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June 01, 2005
Day 3: Ankara to Göreme
4 p.m.: The overnight train ride was relatively smooth. Jess and I shared a compartment with Sally and Kate with 4 fold-down beds, complete with clean sheets and pillows. Unfortunately, the conductor only announced that we had arrived in Ankara after the train had stopped. We had to scramble to get off the train in time, and I was actually grateful that we had decided to sleep in our clothes.
10 p.m.: From the train we grabbed out packs and headed for the subway. Because we were a little disoriented (and it was raining) we ended up catching cabs to the bus station instead. After an encounter with a squat toilet, we had time to munch on bread rolls before catching our bus to Göreme. I slept most of the way (the scenery was uneventful, and no match for my Dramamine), waking up only long enough to catch the last 10 minutes of some movie where Chris Rock runs for President. All I can say is that the man who plays Chris Rock’s voice (dubbed into Turkish) did not do him justice.
The bus ride was about 5 ½ hours, and we were delighted to arrive in the heart of Cappadocia. We were whisked up to our hotel—the “Arif Hotel and Pension”—with real “cave-like” rooms. The rooms should be called “poorly plastered rooms with only vague similarities to caves” but the views from the terrace are spectacular.
Still in our clothes from the day before, we decided to forego a shower until the evening. So, smelling like a mixture of Istanbul, Ankara, and Göreme, we traipsed back down to the heart of the village and had a great meal of kebabs with Michelle and Steve. After that, a little shopping, a little internet (the Turkish keyboard puts the Swedish keyboard to shame in terms of extra letters and overall complexity), and a failed attempt to get money out of the ATM (although Jess didn’t have a problem), and we trekked back to our rooms. We partook of cold (Jess) and lukewarm (me) showers, then put on clean clothes. New women, went back down to meet everyone for dinner. Now we’re back in our room; Jess is sleeping soundly in the other bed, and I’m about ready to turn out the light. Hopefully tomorrow will be a sunny day and I can get some good pictures of the hot air balloons as they tour the valley.
I wish I could capture the magical feel of this place. People speak enough English so that we can communicate in stores, but there is still a very foreign feel to it. The homes built into the rock formations are amazing, and the constant sounds of a village—kids playing, dogs barking, roosters crowing, and of course the 5-times-daily call to prayer—make this an exciting place to visit.
