Smirf Huts

Night buses suck, and the trip to cappadocia was no different, even though there was only 14 people on the bus with room to stretch out, you just can't get comfortable. We arrived at about 6:30am with the sun rise and with that came the hot air balloons. Hundreds of them all drifting quietly over the landscape. It was quite a spectacular scene and mind boggling when you first see the 'fairy chimneys' as they're called, to be honest they reminded me of smirfs...or something a smirf would live in...just me?

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Goreme

The ____ Church

From the top of ____ Church

We picked the right valley because it turned into a few kilometers of this!

You get the idea

Crazy formations

Sunset over Cappadocia

The landscape is nothing you would ever see anywhere else, crazy rock formations jutting out of the ground at the bottom of deep canyons cut into the desertlike ground. It really is too difficult to properly explain what you see so just have a look, save us both some time!

Cappadocia is by far the coolest place I've been in Europe, it's just so different and there is some great exploring. You can basically pick a valley and start walking, and if you want to get lost you have to make a serious effort because if you ever lose your berings just climb out of the valley and you can see for kilometers in any direction.
But, hands down the best attribute, the humidity was gone!!! It was still 35-40 degrees during the day but you could actually go out into the sun and enjoy it, what a concept! And I wore pants one night, who woulda thunk.
Cappadocia is the name of the whole area, so Gorëme was one of the main towns in the area nestled into the bottom of a valley and where I stayed...in a cave. The whole town is built into the side of the valley and then in the rock fairy chimneys that riddle the valley floor. It is the modern day flinstones. Everywhere you look there are windows or cave openings in the side of cliffs with a little yard out front and a big front door.
We did a tour the first day we were there which took us to the _____ church, (can't remember the name)  built into a particularily large fairy chimney and was full of secret passagways and the steepest spiral staircase I've ever seen that went up about 6 stories. Would have made for an epic game of hide and seek! Next was the biggest of several underground cities which housed up to 10,000 people during times of conflict. It was one of those sites that was amazing, but more impressive on paper then in reality just because when moving through the different rooms and levels you can't really get a feel for the scale of it, it's just a bunch of interconnected holes. But a little imagination goes a long way though!

In the evening we went to Turkish night which is an avalanche of Turkish culture in 3 hours or less.  Traditional food, unlimited Raki which is turkey's booze of choice (licorice flavoured, same as sambuka) old guys playing music and traditional dances including whirling dervishes, which are essentially guys in white dresses doing pirouettes until they reach a state of extasy, which usually takes more than an hour.  And then a belly dancer.  I was lucky enough to be dragged out onto the floor for a 'lesson'. Thank god there was unlimited booze, or else I might have realized what a fool I made of myself. Needless to say, I don't have a bright future in belly dancing, but good fun!
My last night bus in turkey brought me back to Istanbul where I was catching my flight out. I had one day to ready myself for the next leg which included buying a pair of asics shoes for $20.00, not too shabby. They're very white and will absolutely under no circumstances see the light of day until I get home.
Turkey's in the books, it's an amazing country and absolutely on the list for a second visit. I would highly suggest it to anyone but might slap you if you go for less than a month, there is just too much to see. Also with a whirlwind tour you will get stuck in the tourist culture and miss a lot of the real culture.
Next step NEPAL!! this will surely be the highlight of my trip, or hopefully so because it is the main reason I'm not at home right now. Getting into the jungle, river rafting, monastaries, temples, and of course the mountains to check out the roof of the world.
Take care everyone and chat soon!