Goreme, Turkey

Thurs 19 April 2007

We awake to find the overnight rain has turned to snow and the village has turned white, although it soon melts away once the sun gets up. After a lazy breakfast we drive through the nearby village of Uchisar with its hilltop castle and on to the underground city at Kaymakli This is a labyrinth over seven underground levels first constructed in Hittite times and subsequently expanded to accommodate upto 5000 people in 800 families who could live here for six months at a time in times of war. There are living quarters for each family, store rooms, wine making rooms and communal kitchens, like a human termite nest or rabbit warren.

Then we drive west across a beautiful snowy pass to the valley of monasteries at Guzelyurt and the Ihlara Valley full of rock cut byzantine churches, some with elaborate frescoes. Many have been adapted for more secular purposes in Ottoman times including one used for pressing linseed oil, and as a bakery and a granary.
In the evening we see a mesmerising display by whirling dervishes in a restored caravansari.