Day 187 Fri 20 April 2007 Goreme, Turkey

The overnight rain again has turned to snow but it's melted long before we are ready to set off, today to explore the Goreme open air museum, another UNESCO site. The museum which occupies a valley just east of the town centre houses dozens of rock cut churches and monasteries, hewn out of the cliffs and chimneys in the C10 and C11. Some have beautiful frescoes whilst others are less adorned. Fortunately its early in the season and for the most part we have the place to ourselves apart from one tiny chapel where a group of Japanese are seeing if it can accommodate as many as a carriage on the Tokyo metro at rush-hour.

After sampling some Marash icecream (v thick, made with goats milk and orchid root, but delicious) and buying a tablecloth we go in search of the valley of fairy chimneys, formed by differential erosion of the harder tuff overlaying a softer lava, which produces a truly silly landscape. Noddy and Big Ears have long been evicted and the chimneys and toadstools taken over by monks, pigeon fanciers and even the local gendarmes in what must be the world's silliest police station.
Then its back to Goreme to buy carpets and have dinner.