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June 02, 2005
Day 4: Cappadocia
6:30 p.m.: Today we toured Cappadocia, leaving early in the morning to first visit Derinkuyu—one of the underground cities. It was formed by the Hittites back in the 7th century B.C. but was expanded by the early Christians. It was quite amazing to see all the interconnected tunnels. From there we went to a carpet weaving factory in Mustafapasa, where we got to see women weaving and a demonstration of how they get silk from silkworms. Then we walked up the road to an old Greek house. After poking around a bit, we got back in the van and headed for Ürgüp, the swanky tourist town near Göreme. We had a quick kebab sandwich there, then hopped back in the van. In the afternoon we visited Caravanserai, a caravan stop from the middle ages and several scenic overlooks. We finished by trekking through cement-like mud to the “Valley of Love”, which really is just a bunch of rocks eroded into phallic symbols. Jess and I are now back in the room exhausted. My only pair of shoes is caked with mud, so I’m not sure how I’m going to get down for dinner.
11:45 p.m.: Back in our “cave-like” room after a nice dinner and a visit to a new internet café. I just discovered that the memory chip for the camera is the wrong size. We’ll have to get them burned to a CD, then wipe and reuse my existing chip. What a shame.
