Turkey – Cappadocia Day 4: Our last day

We woke up on our last morning, put the final touches on our packing, and headed off for one last hurrah in Cappadocia – hiking to the top of Uchisar Castle.
Like a natural skyscraper, this was the pinnacle of Cappadocia. It can be seen from all around, and we had had our eye on it since we arrived. With its peak at 1350 meters above sea level, it is the highest of all the fairy chimneys. Our hike to the top was a little strenuous but short, probably only a couple hundred feet. The stairs were steep and there were no barriers to keep one from falling off. As a mother, it made me incredibly nervous to watch my fearless little mountain goats scale the mountain as if it were a race to the top. We reached the flag at the top together and took in the panoramic view of Goreme and Cappadocia.
We went back to the hotel, said goodbye to the wonderful staff who had treated us so kindly.
Abby told her friend, John goodbye. He had been so kind to Abby and she took quickly to him. She’d call out to him whenever we’d return from touring around, or when we’d get up in the morning, or when she was just walking around the hotel veranda. We found out that his name was really spelled Can with the Turkish doo-hickey under the C which makes it sound like ‘zh’ and means ‘life’ in Turkish. We were very fortunate to find such kind, hospitable people to stay with.

Turkey – Cappadocia Day 3: Ihlara Valley

We finally took a day to sleep in, which in the Lister family means we slept until about seven. We had a driver arranged to drive us about two hundred kilometers to the Ihlara Valley. I haven’t yet mentioned one of the notable vegetative attributes is the vast fields of squash and pumpkins. They seemed to be everywhere in the Cappadocia region.

Upon arriving at the valley where we’d begin the hike, Dano and my already-swollen feet and ankles were waivering on whether I should make the trek. I copped out. Under normal circumstances I would have gone, but the last thing I wanted was to get stuck in the middle of the valley, unreachable by car, or find myself in early labor in a foreign country. So I got back in the car with the driver and we drove to Belisirma where we’d meet up with the rest of the family in a couple of hours. He was so kind to outfit me with a pillow and recline the seats so I could take a nap.

Dano and the kids made really good time. According to all of them it was a really great hike. The scenery was beautiful and, like most of the Cappadocia region, it reminded Dano of far western Colorado. He checked on our maps and found out it is situated latitudinally close to Colorado.

You can see the trail running along the valley floor.
Because of the river running through the gorge, the foliage is quite lush.
Along their hike they saw more churches and monasteries and even more pigeon homes near the natives’ homes.
We ate lunch in Belisirma at a restaurant that had wonderful tables on platforms stretching out over the river. It was so peaceful. A paddling (just learned that word!) of ducks came swimming by to enjoy the pieces of flatbread the kids threw in the water. From there, our last stop was the Selime Monastery which is, of course, a rock-cut structure.
It was hidden in a little town with very narrow roads up the hill from Belisirma. This monastery, however, incorporated a large kitchen with a chimney. There was a chapel for worshipping. This monastery also had stables with rock-carved feed troughs. This is a linseed oil press which they used for cooking or fuel.
The kids are sitting on a grinding wheel which was at some point hooked up to this mill and was turned by the livestock which were housed there. We were so glad our driver took us to this very unique monastery.

Turkey – Cappadocia Day 2: The rest of the day

Following our balloon ride we headed to the Goreme Open Air Museum. I thought this somehow was going to have historic airplanes or talk about the Turkish air force; that it was going to be something like the beloved Air Force Museum in Dayton. Silly, I know. Who would have thought by the name that it was a Byzantine monastic settlement made up of clusters of rock-cut churches, chapels, and monasteries?
These churches were a popular sanctuary in the 17th century. The roads are all original cobblestone which were charming but not so good for comfortable walking. I can’t say enough how much I loved my new Keens! The chapels were again amazing; just to contemplate how they constructed these churches out of the rock and how they painted, again, so many frescos that have withstood the forces of nature for hundreds of years.

