8 - 15 August: Turkey (Part 2 around Cappadocia)

The idea of 'home' is a powerful one, having a place to come back to each night for over a week was a welcome change of pace from the last few hectic mile-crunching weeks. However, no sooner can you feel rested than the need to get moving kicks in and with a plan set for 3-4 weeks around Turkey with no shortage of sights to see, it's time to get moving.

Between Istanbul and the main bulk of Turkey, the landmass nips in to a narrow bridge of land with a huge motorway the only real way through. Apparently its a traffic nightmare so Ahmet from the club guided me to the Yalova ferry, comfortably away from the madness ready for a long-distance run across country.

Istanbul to Yalova ferry

Central Turkey. Big.

The first day was nothing but biking, excepting a half hour snooze under a road-side tree. Turkey it seems, is rather huge. Riding into the centre is to ride into a dry, dustry barren desert like series of small one horse towns and frequently unpaved roads. Interesting as this was in the setting sun (dust in the air makes sunsets spectacular affairs in dark burnt orange), the need to find a place to stay the night becomes a priority as it gets darker and darker. The often quoted rule number 1 of overland biking is not to ride at night... The speeds locals drive at coupled with no streetlights, road marking and ad-hoc headlight usage make it less than fun.

Luckily a small £10 hotel in Aksheir was open, if not initially easy to find. On the way into town, passing a gypsy camp, I was thinking, well I don't find anything, maybe they wouldnt mind me camping in the corner of their patch - fellow travellers and all that.

The next 5 days were what all the distance was about. Cappadocia. First though, the road winds past an enormous salt lake, Toz Golu. Before seeing it I was imagining more the American salt flats where they do all the speed tests riding across a pancake flat white bed of compact salt. Toz Golu rather is still a functioning lake that recedes in summer to reveal pristine white shoreline. Never missing a beat, a little tourist centre with trinkets, salt based health products and the like was in full swing. Luckily there's no parking or entrance fee, you just amble down to the shore and coo at the surreal bright white landscape thats near blinding you with mid-day mid-30s sun beating down onto the reflective salt all around. 

Toz Golu, Turkey

The touristy bit, Toz Golu

Too hot to linger

 

Onwards though to Goreme, stunning scenery rolling by as the road wound past Nevsehir and off the end of my Sat Nav's known world. How Garmin is missing out! The road to Goreme, a blank white screen, in reality is a sight for sore eyes. Sore eyes you will have though, riding open faced through dusty parched landscapes can only mean scratched eyes full of grit. Regardless, the drop down into Goreme must be one of the worlds great short rides as the scenery transforms from plateau to valley riddled with monolithic standing stones, wavy water cut buttresses, rose coloured canyons luminous in the setting sun's magic hour. 

Roadside stop on the way to Goreme

As per tradition, rode around town three times, back in and out before asking at a DHL office where the hell my cheapy hostel might be? 20 metres around the corner it turns out, either good chance hitting the right part of town or dumb luck not spotting the sign that seems so obvious once you know where to look.

The landscape of Cappadocia (Kapadokya) in Central Anatolia Turkey is full on geology from tens of millions of years ago (Creationists, better stop reading and go pop Teletubbies on). Volcanic eruptions created a pocked landscape of easily eroded material called “Tuff”. Cue years of rain, wind and temperature erosion and the lighter material has returned to dust and blown away (much is still in my eyes), leading to a bizarre lumpy terrain of natural monuments, cones and towers. Former residents of the region believed they were "fairy chimneys".Euphamism? Probably.

Walking here is easy, there are hundreds of paths and good free maps. On a night, everyone heads to the hills above the small town to watch the canyon walls of Rose Valley turn from pastel to luminous whites, yellows and reds in the sunset light.

Rocks near Goreme

Rose Valley, Goreme

Cave with a view

Walking through fantastical places

"Fairy Chimneys" in "Love Valley". No joke.

After two days of wandering, I took a bus tour because it's just too hot to be biking everywhere, and also it was cheaper than a full tank of petrol, so why not. We took in an underground city that isn't for claustrophobics. Years ago when wars were fought above ground, locals dug below their homes to create safe-havens that could support hundreds of people for up to a year. The nuclear bunkers of yesteryear. Moving on, we also took in a walk through an enormous canyon and a quick visit to a Star Wars set that no-one including the tour guide could accurately pin-point to actually being in any particular Star Wars film. Will have to re-watch.

Not for claustrophobics

Meeting room in the underground city

Ilhara valley

Cave-church paintings

Lunch break

After a few days, you do tend to get a bit 'stoned' if you will - when you've seen 1,000, you've seen em all -  and its time to move on. Not before a meal and drinks with Andy, an Ozzie painter / handyman who works 6 months and travels 6 months of each year. Swapping contact details and with a home in Oz if I ever head there, we put the world to rights over a couple of Efes beers before packing up and hitting the road again in the morning for what Ahmet from the bike club called the best road in Turkey, well lets see... 

[If you like rocks, I mean really, really like them, have a look on my flickr in a day or so for all the pictures]