Our Cappadocia trip

Just got back from a few days away in Cappadocia.  WOW!

 

Goreme, Cappadocia (central Anatolian region of Turkey)

If you’ve visited Turkey, you have probably seen pictures of the ‘fairy chimneys’. The strange landscape is the result of cracks and fissures in the soft rock being eroded by wind and rain to make isolated pillars, whose geological name is hoodoo.  The region forms a 1000m high plateau riddled with valleys and from most parts of it you can see the distant peaks of the extinct volcanoes which formed it.  The largest, at nearly 4000m, is Erciyes Mountain which is a popular ski resort.

hoodoo ('fairy chimney')

The geography is so unusual that Cappadocia is a popular place for filming.  It used to be the place they filmed low-budget Turkish ‘kovboy’ movies (westerns – say it out loud!) but more recently many countries have used it as a location, especially for sci-fi films.  Parts of Nicholas Cage’s Ghost Rider II were shot there.

Besides the incredible scenery, Cappadocia has a fascinating history.  Through the ages, it has been under the control of the Hittites, the Persians, Alexander the Great and the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, all of which left their mark in some way.

church at Goreme Open Air Museum

As early as the fourth century it became an important centre of Christianity.  Christians fleeing persecution by the Romans arrived in some numbers and established communities here. They dug out the chimneys to make dwellings and churches, which can be seen best at Goreme and Zelve Open Air Museums.

Zelve village

Some of these are decorated with simple motifs – crosses and symbols – from the eighth century when the Eastern Church banned the use of religious images (a period of iconoclasm).  The later ones are decorated with beautiful frescoes which, thanks to the dry air and lack of light in the caves, are well-preserved.

As well as the Christians suffering persecution, the area of Cappadocia has often found itself on the edge of rival empires.  The residents responded by digging underground settlements, which have been found all over the area.  These were not lived in permanently but each house would have access to them and whenever there was a threat the people would disappear underground.  Some of the largest cities housed thousands of people together with their animals!

Underground cities like the ones at Derin Kuyu and Kaymakli were easy to defend as the narrow tunnels made fighting difficult.  There were also stones that were used to block access tunnels and holes through which spears could be dropped!

Apart from visiting the churches and underground cities, the most popular thing to do in Cappadocia is ballooning.  It’s the best way to see the landscape and with 50 or more balloons taking off each morning just before sunrise it is a magical experience.

It’s a long way from Fethiye to Cappadocia (700km) but it’s possible to do it by car (preferably breaking the journey somewhere) or by overnight bus and I would highly recommend it!

Referendum blues

Turkey is heading towards a referendum (16 April) which could change the whole political system.  It is impossible to get away from it – it fills the news, the papers and everybody’s conversations.  If you have Turkish friends on Facebook you might have noticed them posting references to the referendum, or changing their profile to ‘HAYIR’ (no – the outcome they are hoping for).

Without going into too much detail – which I don’t understand anyway - Turkey currently has a parliamentary system with an elected party whose leader is Prime Minister and a cabinet.  The President is not allowed to be a party member and officially has more of a ceremonial role.

The new system, being proposed by the current president and his supporters, will abolish the role of PM and make the President head of the Parliament.  He will be allowed remain as party leader, able to choose who runs as MP for the party and choose his own ministers without needing parliamentary approval.  More worryingly he will be able to choose more than half the senior judges in the judiciary.  Political commentators say that while many countries have presidential systems, they have checks and safeguards to ensure that one person does not have too much power.

One of the worst things is that, similar to the British referendum last year, we are not being given proper information.  Supporters claim the new system will enable them to end terrorism, reduce unemployment etc without actually explaining how.  As in the UK, discussions often deteriorate into name-calling with, at the worst, ‘no’ voters being accused of supporting terrorism.

This is apparently a rising phenomenon of modern politics, termed ‘post-truth’ politics.  It was widespread in the American presidential elections too.  It involves appealing to people’s emotions rather than their brain.  It seems that these days we aren’t so interested in policy and facts – much too dull!  We prefer the drama of a good argument, whether the claims being made are real or not (politics reduced to reality TV!).

So – it is an uncertain time for Turkey; not for holiday-makers as whatever happens in the referendum this will continue to be a beautiful place to visit but it might not be quite the same to live here and as it has been my home now for almost 25 years I am hoping it doesn’t change too much.

Enough politics!  Here is a lovely story that was in the news a couple of weeks ago...

... In the mountainous Black Sea region, an eleven-year old girl was watching over the family’s goats as they grazed.  It started to snow heavily and then she realised one of the goats was giving birth.  She took the other animals back home and returned to the goat and baby with two backpacks.   She put the baby in one and tied it to her dog’s back (large Turkish shepherd dog), then put the mother goat in the other bag and which she carried and struggled home through the thick snow.

What a strange world it is where this girl cares for the goats dressed in the traditional clothes of the region, while a picture of her taken by her brother on his phone ‘goes viral’.  Old and new worlds collide! This is one of the things I have always loved about Turkey.

By the way, the baby goat was named Snowball!