Out of This World in Cappadocia

Our hotel hosts at the cave hotel in Cappadocia
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Cappadoccia October 9^th – 12^th, 2006

After much deliberation, David and I finally decided to succumb to having a travel agent arrange a tour of Turkey for us rather than set off to explore Turkey on our own. Thus, the 4 of us got on one of those big white buses on Sunday night for an overnight trip to Cappadoccia. It seemed like it would be a comfortable trip at first. The bus was ¾ empty, clean and comfortable. However, after 3 hours we were still driving through the suburbs of Istanbul and were picking up people (mostly men, rarely ladies). The trip was beginning to feel long and grueling. At 4:30 am the bus came to a complete stop and all the men trooped out to the roadside café for a full meal deal; their last meal before sunrise. It is Ramadan and most Muslims are not eating between sunrise and sundown. We were interested to discover that many people get around this day of fasting by eating large meals before sunrise and very large meals sundown. Some people, such as carpet weavers and ceramic painters, work during the night at home during Ramadan and sleep during the day.

Cappadoccia was probably our most out-of-this-world experience to date

A view of the cave hotel room
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Twelve long hours after leaving Istanbul, that city of constant noise, hustle and bustle, we arrived in Cappadoccia. Seeing the daybreak on this amazing scenery will be one of the things that will stand out for me on this trip. An unearthly experience!

Where Istanbul is crowded, polluted, noisy and busy, Cappadoccia is a wide open space of the most amazing scenery and very few people. Pictures can give you an idea of what to expect but the experience of seeing this part of the world with your own eyes is breath-taking. Twenty million years ago the eruptions of three volcanoes covered this area of approximately 200 to 300 square kilometers with volcanic ash and lava. Since then the effects of erosion has created this surreal landscape of fairy chimneys, ravines and barren hills. The soft tufa stone of these rock formation has been carved out to provide homes, stables and entire cities. Some of these cave homes date back to 6000 BC and were created by the Hittites. Christians hid in the underground cities to escape Roman persecution in the first century and the cave homes have been inhabited in some manner since then. Even now, in some villages, 20 to 30 % of the population still live in cave homes. We slept in a cave room in our hotel, Hisarevi , for 3 nights and can attest to the fact that they are comfortable! Cool in the summer, apparently warm in the winter.

The cave houses that date back to 6th century BC and later used by the early Christians to escape Roman persecution
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On one of our 2 days of touring the area, we explored an underground city, Kaymakli, which was only rediscovered in the early 1960’s. It is 7 layers and 80 meters deep into the ground and is a maze of tunnels, rooms, churches, homes and stables. Ventilation and communication shafts allowed communities to live underground for up to a month at a time to hide from their enemies. Numerous underground cities are connected by tunnels miles long. We stuck close to the tour guide during this expedition; we didn’t want to get lost down there!

The cave houses intermixed with newer houses in Cappadocia
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Our little town of Ortahisar is very much off the beaten track. The first night here we tried to find a cheaper dinner alternative to our hotel’s set menu of 20 Lira per person (about $16.00). The best option in the village seemed to be a neat little terrace beside the village’s castle rock. It boasted a fairly varied and cheap menu and even had a neat cave room to eat indoors if the evening got cool. We traipsed up the hill just after 7:00 pm, the normal dinner time and found the place in darkness although the proprietor had earlier assured us that he was open until 10:00. We stood around for a few minute, contemplating this mystery, when we heard him ride up on his moped. He rushed over, apologizing that he just had to go to “town” for 5 minutes. Between his poor English and our non-existent Turkish, we finally placed an order, then watched as he rushed to a telephone to make a phone call – to Mama down in the village? There was not another soul around other than him and us. A moment later, even he was gone, as once again we saw him take off towards town on his moped. We wondered if we should leave, but just couldn’t bear to disappoint this man at this point, so stuck around on that terrace. The town below us, the moon above us and ‘just us chickens’ on that terrace! Our friendly proprietor finally got back with several shopping bags and we did get dinner. So did about 4 stray cats that smelled the food and soon had us surrounded. Our next few evening meals consisted of groceries that we picked up in the markets in town; fresh Turkish bread, cream cheese and fresh fruit.

Frescos that date from the 10th century AD inside one of the cave churches
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In Cappadoccia we saw more than just the spectacular scenery. Our days of tours included some obligatory stops at ‘factories’. These being the first that we saw in Turkey, they were still very interesting to us. One was a ceramic factory where we were shown the various steps in producing and painting the wonderful ceramics that come from this area. We marveled at that the intricacy and beauty of this art and for the first time in 3 ½ months of traveling I wished that my suitcase and budget had room for some purchases. Visiting a carpet ‘factory’ was another learning experience. Even Stephanie and Karsten can now tell the difference between wool-on-cotton, wool-on-wool, silk-on-cotton, silk-on-silk carpets and kilims. Again, we marvel at these works of art that have been a Turkish tradition for so many hundreds of years. David and I are surprised to realize how close we got to being talked in to buying a carpet. It really seemed like the right thing to do! Next time, maybe.

Stephanie working off her debts by weaving a carpet
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Cappadoccia was known to us from our study of Scripture. Men of Cappadoccia were present on the day of Pentecost (Act 2). We saw frescoes in many of the caves that were painted by Christians in the first and the 10th century. It is truly awesome to have walked in their footsteps and also makes us realize how short our lifetime is and what a long chain of human experience we are part of.

Cappadoccia was probably our most out-of-this-world experience to date. We are excited to see what we will experience in days that lie ahead of us in this part of our world.