After hiking through the Open Air Museum for a couple of hours both Abigail and my ankles had had enough. We gave it quite a bit of thought and decided it would be best for us if we headed back to the cave house for a rest. We enjoyed a really good Turkish lunch with some people in our tour group and then Abby and I took a cab back. I think it was the right move as she took a five hour nap. By the time Dano and the kids returned, my elephantitis had subsided and my feet fit back in my shoes.

However, with our compromise we missed out on quite a few neat sites. After lunch the group went hiking through some cool valleys. One was Pigeon Valley. Here the natives carved thousands of houses in the rocks for pigeons. Imagine wanting to attract pigeons! The people provided this shelter in order to collect the birds’ feces which they had realized was wonderful fertilizer. They also hiked through Devrent Valley made up of volcanic stones which appear to be stacked and balanced on each other. Many of them seemed to form animal shapes.
They also saw many examples of the most distinctive geological feature of Cappadocia which are called Fairy Chimneys. This is an odd name, yet perfectly suited for the stone formations throughout this region. These unique structures were formed by three phases of natural processes. First, volcanic ash filled the valleys of Cappadocia from the three major volcanoes and many active craters in the region. The volcanoes then deposited harder stone on top of the ash. Much of the harder stone was basalt. The next process was many years of pressure turning the ash into a soft stone. Lastly, wind and water did what it does and eroded the softer stone where it was not protected by harder stone on the top layer. This process left these great Fairy Chimneys. The soft stone formed by the compressed ash is also what allowed thousands of years of civilization to carve homes, churches, pigeon houses, and even our hotel.
From there they headed back to Avanos where we had toured the ceramic shop. This time they were able to tour a weaving shop. Turkey is known for their amazingly beautiful rugs. At this particular workshop they had seventeen thousand rugs. Here the kids were given an opportunity to help tie knots in a rug-in-the-making. They each loved this. The ornate rugs the kids helped with will eventually be approximately 2 feet by 3 feet and will take these women up to six months to weave them, explaining the significant cost of rugs.
They were also shown how they harvested the silk from the silk worms and spun it into yarn.
They told the kids that they are able to harvest about a mile of thread from each worm. Many of the rugs are made from silk and are soft and have a beautiful sheen. They also make rugs from wool and cotton.

While we were out we saw many of these ice cream peddlers. Dano and the kids decided to give Turkish ice cream a try. You can tell by the facial expressions that the peddler was hilarious. He teased the kids unmercifully. Ethan told me he almost dumped the ice cream on his head. They all loved the ice cream. It was the first time they had tasted ice cream made with camel milk.
That evening we walked a little ways from our hotel to a restaurant and enjoyed a really fun dinner together. The evenings were quite mild (though not mild enough to cool off our cave room) and the air was clean and refreshing. We felt so blessed to be able to spend time together in a wonderful little part of Turkey.

Turkey – Cappadocia Day 2: The balloon ride

We were up early (too early for those who still had a little jet-lag) the next morning. A driver picked us up to take us to Goreme for a dawn-breaking balloon ride over the Cappadocia region.
There were over fifty balloons going up that morning. Obviously, it’s a very popular attraction. The balloons began to slowly but beautifully light up in the darkness. We lifted off the ground and slowly ascended to a height of five thousand feet. It was such a fabulous way to begin the day. The views were incredible. I don’t think anyone can truly appreciate the complexity of the landscaping in Cappadocia until they get above it. We marveled at the many fairy chimneys and such uniquely diverse topography. Here are a few pictures to speak for themselves.


