Winter Distractions

With the middle of winter upon us and one of the great wonders of the world only 5 hours away, I took off last weekend for Cappadocia with a few friends. Carson and co. had been raving about the place for weeks but it was finally this New York Times description that pushed me over the edge:

“A barren lunar landscape. A mysterious sculpture carved by Mother Nature’s chisel. These common descriptions of Cappadocia really just tap-dance around the subject. So let’s just get this out of the way: Those fascinating “fairy chimneys” evoke nothing so much as anatomically correct erections — and circumcised ones at that. Imagine what a field day American film censors would have had if George Lucas had succeeded in his original plan to shoot Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in Cappadocia.”

To this day nobody actually knows who originally inhabited the Cappadocian region and lived/hollowed out the shelters within the rock face. One thing is certain however, its isolated and largely desolate location made sure that for the most part Cappadocia was left undisturbed by expansionist armies which in turn made it a perfect hiding area for early Christians in the area who established colonies in Cappadocia.

Our Saturday morning tour began with a nice quick 3km hike of the Ilhara gorge. After avoiding trees that were eirily similar to “womping willows” straight out of Harry Potter, it was off to choose from a handful of endlessly gorgeous  and captivating valleys and mountains. While many guidebooks recommend a hot air balloon tour through the region, we stuck to hiking this time around.

Cappadocia contains several underground cities and we decided to visit one named Derinkuyu. An amazing 8 stories below the surface, we spent a few hours getting lost in small tunnels and trying to live as the local Christians did back before Christianity became a legitimate religion.With blue “evil eye” defenders draped from the surrounding trees, we were able to emerge from the winding claustrophobic and disorienting tunnels.

Near Selime Monastery there is a mountain side known as “The Star Wars” spot (see below). I was intruiged and then disappointed after finding out that George Lucas did not come to Turkey but that in fact the area simply looks like it is straight out of a scene in Star Wars. My sources (family) claim that Hotchi Station is the referenced location.

Another description of Cappadocia: “The natural land formations and huge expanses of silence are just a part of the mystery of the region. As an incubator for Christian philosophy, the monasteries, cave dwellings, and feats of underground engineering are a testament to human ingenuity. Cliff walls of the valleys are riddled with innocuous-looking cavities that on closer inspection turn out to be centuries-old dwellings or chapels decorated with colorful frescoes and biblical images.”

After a quick stop in Pigeon Valley (see below) and a 30 second Onyx demonstration (it’s all about oxidization and stone depth), we were excited to leave the memories of a limited wine and beer selection in Ankara behind by touring some of the region’s vineyards and partake in a decent local Capadocian wine. As it is currently the off-season in Cappadocia, the entire area was fairly quiet which simply added to the remote and awe-filled ambiance.