From Cappadocia

On Friday we headed off from Istanbul off to Cappadocia. It was strange to leave the city and the school -an odd feeling to tell them well we are off for some vacation and then home -a hard thing to say to refugees. On the train we headed out of Istanbul, greater Istanbul and even greater Istanbul until we came to a region filled with mountains and lots of small farms and villages. From the train it looked very dry -but quite a bit of green gardens and trees. One village had a themometer that read 42 c when we went by -felt good to be sitting on the air conditioned train! After a while we came to the Anatolian steepes -grasslands and mountains as far as the eye could see. Some irrigated areas created patches of bright green against the othewrwise arid, brown landscape -magnificent country -lonely villages and houses spaced throughout nooks in the hills. In one dusty town we switched trains for the final trip to Anakara -we boarded a high speed train and found ourselves racing at 254 km an hour at some points. Behind us sat a man who looked like a local shepard or farmer -dressed in very plain, traditional clothing -quite an image on this state of the art high spped train -but very much the way Turkey is -the old, the new and everything inbetween.

Upon our arrival in Ankara we got the rental car and then tried to leave the city. The rental agency didn't have a map of the city, but gave us some written directions that ended up working in the end -but not before we ended up on quite a tour through Ankara (A very nice modern city in what feels like the middle of the grasslands). On the highway out of the city we almost ran over an old man driving his tractor on the super highway.....yikes! Many hours later after a spectacular sunset -complete with crescent moon and minarets we found ourselves in the tiny village of Goreme. Just before we got to the village we almost ran into couples out on a hay ride in the dark. We found our cave room -yes a real live cave room -and went to sleep.

Cappadocia is an absolutely stunning place -to appreciate it please look it up under images on google. It is just amazing -fairy chimneys and all sorts of magnificent stone sculpture due to the wind and rain. Our first day here we went to the open air museum and saw churches that had been cut into the stone during the 1st and 2nd centuries. The frescos and signs of life from long ago were amazing --to be where Christianity was formed and spread is quite something, particularly after our work with the refugees. We also went to visit the underground cities where the Christians lived when they were being persecuted. Cappadocia has many of these underground cities -estimates of 200 -but only about 30 have been found and excavated. It is amazing and somewhat claustrophobic to go under the earth 7 stories! The city we visted was estimated to have held 10,000 people -truly a staggering number when one is deep in the earth crouched over trying to navigate stairways. We also visited Ilhara Valley -another spot with many churches and monasteries cut into the rocks. This proved to be a beautiful spot with a river and forested path. All along the way as we drove to sights (or were driven) we could watch the local farmers out gathering their grains and watch traditional life here in Capapdocia. It is a very agricultural area so we see lots of tractors, hay wagons (piled way over the tops), men sitting out having tea at the local teahouses and women loading fresh bread into vans to go to market. Yesterday I saw a woman riding her donkey through town It is wonderful to be out in the country and to have spaces to sit and watch the sunsets. This morning we got up and saw all the hot air balloons flying over the valleys -Bill counted 18!

It is very interesting to travelling in this area -we are within a days drive of Syria and so close to so many early Christian "happenings". This area of the country was also part of the famed Silk Road. Truly an amazing place to be!