9 October ’04, Saturday. After breakfast, we all jumped into “Bumble Bee” and went off to our 1st attraction….The Goreme Open Air Museum. This is a cluster of rock formations cutout for, Byzantine churches, chapels and monasteries. As we were just about to pay and enter, I was approached by a young Turkish man who identified himself as a “licensed guide’. I asked to see this “license” and how much did he want to guide all 4 of us through the museum. All of agreed this would be well worth the 15 million lira, so, Sinan was hired. His information and knowledge of this area was much more than any tour book would have provided. There were over 365 churches and a couple monasteries all dug-out here in these rock formation. They dated back to the 11th century. Unfortunately most of the caves have been “opened” because of the rock breaking away and exposing the interior. Putting that aside, the cave paintings, the lay-out, and the grave sites were all wonders themselves. A few of the paintings have been restored, and others vandalized. One thing of interest, was in the vandalizing of the paintings, the eyes, faces, and hands of all the subjects were scratched out. Our understanding of this, is the Muslim religion does not allow for any images, so scratching out the eyes erases the image. Those that were too high to reach, were left alone. We then “hired” Sinan to take us to see some of the “fairy chimneys” that we hadn’t seen yet. We soon found ourselves driving though a sandy, rutted lane, heading way off into the valley. Soon, Sinan stopped us in front of some of the most incredible “fairy chimneys” we had seen. What a great photo-op this was. Then, a ride across the plateau to a newly opened underground city. As you arrive, you wouldn’t know that there was any type of cave or caves below you, but upon entering a small tunnel you find yourself right in the middle of the “barn”. The first floor was set aside for the animals. There was feeding troughs, tie rings, and holes dug for cleaning. Then a smaller tunnel leads you down to the living areas. The cooking, wine making, sleeping, and dining areas were all tied together by additional and smaller yet tunnels. Some of these tunnels actually ended with a large round (wheel type) stone, that could be rolled into the tunnel passage to block any intruders that might find their way there. A couple of the tunnels would wind and twist while going down to the next floor and room. They were so small, while bent over, your back would be scrapping the top of the tunnel. While we didn’t feel real secure in being underground there, we all stepped forward. Another surprise came when we came back up, we found a tour bus unloading about 40 people to tour the same caves we were just leaving. Let me tell you, I wouldn’t want any more than the four of us down there at one time, let alone have 40 or more pressing together in any of the rooms or tunnels.
Tomorrow….Flying High !!!!
Tomorrow….Flying High !!!!