No Stinkin' Tour Bus for Us!

Thank god we didn’t have to get on that tour bus this morning. After 6 hours of sleep and too much wine it was all I could do to make our 10 o’clock check out time. Despite my touch and go situation the morning was amazing. We met up with Sanjay and started our tour of the country side. Instead of taking the main road, the boys navigated with a very simple (and not to scale map) and we snaked our way through farms on bumpy dirt paths and through villages to find ourselves in Derinkuyu, where we visited an underground city. According to Lonely Planet, these cities were occupied around the 7th century BC. At times of peace, the people lived and farmed above ground. But when they were invaded, they retreated to the underground where they could live safely for up to 6 months. Let’s hope they weren’t invaded much. It was all I could do to make my way down to the bottom of the 7 levels, look up the ventilation shaft and then make my way back out. They say a tour last 45 minutes…no way. Most of the stairways leading you down (which were the same leading you back up) were only shoulder width and maybe 5 feet high. I was praying that we didn’t time our escape at the same time a tour bus was descending. They made them small on purpose so if they were attacked one enemy could be killed at a time. So what happens if you are half way up and then 40 tourists are in front of you trying to get down? With no spear in hand, I didn’t even want to think about it.

As we were walking back to the truck and basking in the sun and fresh air, I was once again sucked in… by a sweet old lady this time. She eyed me on the way in and wanted me to buy one of her dolls. She had a face that was hard to resist, especially when she saw me again, stuck the doll down my shirt and looked up at me with her toothless grin. The doll is kinda strange but the 2 lira is worth the photo!

From there we decided we didn’t have time to drive to Ilhara Valley so started to make our way back to Goreme. This time by winding our way through the most spectacular side roads with scenery ranging from wheat and squash fields, mesa plateaus, canyons, fairy chimneys, lush valleys and lakes. And finally, I feel like I am in Turkey. We drove through small villages where we were definitely the event of the day. Sometimes it seemed like there were more tractors than cars. And a common sight, the women hard at work in the fields adorned in their head scarves and billowy, flower printed pants while the men huddle together in the shade of an outdoor café playing backgammon and dominos.

And of course, a stop for a Ruhf photo shoot!

But all good things must come to an end. We said our goodbyes to Adam and Zoe (you guys couldn’t have timed your visit and friendship any better, thank you!), Sanjay and Ramazan and got on another overnight bus to Marmaris. But we feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle the boat for the final push. This morning we got an email from Mike’s family letting us know that they want us to stay with Independence and continue our adventure. So that’s what we are going to do. Get this boat in the water and sail it home.

Epic!

Not many things will get me up early in the morning. But a deluxe hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia had me jumping out of bed at 4:30am. It’s up there with top life time experiences. You couldn’t even tell you were moving until you looked below and saw the ground passing underneath your balloon. It was soothing and exhilarating all at the same time. And I think we definitely got the best pilot out there, Sanjay. What’s up with this town and their incredible people? He took us over fruit trees so we could try and pick a plum from the branches. He even spotted a fox on a rocky ridge and then took the balloon down so we could skirt the ridge and try and flush him out.

One of the most amazing sights was coming up from the valley and being able to see over the ridge into the next valley. At first you could only see a couple of balloons in the distance. But the further we rose, the more balloons that appeared… 5,10,20, 30! I have never taken so many pictures of any one thing in my life.

After checking out the different valleys that offered lush, green trees, pigeon caves, even homes built high into the cliff sides, Sanjay took us higher. The only sound was the intermittent rush of gas being let out into the balloon to lift us. What an incredible feeling to be rising higher and higher (7,000 feet) while being suspended in a basket. The end only came too soon and we were being lowered with the support crew waiting. But the fun continued as we all shared champagne and fresh cherry juice in a field covered in early morning light and wild flowers at 8:00am! What a buzz that was! The laughter continued back at our pension over breakfast while the other travelers wiped the sleep out of their eyes. Or worse, could only describe their hot air balloon flight as ‘ok’. Ours was epic.

As I was taking a much needed nap, Mike found himself unable to sleep and ultimately emotional due to not being at home and in conflict about the boat. So many feelings bubbling to the surface and not willing to hide any longer. But sometimes that is what the mind and body need to do in order to purge and process. After some time alone and then together, he was ready to get on with the day. There was another soccer game on after all! So we all made our way down to ‘Fat Boy’s’ to continue our World Cup mania. And who do we run in to but our pilot Sanjay! After the game he takes us to an even cooler outdoor restaurant with amazing food and we found ourselves whiling away most of the night there. Well, that is with a short break for some jewelry shopping! Man, it’s good to hang out with a girlfriend again.

Soon after Sanjay left (in his super cool Land Rover) we realized how stupid it was to pass up the opportunity to hang out with him tomorrow just because of some bus tour we booked. So Adam and Mike had the great idea to phone him and see if he would be willing to spend the day with us to check out some sights. The answer was immediately yes and another epic day planned. But the night isn’t over yet….after snagging some bottles of wine from the pension, we all headed back up the hill to chill out under the stars. The ending to another fantastic day.

Surreal City

After a 15 hour bus ride(!) we arrived to what seemed like a place out of a story book. This place is surreal. The landscape consists of a ‘fairy chimneys’ rising out of the ground which were formed by volcanic activity 9 to 3 million years ago. And since they are everywhere people have used them as a foundation for homes and buildings, chiseling out the rock to make living space. So of course we had to find a pension where we could sleep in a cave room! Holy shit. Ramazan is the man! We were treated like kings and queens. He gave us suites instead of a normal room, drove us around, made all of our travel reservations, sent us on our sunset walk with a bottle of wine. I could get used to this leisure stuff.




But after chilling with some breakfast and being blown away by our awesome rooms we were off to see some sights. We took a walk through “Love Valley” and got pretty silly from being surrounded by huge phallic rocks.




I got sucked in to buying a rusted necklace from a sweet old man. We chilled out on a roof top terrace looking at the unbelievable views. We took a nap in our dark, cool and quiet rooms. I enjoyed being able to walk only a few steps horizontally to use a real toilet. Then we reconvened for some dinner and a soccer game. Man, I could travel with Adam and Zoe more often. It’s like everything they touch turns to gold. We found a great little outdoor restaurant and lounged on colorful cushions while we ate and drank. The only bummer was that I watched the most painful sporting event of my life. Ghana vs. Uruguay. It was like watching good vs. evil. Suarezzzz!