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From Ankara we had two route options – if we got the Iran visa we would head directly east, to the snow-capped mountains of Eastern Turkey to cross into Iran. If our visa application was rejected, we would head down into Syria.
Whilst waiting for the outcome of the Iran visa, we decided to take a three day trip to a region of Turkey called the Cappadocia – a fairyland region of bizarre volcanic rock formations, which we had heard was absolutely fantastic. As it turned out, that was an understatement!!!
Cappadocia is a unique wonder of the world that was formed by a combination of three forces – two eruptions of the big volcano in the region in pre-historic times – the first time the soft porous rock known as ‘tuff’ and the second time hard rocks basalt and andrasite. The third force was the erosion of the above by the rain and rivers flowing throughout the region.
This combination of three forces of nature has helped create the eerie, almost moon-like landscape of the region, with mushroom rocks known as ‘fairy chimneys’ locally. Each mushroom rock has a base of soft tuff and a cap or hat of basalt which protects it from being eaten away by the rain. However with time the neck holding up the cap gets thinner and thinner, and when the cap drops the exposed chimney is eroded down quickly, to be replaced by younger chimneys. This process continues even today.
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This region has been a cradle of several ancient civilisations – including the Hittites, the Phrygians, the Byzantines, and the Seldjuk turks. Every corner of the region is filled with historical interest – over hundreds of years the locals have carved out the soft tuff to make cave-houses in the cliffs and the chimneys themselves – most of which are still in use today! We stayed in one of them which was converted to a 5 bedroom guest house – it was absolutely heavenly and bizarre to sleep in a cave that was inhabited as far back as 2000BC (which was surprisingly warm given that it was snowing at night!).
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The ancient peoples of the regions had also built a grid of underground cities, all connected to each other with long tunnels – for the locals to hide in for up to 6 months against invading forces from Arabia and Mesopotamia. So far 36 cities have been found and only 5% of them have been excavated – an archaelogist’s dream! The largest city at Derinkuyu is estimated to be 18-20 floors deep – a catacomb of tunnels and rooms complete with stables, wineries, churches, ventilation shafts, living areas, kitchens and bedrooms. We were grateful to follow the arrows pointing the exit as it would be all to easy to get lost in the tunnels and never see the light of day again! Not for the claustrophobic either – the tunnels were poorly lit and each of them about 4-5 feet high!
During our travels we have seen many amazing sights – both manmade and natural – including the magnificent Meteora of Greece, the truly awesome St Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, and the amazing valleys and mountains of Greece and Switzerland. Yet none of them matched the uniqueness and bizarre beauty of Cappadocia. The place feels like another planet – words fall short of an accurate description, as do the photos. Definitely the highlight of the trip so far – we did not want to leave!
