Mount Aratat & the Wonders of Turkey Expedition Dispatch
July 18, 2013 – The Team Explores Cappadocia
The team spent today in the unique region of Cappadocia, one of Turkey’s most famous destinations, where they took part in the regions beautiful, historical, and culturally unique tours. They started their day with a visit to the Red and Rose Valleys, where they hiked and explored famous rock-cut churches. They then visited the Cavusin village, where they explored churches cut high into the rocks and thousands of pigeon houses which were carved over centuries. They stopped for lunch and tried a traditional Cappadocian dish, meals that are cooked entirely in a small clay pot. Their last stop of the day was the Kaymakli underground village, where they explored the multi-level underground complex, with stables, kitchens, dormitories, storages and wine cellars. They saw how the Kaymakli built and lived in these ancient mysterious dwellings. It was a great day for exploring and learning about the region’s history and culture!
The surprised look of the staff when they saw all of our luggage.
Evert, Bart and Jan are happy to have arrived in Cappadocia.
The views from our hotel of the magical landscape
Wally and Jan enjoying their time in this unique region
Fons and Laurens – longtime friends
Jan found the best solution to protect himself from the sun!
Evert at the beginning today’s 5k hike through the Red and Rose valleys
Left: Richard running on the trail; Right: Amazing natural and manmade rock formations are found throughout the valleys.
A great photo of the rock formation taken by Charles.
Pigeon hole’s carved into the walls in Pigeon Valley; pigeon’s had many important functions in these ancient regions such as being used as message carries and their droppings were even used as fertilizer.
Left: Charles and Peter enjoying the natural beauty; Right: We thought this was a great location for a cave.
Everywhere we turn there is a great photo opportunity!
Fons along the trail
In order to visit a cave church it does require some effort; before Christianity became accepted in the region these churches were built up high for security purposes.
Evert and Jan discuss their next move.
Laurens and Peter take a moment to enjoy each other’s company.
Left: Fons couldn’t look happier along the trail! Right: A map of our 5k hike through the valleys
At the end of our trail we came across these amazing rock cut caves and were all thinking “let’s climb”.
Left: Jan can’t wait to start; Right: The area is filled with beautiful architecture of many different periods of time.
After the hike we stopped for lunch and experimented in trying a local specialty – the meal is entirely cooked inside this pot. This is the same type of meals the people of these underground villages would cook.
Next we were off to Kaymakli underground Village which showed us the passageways, the storage, the housing conditions, wine tanks and churches that the Kaymakli people depended on for survival.
The team learned about the unique history of the region. Richard enjoyed hearing what the guide had to say about the underground cities.