Day 70-72 - Fethiye, Cappadocia

Day 10 - Fethiye to Antalya
This morning we drive further south for Saklikent Gorge. A natural mountain split in half by an earthquake years ago. You may wish to trek through the massive canyon, tripping and scrambling over the rocks whilst submerged in icy cold water fresh from the hilltops. Afterwards, there is time to have lunch at the river bar and café. Today we also visit a carpet village and learn how carpets are made by hand, what determines their value and the historical and cultural context in which this folk art has blossomed.

Before I continue, in response to a couple of questions, people going to the site I linked earlier will see that the descriptions are different. I have pieced together from a number of new and old Fez sites an actual description of what we did, so the descriptions are more useful here than on the site.

I was feeling considerably better by this stage but not so much that wading up to my bum in ice-cold water really appealed to me as an idea so soon after a flu, so I amused myself watching the others, walking around the nearby mountains and getting chased by a goat. Saklıkent Gorge is definitely amazing, but having seen the Cataract Gorge in Launceston TAS and having seen the Great Ocean Road in Vıctoria, I guess that I was a bit underawed.

Afterwards, we went to a government-licenced carpet factory just out of Saklikent, where we were entertained with Turkish tea, shown a variety of carpets and learned to tell between different types, and then spent a further two or three hours there. As with most of the purchase opportunities on this tour, while I could recognise that prices were lower than I had seen elsewhere in Turkey, they were still way beyond my price range.

It was late when we left and the sun set on the way to Antalya, a tourist city and the birthplace of our tour guide. Due to various circumstances, I was now in single-room accommodation even though I'd paid for twin-share.

Whinge alert: Hotel Sunset in Antalya was dreadful. It is not Fez's usual hotel of choice, it's in an odd location and the rooms are not in acceptable condition. My 1st floor room was full of smoke and the ancient AC unit was broken and jammed full of dust. As an asthmatic, this posed an unacceptable risk. Apparently, all rooms were full that night and none were non-smoking. The tour guide graciously offered to trade with me - his 3rd floor room was better in that it had a modern AC.

Day 11: Antalya to Cappadocia via Konya
Follow the ancient silk trade route, while heading north- east via Konya to Cappadocia. Along the way to Cappadocia we visit the 13th-century caravanseray at Sultanhani. Tonight there is the option of a traditional Turkish folklore evening, with the famous whirling dervishes and belly-dancing.

Day 12: Cappadocia
This morning we marvel at the surreal and bizarre landscape that
is Cappadocia. Enjoy a fully guided tour of this fascinating region.
We will be visiting an underground city, the old Greek village of Mustafa Pasa with its fairy chimneys and Pigeon Valley and Göreme Valley. We return to the hotel late afternoon.

Due to the unseasonal hot weather (about 35°C) and our group, the above was our slightly non-standard tour itinerary. The first day was nearly entirely one long (9 hour) drive from Southwest Turkey to Central Turkey.

Quick note about geography - Cappadocia is a fairly large historical region, mostly located in the Aksaray, Nevsehir and Kayseri regions. Just north of Nevsehir are the small cities of Ürgüp (where most hotels/motels are located), Göreme (where most tourist attractions are) and Avanos.

We briefly got to see Göreme, the main attraction of this area, before going to the Turkish evening at a fairly new establishment. This basically consisted of - unlimited food and drinks, the whirling dervishes of the Mevlani order, who are basically a group of men clad in whıte who bow to each other lots then spin around and around at impossible speeds in harmony wıth each other - amazing to watch - and the dancing, where Attila from our group managed to strut his stuff in style, plus some folklore with a simulated courtship and wedding done entirely via music and dance. We got back to the hotel at around 12:30am tired but happy. It's one of the few times on the tour that we've all had a chance to do something together as a group rather than a series of individuals.

Today we explored the Göreme Valley region, took lots of amazing and entirely weird pictures, explored an underground city built here by Christians in 7th century AD to defend against the Muslims, visited a small pottery shop and factory in Avanos (another blatant shoppıng opportunity conveniently scheduled by the tour), checked out some old Greek Orthodox churches in Göreme literally carved out of the rocks, and saw the fairy chimneys. Very full day.

What's next?
Tomorrow - free day and Turkish bath.
Friday - driving back to Istanbul (10hrs) via Ankara.
Saturday - tour ends.
Tuesday - I leave Istanbul bound for Singapore.