show last more seasons).


perhaps the answers are here. ¿Qué Sucedió a Maxi Rodriguez?


*shithead I guess is a backpacker card game (not to be confused with Besiklas rules shithead, which is a whole different game alltogether)

merhaba!

Merhaba (Greetings) from the third member of the turkey triumvirate.

I could spend my first entry showing you an endless parade of photos revealing the grandeur of the blue mosque

or the elegance of its interiors… But instead I have chosen to focus on the trivial.
start at the beginning,

upon entry to SFO’s international section of the airport we were first greeted by the visage of this jolly soul. A newly restored fresco depicting the trials and tribulations of a tortilla chef driven to the brink of insanity by spending far to much time in the sfo international airport. Luckily my brother mark and i were spared this malady by having to wait only and hour and a half to catch out flight to…

Istanbul! City of cats!
One of the first things you notice about Istanbul is that, dang, there’s a lot a stray cats in this town.

Local cats are hired as security guards at the aya Sofya.
From a safe distance Turkish men play an endless game of teasing the cats below with strings attached to fishing poles.

Once in Istanbul, we met up with old friend and founding member of the Globtrans staff. Renato.
Here is renato getting worked up into a lather discussing politics with some of the locals.

Renato wasn’t the only old friend that greeted us.
"Willy, alf’s put mr. Wiskers in the microwave and opened up a chain of denim clothing stores in turkey again!”

also, the locals were friendly enough to swindle us into drinking an expensive cherry juice. crack squad of cherry juice vendors pulled up next to us as we were walking in the middle of a public park. Jumped out of their car and quickly started posing for pictures and pouring us cherry juice. It was only after we imbibed the sweet juice that we were told that there was a price attached.
Mark surrounded by brightly colored cherry pushers.

And so.
¿Qué Sucedió a Maxi Rodriguez?