Derinkuyu

Derinkuyu is an underground city in the Cappadocia region of central Turkey, 40 km from where I was staying in Göreme. It was first excavated in the 7th or 8th century BC, then extended in the Byzantine era. When invading armies came through, it was a place for the locals to hide until the danger had passed. 

The first thing to note is that it is extremely difficult to photograph an underground city. Think petrified snow fort; it's cool to experience, but you can only do that from the inside. So here's a map to give an idea of the layout of this place (hint: random.)

Wells running through but not to the surface in some cases so the inhabitants couldn't be poisoned. Religious school on one of the upper levels. Cruciform church on the lowest level.

Door plugs that look like mill stones so each level could be sealed off. There are little chambers off the staircases where the plugs recede, but it's still unclear to me how they were moved. 

Long table built into the floor.

Balloon Ride

I bet you thought Capadoccia was over. You read my last post in minute detail, scrupulously committing to memory every last scrap of information I included, thinking that was your only chance for news of Turkey's interior. But good news everyone! That was just day 1! Here's what happened oh-too-early the next morning...

The balloon company picked me up at the hostel while it was still dark. My two roommates were ballooning as well, but they went with a different company that left half an hour earlier. So ha! We drove to the company headquarters, where they gave us snacks and split us into groups. Then each couple groups took a different van and headed off into the hills, where the half-inflated balloons sprawled across the ground like giant slumbering beasts. Maybe jellyfish?

They blasted fire at the beasts to wake them... Okay, enough metaphor. They heated up the air inside the balloons by blasting the engines.

Slowly they rose up...

Until they floated free!

This picture really belongs above the last one, if we're proceeding chronologically, but I like the flow of those last three together :) The basket is pretty cool. It's divided into nine compartments, eight for passengers and one for the pilot and copilot. Four people per compartment, and you have to climb in using those square holes you can see in the left of the photo. Your feet get a bit cold standing in the basket, but your head and upper body are constantly warmed by the fire. The pilot controls the balloon (as much as he can) by turning on the flamethrowers to heat up the air and raise the balloon or by tugging one of the ropes to open the vents and spill some of the hot air.

Looking up into the balloon--things are big!

There were at least 30 other balloons up there with us, even in the off season.

Inverse balloons. Note the one on the right is firing its thrusters to rise up. 

The copilot seems to be there as security in case anything should happen to the pilot. So he ends up having nothing better to do than take pictures for the passengers.

Sunrise from the air. See, I said it was too early!

The cave houses from above.

The most impressive part of the whole operation has got to be the landing. The pilot takes the balloon down and forces it to hover a few meters off the ground while the truck drives under it. He spills air quickly (note the open ring at the top of the balloon,) and guys come over to jump on the basket and tug the guide rope so the balloon collapses sideways, spread out on the ground, instead of straight down on top of the basket.

The traditional celebration for a successful balloon flight is champagne, so all the companies lug their folding tables and glasses out to the landing sites for a toast. That's our pilot in the foreground with the red scarf. 

Cappadocia

From Istanbul I took an overnight bus out to Cappadocia, in the middle of the country, to see the pretty rocks I'd been told about.

I was not disappointed. The rock formations themselves are incredible.

What people have done with them is even better.

And the balloons, although the dozens that fill the sky are an undeniable stain of tourism, seem to fit in with and complement the landscape. To be honest, you get even better images looking at the balloons than from the balloons.

Arriving from Istanbul around 6 in the morning, I was greeted with a flotilla of balloons rising over the town.

This is the town, by the way: Göreme (Goo-ruh-may)

The air was sharp and cold, with low humidity I suppose. (The place is a desert.) I found my hostel, Rock Valley Pension, with the help of wifi from the bus company. Honestly, though, the town is so small Google maps probably wasn't necessary. The hostel was great: wifi only worked in the common room, but that was because the rooms were cut into the rock; the shower stall was the whole bathroom, but who wants to get soaked when it's that cold outside?; staff was incredibly helpful; and breakfast was the kind where you pick one thing off a menu (as opposed to a random buffet.) I enjoyed the time there.

 I met up with Julia, another girl staying at the hostel who arrived shortly after I did, and we set off hiking. That's her ^ in the lower left hand corner.

Crazy formations

Goats

 A pottery tree

 We visited the open air museum, an enclosed group of particularly impressive stone dwellings carved into the rock. The history behind these is that they were built by the early Christians hiding from their enemies. The local rock is easily carved, but it hardens when exposed to air. 

The museum included homes, a convent, several churches. The dining rooms have long tables and benches left as raised portions of the floor.

The chapels are all a similar shape, but the level of decoration varies wildly. The top picture is from a church outside the museum, which we found just by walking around the canyons. The second, from inside the museum, has sketchy red designs. But the last is amazing, my favorite building of the whole place: the Apple Church.

 Just for a bit of scale (see the guy up on top of the hill?)

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

I can't help the song echoing in my head every time I say the name of the city: Istanbul! I had a rough time getting there the first time. I took the bus company Metro, which turned out to be a terrible decision. We got to the otogar (bus station) just fine, but that is nowhere near the area you actually want to be. There are shuttles from the otogar to various parts of the city, but nothing resembling a schedule or a map. Nobody speaks English, so I ended up having to rely on this super-sketchy guy to tell me which shuttle to get on (not difficult, people--Sultanahmet is the same in any language!) And yet I still got dropped off a good 50 minute walk from where I wanted to be. From there I got vague directions from a cabbie trying to sell me a ride (in Istanbul, everyone's trying to sell you something.) And finally good directions from a university student (I love students.) 

Chestnut vendor! Roasted chestnuts are delicious, but you have to make sure you're not getting ripped off. 100 grams can cost you 3.50 lira, 4 lira, or 4.50 lira, depending on which man you talk to. One lira is worth about $0.50, so that's an important $0.25 difference!

Pomegranates on display. They look really cool, but as I discovered, the juice is too sour for me.

Simit salesman. These guys can be found all over Istanbul, hawking their pastries for a reliable 1 lira.

The Bosphorus Bridge, the gateway between the European side and the Asian side of Istanbul. Aaand I have now visited Asia! *check*

Lots of stray cats around the city, all of whom seem to be fat and furry. It was not uncommon to see someone throwing meat to random homeless felines.

I was walking along the shore with a friend from the hostel when we reached the ferry port and began to be bombarded by offers for river cruises. We decided to bow to the inevitable and hop on a boat.

See the fishing poles on the right as we crossed the bridge at dusk...

...and some of the same fishermen as we returned at night.

The only thing better than baklava in Istanbul is free baklava in Istanbul ;) This is what happens when you sit in a cafe for an hour after you've finished your food: they try to bribe you to leave.