Day 24: Goreme, Turkey - My View is Better than Yours

This is Cappadoccia.

So Cappadoccia is advertised as having unique rock formations and "fairy chimneys." The unique rock chimneys part I can understand, but I have no idea what the hell a "fairy chimney" is supposed to be. What's odd is that nobody seems to describe these things any other way. Millions of years ago or whatever, two volcanos in this area erupted and spewed ash and basalt all over the area. The soft ash formed a thick layer and the much harder basalt landed on top of the ash. Due to natural forces, certain parts of the ash (now condensed into a soft rock called tufa) were exposed and eroded much quicker than the basalt on top. This creates the chimney like structures (the cones) which can easily be manipulated by simple tools. People dug homes and entire settlements from the tufa, and hence the allure of Cappadoccia.

Speaking of dug out stuff, this is my hostel room. Yes, it's in a cave.

I walked around the village of Goreme, first touring the Open Air Museum. Early Christians created churches in the tufa rock so they could worship without being persecuted. In addition to being cool because they're in caves, many were quite elaborated and heavily frescoed.

Church.

Coolness.

This kid said, "Jackie Chan, you take photo with me!" How could I say no?

After the Open Air Museum, I went off the road and onto a hiking trail. I should mention that Cappadoccia, unlike everywhere else I've been on this trip, isn't brain-meltingly hot. My room is naturally ac'd since it's a cave, and daytime temperatures are lower, with cloud cover, and without humidity. I'm in heaven. Therefore, the hike was very pleasant. It took me through valleys in the landscape and showed me some cool formations.

Thing I saw while hiking.

Yup, I saw this.

After another truly grueling day, I spent that evening hanging out with two Dutch guys -- Thomas, an Indonesian Dutch with whom I shared a bond since no one believes where we're from, and Bastian, who describes himself as looking "blank" [white] and who is 16. We drank, smoked shisha, and just generally shot the shit. Not bad.