Pamukkale

Another Aussie in Goreme told us about this place, so we decided to take a look. While I thought it was lovely- really cool calcium coated mountain created by the thermal springs and awesome ruins of a Byzantine and later Roman civilzation- Joe didn't like it as much. And I suppose he's right- while in Goreme the tourist and the locals seem to coexist pleasantly and even enjoy each other; in Pamukkale the locals seemed a little tired and maybe jaded of all the tourist day in day out. Luckily, the place we stayed was very nice, friendly and very helpful. They even cleaned the pool just for Joe and had the cutest kitty I nicknamed "Sweetie Meats".

The main street and the latrine

Earthquake damaged Roman baths- later a church and one of the best preserved theaters in the world!

Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

Virtually every piece in the world-class Museum of Anatolian Civilizations would be a signature exhibit in a lesser museum. For its size, the MAC (my abbreviation) is the most amazing archaeology museum i've ever seen. The artifacts amply cover the neolithic, Hittite, neo-Hittite and Phrygian civilizations of Anatolia, with some great Urartian finds and even Ankara's own unique Anthropithecus species. Here are a few of my favorites:

Sunrise hot-air ballons

Death Hike 2010

From Goreme we took the bus a few kilometers to Uchisar, a veritable castle of caves that was eventually abandoned because the number of people digging their caves inside the peak made the entire thing unstable. Fortunately the bad parts have fallen down by now and things have settled down.

This blog serves as my final wishes -- I want to be buried at the top of Uchisar:

The trail from Uchisar back to Goreme leads through Pigeon Valley. It's called Pigeon Valley because the monks who lived in the caves along the valley raised pigeons for guano. They also left literal pigeon-holes in the tombs for pigeons to enter and exit as a symbol of the soul being free of the tomb. I had heard it was an easy hike back, but Sierra poo-pooed my abilities to lead us...


30 minutes later, a shepherd found me perched on the edge of this cliff, attempting to slide down. He led us back the correct way for a fee. Immediately after that treacherous spot, the trail became well-marked and easy, and another couple at the hostel said the exact same thing happened to them. I suspect this shepherd makes a good living by removing the trail markers and waiting for hikers to get into trouble. Still, Sierra seemed to think it was my fault for some reason.

Goreme- open air museum

Goreme- tour day

We reluctantly left our awesome hotel in Trabzon for an 18 hour bus ride with a screaming baby to our new home for the next 5 days- Goreme! Goreme is a small village famous among backpackers for its unusual geology, Hittite cave cities and accomodating locals.

On our first full day we took a tour around the area. We saw a massive underground city:

A cave citadel supposedly used in Star Wars:

and had lunch in Ihlara Valley.