Beauty And The Beast
Changing Direction
We turn left at the bustling metropolis of Mersin and for the first time since we left home, head north. It’s a significant moment, we’ve stopped getting further away and started getting closer. Leaving the warmth of the south coast we spend a day in the historic city of Tarsus before continuing through the dusty landscape towards Selime.
Getting there is fun, we’ve run extremely low on fuel and every fuel station appears to be derelict. I really should know better because once the fuel gauge hits one quarter full it actually means we’re not far off empty and abandoned service stations are a common sight in Türkiye. At one of the frequent police check points we hand over the usual documentation but the uniformed man demands to see Rosana’s driving licence.
Stop! Police!
This is going to be interesting, because she doesn’t have one. Godzuki! isn’t particularly difficult to drive and traffic laws seem to have such low importance here that there seems little point in learning them, but that aside she doesn’t have a licence and therefore shouldn’t be driving. Which is why I am sat in front of the steering wheel on the other side of the van, something the officer’s more astute colleague decides to point out without any attempt to hide his amusement.
We roll into an open service station as the van breathes the last fumes from the tank and I’m engaged in a conversation about football with the pump attendant. I know nothing about football, so just say Newcastle and nod enthusiastically to his Bayern Munich and Manchester United while he fills the fuel tank, the filler neck and then tries to store a little more fuel on the chipped and scratched paintwork.
Rock City
In Derinkuyu we descend deep underground in a fascinating labyrinth of ever deeper carved rooms. Capable of providing sanctuary to twenty thousand people in times of unrest, there is space for livestock, complete with carved hooks to tie them up, rolling security doors, an impressively engineered ventilation system and tandoors for cooking carved into the floor. Though the city dates back to the Byzantine era we are surprised to learn it was still used as a place of refuge as late as the early twentieth century.
The Selime cathedral continues our introduction to the carved rock world of Cappadocia. An other worldly scene of rooms carved into and under the hillside. It’s stunningly beautiful and the cathedral itself is decorated with frescoes that are barely visible in the darkness.
The temperature plummets and we arrive in Goreme in the snow. It’s a shock to the system and the big coats are retrieved from the depths of the van because only a few days ago we were lapping up the summer like temperatures by the coast.
Goreme
I’ve been wanting to visit this area since I first saw a picture of hundreds of balloons floating gracefully over an overland kitted 4×4. I wanted that same picture with our van. There is more to the area than balloons though. In a series of valleys carved by nature through the soft volcanic rock, pathways lead this way and that; a hiker’s dream. The town itself is not much more than a tourist town, with travel agencies selling flights, landrover, quad bike and classic car rides up to the plateaus, photo shoots and if all that wasn’t enough for you, camel and horse rides.
In between the restaurants and cafes there are tat shops, but Goreme still retains a more laidback vibe than places like Antalya. We venture in to find water and the supermarket, then head straight back up a rough track to camp on the plateau and await take off.
Matt and Lucy make a surprise appearance. They’d visited Cappadocia earlier in their journey and enjoyed a balloon flight, but never managed to get a photo of the spectacular balloon launch. Matt being an avid photographer feels the need to capture it, so they’ve returned from their travels further east.
Balloons
It’s 5 AM and -4c outside when I see the flight status website go to green. I get a message from Matt seconds later, he’s seen the same. We can already hear noise in the valley below us. The van erupts into a maelstrom of hot coffee and warm clothing. The noise in the valley below increases and then one by one, balloons, laying on their sides initially and then slowly becoming vertical as they light up in the darkness. There are so many, all lighting up one by one and then they begin to slowly rise into the air.
With the sun high in the sky the balloons come in to land. There are many take off and landing sites in the area, and it’s interesting to watch the pilots land the baskets softly, in some cases directly on the their trailers. A world away from the landing we experienced when we flew in the UK.
Matt’s got his photos and they start packing up to head west, back towards the border as they have less time left on their visas than us.
We put on our boots and after another goodbye we head off for a walk through Love Valley with it’s collection of phallic stone pillars..
Beasts
The cacophony of barking comes out of nowhere and the pack of dogs comes hurtling towards us. It doesn’t sound like friendly barking. We change direction but then Rosana screams she’s been bitten. Expecting a little nip, I am shocked to see the damage to her leg and we need to get to a hospital. I try and get hold of Matt but he’s not answering. We limp back to the main track and see a Jeep approaching. Flagging them down we ask where the nearest hospital is and when they see Rosana’s leg these angels get us into their car and drive us to the health centre in town. Unfortunately it’s Sunday and the centre is closed. The security guard phones for an ambulance and before long we are being whisked to a local hospital, lights flashing, siren wailing.
A few hours later with Rosana stitched up and her course of Rabies vaccination begun, we are rescued from hospital by Matt and Lucy, who’d been busy packing up when they got our earlier panicked message. The medical care has been excellent, with a translator available throughout. Rosana is left with a scar and an increased fear of dogs.
Recuperation
We hang around Cappadocia for another week so that Rosana can get her next Rabies jab and a checkup at the same hospital. We are treated to a numerous dawn balloon launches from various vantage points. We meet a young guy who’s cycled all the way from Brittany. It’s warming to see how travellers look after one another and we do our part, filling his water bottles and charging his electronics while the French couple in a Unimog that is parked along the cliff edge from us take him out for Mojitos.
With Rosana healing slowly but well, we pack up and continue our journey north, via canyons and salt lakes, towards the Black Sea where we realise the coast is unfriendly towards campers, but returning further inland find tranquility encompassed within lush green forests.
Flickr Albums: Tarsus | Narligol | Derinkuyu | Selime | Cappadocia | North West Türkiye