Cappadocia

Cappadocia (Kappadokya to the Turks) is a region of Turkey, defined by the unusual landforms everyone comes to see.  We stayed in the village of Goreme which is the hub of the ballooning business in Cappadocia.  The region was laid down in eruptions from surrounding volcanoes in a way which resulted, in many places, in layers of hard rock being laid on top of thick layers of softer rock.  Over thousands of years the soft rock has eroded more quickly, resulting in the many pillars of soft rock topped by protective hard "caps".

An aerial view from our balloon

Another precarious formation

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Rose Valley Walk

Our Intrepid tour included a couple of walks in the great outdoors, including one near Goreme in Cappadocia through a valley in that weird landscape.  I think we did the "Rose Valley" track.

Descending into the Rose Valley.

Through a short tunnel.

Pigeon holes in the cliffs.

There are pigeon holes cut into cliffs all along the valley, and in fact all over the whole Goreme area wherever you go.  We were told they were cut to attract the birds because their guano was highly valued as a fertilizer.  These holes are often high up on steep cliffs, so it must have taken considerable skill and determination to reach them and recover the prized droppings.

The track went through several tunnels in the rock.

This track ended at the village of Cavusin, where we stopped for a cool drink and shelter from the hot sun.  Cavusin is known for these old rock dwellings (below).  Settlement here is thought to have started about 2,000 years ago.

Cavusin, at the end of the track.

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Ballooning over Cappadocia

Today we are in Goreme, and it was our big ballooning day, starting with a wake-up at 4:00 am.  It is very weather dependent, particularly the wind, and balloons are only allowed to take off each day when the Turkish Airforce officially declares the conditions safe.  Any wind over 8 km/h is enough to cancel the event.

Inflating the balloon

They start with the deflated balloon stretched out on the ground, and the basket on its side, and use large fans to initially get the balloon inflating.

Once it is sufficiently inflated they start giving it blasts from the gas burners to fill it with hot air, and the balloon gradually swells to full size and rises, pulling the basket upright.  The basket weights about one tonne, and the balloon is huge.  Fatih told us each balloon costs a few hundred thousand dollars.


The basket takes twenty passengers, divided into four corner pockets, with the pilot in his own pocket in the middle.  He works by pulling a trigger above is head when he wants to burn gas, and pulling on cords to open vents in the sides or top of the balloon.

Our pilot shortly after take off

Another basket like the one we were in

Other balloons coming up behind us

Up to 150 balloons take off every morning from Goreme, so its a huge business.  Goreme is Turkey's second-most popular tourist attraction (after Istanbul) and the balloons run all year round.  It is an amazing sight to see them all lifting off all over the landscape.

Balloons everywhere - up to 150 each morning!

Its a real wicker basket

Our pilot was very professional, with a sense of humour that helped everyone forget how scary it was.  In fact we felt amazingly comfortable considering where we were!  It is silent except when the burner is roaring overhead, and there is no sensation of acceleration, lift or descent.  The pilots talk to each other all the time on radios, or directly when they are close to each other.  Our flight turned out to be extra good because we flew for almost an hour and a half instead of the expect 45 minutes or so, and went up to 7,300 feet.  At that height it was freezing cold and I looked forward to the moments when the pilot turned on the burner, to warm at least the side of me nearest the flame.  We went up and down several times, down to just 2 metres above the hills below us, then back up again.  Our total distance travelled was about 7 kilometres.  Afterwards the pilot talked about our flight, telling us that the conditions were unusually good today and he had a very enjoyable flight.

The last part of the adventure is landing.  Because the basket is so heavy, they always try and land directly back onto their trailers.  This results in vehicles racing frantically about on the landscape below following their balloons and trying to get into position for the landing.  They drive anywhere, all over farms and crops, and quite a lot of frantic shouting goes on as the balloon comes down because it cannot actually stop except by dropping onto the ground.  We spent a few minutes moving across the ground just two or three metres up while three young men and one Landrover with trailer tried to get into position.  Just when it seemed we had made it the balloon drifted across a big ditch and then over an orchard, so the ground crew had to race off to find a way around each obstacle and catch up to us.

Another balloon landing on its trailer

The pilot threw ropes over the side, and the ground crew finally stopped us on the edge of another gully by dragging on those.

After landing we got champagne, and a certificate!

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Ballooning video

An historic first attempt to put video on McClintocks Abroad!  I'm not sure how well this will work, but let me know how you find it.

This is a quick compilation of the video clips we took from the balloon.  It's a bit dull (the colour) because we were not blessed with a sunny morning.  The loud roaring noises are the fans used to inflate the balloons (at the start) and the sound of the pilot firing the gas burners (when we were aloft).