Back in the basket, back to the more realistic part…our group was made up mostly of people from Spain. Fortunately our balloon pilot spoke Spanish. Unfortunately, we were the only English speaking passengers. The pilot was very kind to frequently tell us what he was telling everyone else. I don’t think it mattered much as we were all captivated with the ride, the scenery, and how well the pilot navigated the balloon down low into the valleys and then back up along the cliffs. We were not to hold Abby as this posed a dangerous risk. There were little peepholes through which she could look out. We’re still not sure if it was the motion, the jet-lag, or the near liter of water she downed before the ride, but she began to vomit. Of course I’m concerned about her as she very rarely gets sick, but I have to confess I was more worried about what the balloon pilot and other passengers would be saying. Luckily we had a few things working for us. One, we were in our own section of the basket so it was only on our feet. Two, there were slight openings in the bottom of the balloon basket so when we tipped just the right way, the vomit would run out. (Fortunately we were not flying over houses or any inhabited area in which people would get doused.) Third, between the Spanish chatter and the whooshing of the balloon flames, I don’t think anyone heard the gagging sounds. Of course, for all I know, the Spanish chatter could have been, “That’s so disgusting!” “Boy I’m glad I’m not in their basket section.” “Why would someone bring a sick child on a balloon ride?” “Oooo! What is that smell?” Well, thankfully that was all she needed and she was back to normal.
Our landing party greeted our balloon after a memorable hour-long balloon ride with the traditional champagne toast. Our pilot explained the historical significance of the toast. Kindly, they also brought really good orange juice for the non-drinkers. All the way around, it was a truly wonderful experience…a first for all of these Listers.

Would a good parent do this?

Last weekend Kennedy attended her first activity with other LDS youth in the region. She had really been looking forward to this for several weeks. I, on the other hand was a little nervous. Why? Because this particular activity was taking place in Bahrain, a country neither Dano nor I have ever been to nor were we going. Would a good parent really send their twelve year old daughter to another country in the Middle East? I couldn’t go because of my bulging belly. Dano couldn’t go because of his obligations here and, well, also because of me. There was also a young man from Jeddah going and his mother agreed to chaperone. To leave the country, Kennedy needed to get an exit and re-entrance visa from our sponsors. We also needed to have a parental letter of authorization for her to travel without us. Dano then had a friend translate it into Arabic.

Kennedy flew into Dammam, a city on the eastern region of Saudi occupied mostly by Aramco (Arabian American Oil Company) employees. As the activity didn’t begin until later that afternoon, she was welcomed into a family’s home. She helped make snickerdoodles and attended a scout court of honor before they all headed to Bahrain. Bahrain is a country made up of thirty-three islands situated just east of Saudi Arabia. They drove several miles over a causeway connecting the two countries. Her Jeddah chaperone had an incorrect visa and therefore was not permitted to leave Saudi Arabia and had to return to the home of the family in Dammam.

Kennedy had a really great time meeting some of the other youth in our area. We were wondering why the activity was held at the time it was held. The time prevented Kennedy from getting a flight home Thursday evening. We figured out later that it’s because Bahrain's weekend is Friday and Saturday unlike ours that is Thursday and Friday. They changed it a few years ago as have several other Middle Eastern countries. (We’re wishing Saudi would follow suit.) So, some of the kids attending this activity were in still in school during the day on Thursday. She and the other two from Jeddah flew home Friday morning, exhausted. I think Dano and I were both relieved to have her back with us safe and sound. Aside from the fact that it’s just such a different experience with travel, schedule, and other facets we’d never have to take into consideration in the States, we’re enjoying the diversity of it all.

(I failed to send Dano to the airport with the camera or even ask him to take a picture of Kennedy. Therefore, I’ve got nothing. Kennedy will be posting a blog about her trip and has some pictures she took. Tune in soon!)

Turkey – Cappadocia Day 1

When we left Jeddah in July we planned that our return trip would include a stopover in Europe. Then Dano learned he had meetings in Turkey. We thought we would accompany him and during the couple of days of meetings the kids and I could explore Istanbul. Then a week before we left Ohio my wonderful brother came to visit and we spent an evening talking about his two-week Turkey trip a few years ago. He convinced us of the spectacularity of this country. We quickly scrapped the Europe portion in order to devote our entire time to Turkey. Let it be said from the beginning, one week was not enough!

