FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Cappadocia

Zelve-Paşabalar Archaeological Site

It was time to say goodbye temporarily to Istanbul and head west to Cappadocia. We were picked up nice and early for our 0950 flight to Kayseri. Our service included help with check-in, even we didn't really need it. Mr Husnu insisted on making sure our bags were checked and we had our boarding passes as well making sure we made it the to the right gate to go through security. Istanbul domestic airport is attached to the international terminal occupying a corner of the massive airport. Facilities, much like the international counterpart, were fantastic. Our flight of an hour and a half to Kayseri was short but we received a hot cheese sandwich and a drink. The flight attendants were friendly. We were picked up our guide for the next 2 days and we were off.

From Kayseri, it was an hour's drive to Zelve-Paşabalar Archaeological Site for a close up look at the famed "fairy chimneys" of the area. All Mal and I saw were rocks shaped like penises...the area was fun to explore though climbing into chambers carved out by monks.

Plenty of seats everywhere as well as charging outlets

Clean planes

Welcome to Kayseri! A small regional airport and taking me back to my Asian roots

Pasabag Valley Fairy chimneys

Fairy chimneys of different shapes and sizes

Seems like 18 year old girls need to burn energy like 5 year old boys

Countless chambers

Grandparents waiting patiently at the bottom

Ooh a hole to climb up

Mal's ascent was not as elegant

View of the valley from the caves

Still practicing for instagram

Penis city

Burak, our guide, wore a koala jumper! Apparently coincidental and not planned

Passing by the Red River, so called because of the red clay collected by the locals for pottery and not because of the colour, we continued on to Avanos to experience pottery making. Pottery making has existed in this area since the Hittites (around 1800 BC). The pottery that we visited has been run by the same family for 7 generations. We were served tea and given a demonstration by the master, before given a chance to have a go. In the good old days, the artist would have to make a sugar bowl and lid free hand. If the lid fits (there were specific measurements too that the fit had to be within) then the artist would be allowed to get married. From here, we were shown their collection which were beautifully detailed and stunning, all hand made and painted/decorated free hand. We weren't able to take photos here understandably. They had caves and caves of pottery! Being shoppers, we caved and bought some...and probably would have bought more if we weren't starving!

Lunch was where we had an interesting incident. A family who were already seated suddenly stormed out after some heated words. We later found out that it was because they saw that Malcolm was served a beer! They didn't want to eat at an establishment which served alcohol. Our guide was quick to reassure us that although Turkey is 99% Muslim that this was an extreme and not the norm. It fortunately did not take away from the amazing pottery kebab that we tried, a specialty of the area. The food is cooked in a clay container, then poured out to be served. The flavours were intense and delicious! Once again, Belinda found herself eating and enjoying lamb!!

Red river, source of red clay

The pottery master. He finished sugar lid and bowl in minutes

Lara's turn. Simple bowl

The "cheap" section

A Hittite wine decanter

Pottery kebab

Piping hot, and poured out

The final product, looks wishy washy but packs a punch!

Turkish "ravioli". I forgot to take a photo of the name, but this was yoghurt based and delish too!

It was finally time to head to our hotel, Utopia Cave Hotel in Ürgüp, one of a gazillion cave hotels in the area. The hotel was lovely and like a warren with rooms scattered everywhere. We got the basic rooms and perhaps would have been more "wow" if we had not been so stingy lol and not fallen prey to the allure of social media images! The rooms themselves were comfortable. The only minor problem was that the water had a strange smell which probably is common to the area.

We only had time for a short rest as we had a Whirling Dervish ceremony to get to. The venue for the ceremony this evening was an 11th century caravanserai, used as a travelling inn along the silk road. The "dance" is a meditative worship practice, also called a sema. Our ceremony was 45 minutes long and that was probably the right length for us. As much as it was interesting and entrancing, it was repetitive and difficult to stay awake! We did all marvel at how they did not stagger out of balance and they whirled in the same direction the whole time!

We are also loving the Turkish hospitality and custom of offering tea and coffee! Especially loving their teas! We've already bought apple and pomegranate...tonight's offering was cinnamon tea.