mad mamblings: day 9 - fairy chimneys

arrived in Göreme--a magical (and quite phallic) landscape--at 4:30 am.
the bus dropped us off in the dark (and freezing) night in the middle of the small station's parking lot.
the bus sped off and we were left in this mesmerizing place, groggy and shivering, unsure of what to make of the landscape.

jon says "good thing we had the blue eyes to ward off the evil eye! did you see the license plate on our bus? 666!" (he later proceeded to break his blue eye keychain--shattered it on the bathroom floor)

we sat and had çay with a mountain man from out east--the only tour seller open. nice man. he invited us in out of the freezing cold (ok, it wasn't that cold, but after coming from the beach on the mediterranean, it warranted toques!) and made us a few cups of tea over a little hot plate with the traditional double pot method.
(he was open because he coordinated the driver pick ups for the hot air balloon rides that happen every morning at daybreak).

a store finally opened as the sun came up so we got some pogaca to quiet our rumbling tummies

when the sun finally started to shine through, we thanked the man for his hospitality and set off to find Rock Valley.
we passed plenty of places to stay on our walk around the town--even some places in caves!--but we had gotten to like Ilhami whom we had met in Pamukkale and told him we'd stay at his place when we got to Cappadocia.
even though it ended up being a bit pricier than we had expected (Ilhami was out when we got there), we were glad to be staying with Ilhami and Miriam (his partner). they are the best hosts ever...plus they let us check in super early and gave us a free meal.

Rock Valley breakfast

after a hot shower and quick nap, we ate breakfast...Ilhami returned, and we chatted about the area, the local tours of it, and the "attractions" (which ones were worth it, which ones weren't).
we tried to make some decisions about what to spend our money on--we couldn't come to any real conclusion so we set out for a long walk, starting with the Open Air Museum. it was grey and a bit rainy, but Ilhami lent us a couple of umbrellas in case we needed them (they later came in handy!)

the sun came out for a couple of hours at the Open Air Museum so we had a snack lunch and set out for walking one of the valleys--of course a quarter of the way in to the valley the thunder and clouds rolled in... halfway through our walk we came across a random guy in a tent selling nuts and bought some just as the heavens opened and brought on a torrential downpour.
so we ended up only hiking the one valley of which i forget the name (but an awesome tunnel-filled one) all the way back to the road into Göreme--completely water logged... we warmed up, changed and were going to stay in the lounge/cafe for wine and dinner but staff decided not to make dinner tonight and had no wine (although being 2 of the 4 guests on a grey, rainy weekday, who could blame them?)

so we got take out pide (deelish!), some lentil soup and a local bottle of wine, which we enjoyed in our room while we dried our clothes and got some much needed rest.