Once it's playing you can click the little frame icon at bottom right to bring it up to full screen size.

It ends a bit abruptly because my camera card filled up!

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Our Intrepid Istanbul to AnkaraTour

Our small group tour started with a meeting last night, and today we start touring.  Our guide is a young turk named Fatih (pronounced "fahtee") who seems very good.  The company used to use Australian guides to run each tour complemented by local guides at each stop, but the government made the use of Turkish guides mandatory.  Fatih has completed a four year university course to qualify himself for this job.

Our guide Fatih (looking unusually serious).

We travel in a comfortable Mercedes minibus.  On our first day we drove our longest leg, from Istanbul to the capital Ankara, which took about 7 hours.  That road is a six lane highway all the way.

Istanbul to Ankara

This is the least fascinating part of the tour, as we are basically just travelling quite a long way to get to the start of the more interesting bits.  It rained for most of the day, and we were all glad to arrive at our overnight stop.  Tomorrow we visit the Museum of Anatolian civilizations.  Anatolia is the name of the asian part (the main part) of Turkey; the remainder is the small part attached to Europe, called Thrace.

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The Hagia Sophia

Today Sue had a break from the conference, so we both took the plunge and crossed from our current neighbourhood of Beyoglu over the waters of the Golden Horn into Sultanahmet.  This is the area of Istanbul best-known to tourists; home to the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Grand Bazaar, and many other famous sites.  Tomorrow when the conference ends we will leave this hotel and move into one in Sultanahmet for the start of our group tour, so we have deliberately deferred exploring that area.  Today we decided to make a start by visiting just the Hagia Sophia and learning our way there and home again on the tram.  We have heard discouraging stories about the taxis drivers, so are also wondering if we could just make the move tomorrow using public transport!

We arrived outside Hagia Sophia ten minutes before opening time at nine am, keen to avoid the legendary queues.  As it turned out the queue was very short and no problem at all.  It did however start to rain this morning for the first time since we arrived, but not heavily.  The Hagia Sophia is distinguished by its huge size, and long and interesting history.  It was built about the year 537 as a cathedral, and served for about 1,000 years as the largest cathedral in the world.  In 1453 it was converted to a mosque, and then in 1935 it was secularised and became a museum.

As you would expect it looks ancient, and much of the decoration inside is discoloured and damaged.  At the moment a huge scaffolding covers one wall inside where restoration work is going on.

Inside Hagia Sophia

A marble water-jar from about 300 BC.

The Imperial Gate mosaic, from about 900 AD.

Deesis mosaic, 1260 AD.

Beside the Hagia Sophia are the tombs of various sultans, beautifully decorated and in excellent condition.  Their sarcophagi are covered in neat green fabric, along with those of their families including small children who died.

Sultan Mehmed III, 1600.

Mother of pearl inlaid wooden door

Sue in headscarf, no shoes.

Detail from calligraphic work (below)

There was a display of calligraphic works on display, showing a wide variety of styles.

A cup of coffee outside Hagia Sophia

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Seen on the Streets

The main trams in Istanbul are sleek and modern, but they keep this old one running up and down the main shopping street.  It is referred to as the "Nostalgic Tram".

Urchins free-riding on the back of the tram

Pomegranates

Islamic style

Election billboards are everywhere

A dog who wants to be somewhere else

A selfie with the Indian band

Porpoise phones

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IstanbulKart

Istanbulkart is the name of the smart card you can buy for public transport.  It's like Wellington's Snapper card, but works on buses, trains, cable cars, trams, and ferries.  Most rides cost about $1 or $2 NZ, so getting around is cheap.

You charge it up yourself at a machine.  On a related note, here is the sunset last night as seen from our windows:

Catching the tram home from Sultanahmet

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Suleymaniye Mosque

Today I visited the Suleymaniye Mosque, built for Sultan "Suleyman the Magnificent" about 1550 and the largest mosque in the city.  It is visible from many points across the city and has a large front lawn which provides great views across the city and the water.  Today was great weather for enjoying that view.

Suleymaniye Mosque, from the front lawn

View across the Bosphorous to the Asian side

Inside the mosque it is one huge prayer space, with the main dome above, and a big circle of lights suspended just a few metres above the floor.  Everything high above is ornately decorated, but absolutely no images - just geometric patterns and arabic script.  There are some very colourful stained glass windows.

No seats - we sit on the floor

Stained glass window

Everyone must take off their shoes, and they provide scarves and (if necessary) modest tops for women who are not already suitably covered up.  Walking up the hill through the Spice Market and noisy, crowded streets I almost felt I was in Disneyland, but once in the mosque it was a different world; peaceful and quiet.  Very relaxing.

Cluster of roofs and chimneys

The gardens, including a hot dog sleeping

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