While in Goreme, I stayed at a guesthouse which is rather appropriately called the Flintstones Cave Hotel. It is relatively quiet - possibly because the main tourist season is essentially over. There is a swimming pool here as well as a pool table which both seem to be underutilized but a nice touch. Upon arrival I met a couple of Norwegian travellers (Andi & Valentina) who were heading to Damascus to study Arabic for a few months out of personal interest ( Steph - some like-minded souls ! - I will pass you their emails - I am sure they would love to chat with you) Interestingly, I also met another couple here from Poland (Lenc and Baisha) who are also heading on to Syria. Baisha also used to climb so she was able to give me some good beta on potential opportunities to climb & travel in Poland. It was a bit anticlamactic the next day when both of these couples and another couple of women from England all left a day before me, leaving the Flintstones cave virtually deserted.
On my last day I booked a tour, thinking it would make it easier to see a few of the harder to get to places, while reviving some socializing opportunities. The tour was actually pretty decent though at first I have to admit suffering from 'tour group envy'. As I watched every other tour group in a convoy of about ten each dispatch a dozen or so young attractive women from all over the world, I found my group composed entirely of old men from the US and Dubai. (Steph - don't say a word !)
One of the highlights of the tour was the underground cities, built originally around the 4th century as Christians sought refuge from intolerant Byzantine Romans. The cave I visited at its height apparenty housed 10,000 troglodytes up until around the 10th century when the Ottoman empire took over with a little more religious tolerance. (correction from earlier post - it was the cave houses that were 4000 years old and not the underground city)
The same day we visited a monastery built into the side of another of these miniature mountains of sandstone. From one hall I followed a dark tunnel around a few worners and encountered a ladder. I had my torch with me so I followed it up to an opening in the roof which became a narrow spiral chimney with small handholds scraped out just enough to enable a nimble-bodied person to ascend steeply along this almost vertical tunnel. Periodically the chimney would open up a little with a window out into the valley far below. Each time I reached one of these landings I wanted to go up 'just one more flight'. Of course, I continued this until I eventually wound up about 10 stories up at the very top of the mountain. This was a definite highlight that is certainly not on the official tour.
Next stop - a night bus to Olympos (south coast) for one day before a week of climbing near Antalya.
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| Basia & Valentian with the Pasha Bar staff |
On my last day I booked a tour, thinking it would make it easier to see a few of the harder to get to places, while reviving some socializing opportunities. The tour was actually pretty decent though at first I have to admit suffering from 'tour group envy'. As I watched every other tour group in a convoy of about ten each dispatch a dozen or so young attractive women from all over the world, I found my group composed entirely of old men from the US and Dubai. (Steph - don't say a word !)
One of the highlights of the tour was the underground cities, built originally around the 4th century as Christians sought refuge from intolerant Byzantine Romans. The cave I visited at its height apparenty housed 10,000 troglodytes up until around the 10th century when the Ottoman empire took over with a little more religious tolerance. (correction from earlier post - it was the cave houses that were 4000 years old and not the underground city)
The same day we visited a monastery built into the side of another of these miniature mountains of sandstone. From one hall I followed a dark tunnel around a few worners and encountered a ladder. I had my torch with me so I followed it up to an opening in the roof which became a narrow spiral chimney with small handholds scraped out just enough to enable a nimble-bodied person to ascend steeply along this almost vertical tunnel. Periodically the chimney would open up a little with a window out into the valley far below. Each time I reached one of these landings I wanted to go up 'just one more flight'. Of course, I continued this until I eventually wound up about 10 stories up at the very top of the mountain. This was a definite highlight that is certainly not on the official tour.
Next stop - a night bus to Olympos (south coast) for one day before a week of climbing near Antalya.
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| The Santa Claus route to/from the top of the monastery |
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