Cappadocia

So we head to Cappadocia in central Turkey – it’s a rugged landscape with soft limestone geological formations… which in simple terms means that people have been burrowing into the rocks to create houses for about 1400 years. It looks more like a lunar landscape than anything from this world. Unlike many of the cities we have visited, Goreme manages its touts by banning them, so the persistent and energetic touts do not greet us when we arrive – a welcome relief.

I’ve been hanging out to stay in a cave – I say its to live like a local but really, the little boy in me says it's adventurous and exciting. We awake on the first morning to 5 inches of snow, which makes the landscape look even more eerie – and of course its bloody cold but we have a centrally heated cave so its all good.

We find a cool – and a little weird – restaurant. After we order our food, they pull out drums and a Turkish sitar and start a jam session. The whole vibe is really light hearted and friendly- the chef Top Deck used to cook on a double decker bus in London (hence the nick name), and his engaging approach make it easy to while the afternoon away in the restaurant. He pulls out the Raki (Turkish oozo) and the rest is history.

On Sunday, there’s a local election across Turkey and the government has banned alcohol to prevent fights breaking out. Still there’s plenty of people on the streets cheering as the outcome is made public, and a couple of cars hunt up and down honking horns and dropping doughnuts. Hello democracy!

Goreme is pretty famous for its unique formations - in the photo below, I'm standing close to where a part of Star Wars was filmed.

And if you think that's pretty cool, check out the photo below from one of the best sights in Goreme. The Open Air Museum, a Christian-created swathe of churches carved into the mountains is just outside of the main town. Most of the churches (more than 20, you can never have too many churches) are from the 11th and 12th century, so given the frescoes are 800+ years old, they are pretty spectacular. I’ve seen a few churches, mosques and museums over the past 6 weeks, but these churches really exuded a unique energy all of their own.

Plans are to head to Syria in the next few days, so its time to head south to Antakya. To save time and push the envelope, we’re hopping on a night bus. I’ll let you know how it goes…