Mount Aratat & the Wonders of Turkey Expedition Dispatch
August 16, 2013 – We are Off for Another Day of Adventure
We had a relaxing breakfast this morning. We noticed that it is somewhat cloudier today than yesterday and we saw that the balloons that went up this morning did not stay up as long as they did yesterday.
We felt lucky that we went when we did. We were up for a total of 1 hour and 16 minutes with Suat yesterday.
After enjoying looking at ourselves on the dispatches over breakfast we are off for another day. We will be visiting Ihlara Valley, which is more than one hour drive from our hotel.
After hiking and exploring the valley a bit we plan to visit an underground city. There is even talk of catching a show with the "Whirling Dervishes" tonight!
For now, Oz has his microphone and he is talking about life in Turkey, local history and culture and other topics that come up as we drive through new parts of Cappadocia that we have not yet visited.
Off for a day full of adventure!
Oz explains some of the features of the river valley before we begin our walk.
Oz has been a fantastic guide. Tomorrow he will stay in Istanbul where he will be a guide for Roxanne and Clayton for a day before they return to Canada
The natural beauty of the Ihlara Valley amazed us throughout the walk.
There are simple cafes built along the water- locals as well as tourists enjoy.
Here some children enjoyed the warm afternoon.
There were dwellings in the rock everywhere.
John enjoying his surroundings
After walking about 14 kilometers we found our own sport for lunch.
Left: We went to visit an underground city; Right: Oz led the way and described the features that we saw.
We enjoyed following the passageways and marveling at how and why people could live here.
Doc and Susan underground
Team photo in the underground city
Clayton and Roxanne will be leaving us in Istanbul tomorrow. It has been great sharing adventures in Turkey with them and they still have some more time to spend in this fascinating country.