We had great flights from DC to Frankfurt and then to Istanbul. We spent a very quick night there and early the next morning caught a plane to Cappadocia. This is the same Cappadocia area referred to in the New Testament where Christ's apostles taught. Geographically speaking, Turkey spans a wide area (larger than I had previously realized), approximately the size of the southeastern United States. From Istanbul, we flew for about an hour to reach Kayseri, located in central Turkey. The airport was small and quick to navigate. From Kayseri a driver drove us an hour west to the city of Urgup in the Cappadocia region. We traveled like a true Middle Eastern family, six people plus a driver in a very small taxi.

We had arranged to stay at a cave house in Urgup. They are quite popular there. Most cave house hotels are owned by local people and offer five to ten rooms. Our hostess was a Turkish woman who spent her high school years in California so, needless to say, she spoke English fluently, very helpful to a unilingual American family. It was beautiful and the most unique hotel we have ever stayed in. The hostess and her familial staff treated us like family. We interacted with the other guests intimately on the hotel property, meeting some from Australia, some from the states. The caves are manmade dating back to the Hittites who settled the area between 1800 BC and 1200 BC. Prehistorically there were three large volcanoes and multiple volcano craters. The stone caves are comprised of soft stone formed from compressed ash from the volcanic eruptions.

Our room was under the arched doorway.

Our first day we took a tour to several sites. The first was Nicholas’ church in the city of Mustafapasa, an area that contains several Greek stone churches dating from the eighth to tenth centuries. The frescos were beautiful and quite well preserved depicting the Godhead, the twelve apostles, and Mary and the baby Jesus.

Who would guess this was once a church?

The kids stand in one of the front rooms of the church.

After climbing around the church grounds we left for the Keslik monastery. This was a Byzantine monastery with multiple churches built into the rock. This is where I took a nap and rested my feet (in the van, not in the monastery). There was a large refectory that served a couple hundred monks indicating this was a large monastery.

The kids attempt to push the stone that at one time covered the entrance.The monastery's refectory
Abby with one of her many friends. We happened to follow this couple from site to site. She really liked Abby and gave her a pin with the Turkish eye. It is a tradition to give someone an eye. It is believed to protect them from evil.

Erin and Abby sit atop the hill of the monastery.

From there we travelled to Sobesos where there are ruins of a Roman city built in the fourth century AD containing Roman baths and an incredibly large mosaic which has been partially excavated and preserved.
Our next stop was to one of the three major underground cities. These cities were also constructed by the Hittites, the very short Hittites. This venture was not for the claustrophobic. They were built as far back as 4000 years BC as a way to hide from their enemies, perhaps the Persians. We hiked and crawled through only a tenth of the city and that took us nearly an hour. The cities' passages are quite intricate. We would, no doubt, have been lost without our guide. We saw how these people survived underground in hiding. We hiked down about forty meters although the cities are built as deep as one hundred meters below ground. There were some places where Dano was crawling through the passages on his hands and knees.

This was one of the meeting rooms in the underground city.

We saw how they stored water, cooked, and even resolved their toileting issues. (You can ask us how if you’re really interested. We think this was our guide’s favorite part as he repeated it to us three or four times!)

Our final stop was Avanos where we toured a ceramics workshop. This was beautiful! We were toured around by a gentleman whose family has been in the business for several generations. The three older children were each given the opportunity to throw a pot on a foot-operated potter’s wheel, meaning you kick it repeatedly to keep the wheel turning. What a great leg workout! The patterns of the ceramics are so detailed and precise; some projects take months to complete and cost quite a pretty Lira.

We spent the remainder of the early evening hanging out and playing cards at the villa. We watched a beautiful sun set over the Cappadocian region of Turkey. It was just so serene. We needed to get a good night’s sleep, as our next day would begin quite early.