I try and head off early from my couchsurfing hosts house in Kayseri but Ahmet inists on making breakfast for me. I happily sit around and eat a delicious toasty sandwich made with local salami.
Inbetween Ahmet's office, his car and apartment my drink bottle has dissapeared. I check all three and it is nowhere to be found. A plastic 1L soft drink bottle kind of fits in the bottle cage and that will have to do for the moment.
I seem to only lose things when I stay at people's houses. When I am camping I don't seem to have this problem. So far I have kindly donated a sock, my towel, a small dry bag full of tea bags and now my drink bottle to various abodes inbetween Central Asia and Turkey.
Anyway, back to the cycling, it is cool and overcast as I head toward cappadocia. I have spent some time checking out the maps and decide to take some back roads to Goreme, the town in Cappadocia where my next couchsurfing host lives.
For those that don't know, Cappadocia is a very popular touristy area in the middle of Turkey. It is famous for its 'fairy chimneys', cave houses, underground cities and churches carved into the rocks.
The landscape is otherworldly and very interesting. According to the people that love and work in the area it is the best place in the world to go on a hot air balloon ride.
The road to Goreme is mostly very quiet back roads. The weather stays cool, cloudy and windy all day, sometimes head wind and sometimes tail wind . After about 90km cycling (I think I took the 'scenic' route) I arrive in Goreme.
After spending about two weeks in Eastern Turkey I find all the touristy stuff a little overwhelming. The people working in the shop can speak English (!!) and try to sell me everything.
Unfortunately due to impending darkness and the long distance, I didn't have much of a chance to stop and check out the amazing views but I get a good idea that the next few days would be full of jaw dropping vistas and some great opportunities for hiking and exploration.
Once in town I call my CS host. Turns out he is in the next village, only about 5km away but up a very steep hill. My legs are fried. For the first time since the Pamirs I find myself pushing my bicycle up a hill.
I find my CS host and it turns out that he actually runs a guesthouse. That evening he asks me about tours I want to take. I am a cheapskate. I let him know I plan on hiking and cycling around the area.
The next morning I am told I have to leave and that my room is booked for tonight. I am not really sure if he is telling the truth or just a bit miffed that he will not get commission from any tours that I am 'meant' to take.
I manage to find another CS host in Goreme who accepts my request at very late notice. He also runs a guest house. I am a little worried that the same thing will happen again.
I have a third CS offer as a back up. Turns out I don't need it and late in the evening my host has a cancelation and I get given a fancy hotel room - I was originally going to sleep in the common area.
During the day I check out the castle in Uçhisar. It is the highest point in the area and there are great views. I have a little explore around the bottom of the castle and relish in the very relaxed workplace health and safety laws. If this was in Australia there would be barriers up everywhere and safety fences. Instead I have the freedom to crawl through tunnels, edge my way across narrow ledges with steep drops and explore.
I head back down to goreme, leave my bicycle at my new CS abode and grab lunch. I know I am in a touristy area but I astounded by the price of lunch. It is about three times the price of anything else I have bought in Turkey and not three times bigger or more delicious.
I go for a little explore around the area before I meet up with a carpet store owner for tea. Fatih also offered me a couch to sleep on in his carpet store. He convinces me to go for a balloon ride and gets me a pretty good deal - 80 euro instead of the 140-150 euro that I had been quoted a few times.
The evening is spent getting beaten at backgammon by Chetin, my CS host.
The next morning I am ready to go at 5.30am for my balloon ride. I quick trip to the base for a rushed breakfast and then we are whisked off to the launch site.
I am already astounded at the number of balloons being inflated or already in the air. It is an ordinary Sunday morning in the shoulder season and there are heaps of balloons. At one point during the flight I counted 50 balloons in just one direction.
The balloon ride is better than I expected. Despite the cloudy weather and lack of sunrise the view is great. Somehow the pilot manages to fly the balloon super low through the valleys, rising just in time to miss the large rock towers, he skims over the top of the fairy chimneys. I am stoked.
I spend the rest of the day exploring around goreme. I can't express how impressive some of the caves are. There are multiple rooms and floors, tunnels, steps and churches.
Before I leave the following day I sit at the rooftop of the hotel where I am staying and watch the balloons float over the village. On the way out of Cappadocia I go for a quick walk in love valley on the way to Kaymakli.
There is an underground city in Kaymakli that goes down eight stories. Only the first four floors are open to tourists but it is still immpressive.
I am not sure I would want to live down there, narrows passageways, very dark and so dusty. There are wine cellars, food storage areas, living rooms and very deep ventilation towers.
I continue west along some back roads. I am heading towards a gorge that apparently has nice hiking. It's starts getting late before I get there and I look for a place to camp. I stop a few times to check out potential spots but I have lost my camping mojo. I don't know what it is, scared of being cold during the night, worried about the wind flapping my tent all night, just don't want to be alone?
In the end I cycle into a village an ask to sleep at someone's house. Dinner is amazing, lentil soup, bean stew, Turkish version of dolmades, pumpkin, fresh bread, pickled veges. After dinner a bunch of extended family members arrive. I am not exactly sure how everyone was related but there were four generations of family members.
I move on the next morning into the fog. The cycling is enjoyable, through the quiet back roads. I am feeling lazy and take a long lunch break. I stop at the top of Ilhara gorge and find an abandoned school building to sleep in.
I go to put the kettle on and my stove doesn't want to play. Although petrol is super cheap and easy to find the problem is that the stoves get blocked sometimes. I spend an hour fiddling and pulling it apart and cleaning with no luck. I give up and build a fire to cook on.
The next morning I descend through a village, into Ilhara gorge. The desire to hike and visit more caves has waned, I am all caved out. I only stop for a quick look at a church on the way out of the gorge.
My lack of desire to camp is especially low now that I know I have to make a fire to have a hot meal. A $13 hotel room in Aksaray is just too tempting. Even the wifi works. For $13 I get lovely linen with a picture of a tiger on it and a view of a wall with air conditioners hanging out out, all in a row.
14/11 Kayseri - Uçhisar: rode 92km
15/11 Uçhisar - Goreme: rode 4km
17/11 Goreme - Cakilli: rode 54km
18/11 Cakilli - Bellasirma: rode 52km
19/11 Bellasirma - Aksaray: rode 39km, ODO 4703km
No comments:
Post a Comment