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continued... I awoke in the frosty dawn of Goreme, the tourist center of Cappadocia and my stop. I was glad to see only three or four other backpackers exiting the bus. I was later told that during the summer over one million people per day come through this small town. The hostel prices are fixed at a decent rate by the overseeing city council in Goreme, but during the winter prices fall even more, and one learns to shop around. I found the friendly and cosy Anatolia Pansyon to be just the thing at about $3 per night in a warm room carved like so many others into the soft tufa rock of the pinnacles there. The Pinnacles... they have to be the first thing anyone notices when entering the Cappadocia area. The guidebooks all claim that millions of years ago a relatively hard layer of rock formed over a much deeper layer of fairly soft rock (more like compacted mud). Over the intervening millenia erosion cut channels through the hard rock and quickly eroded the softer rock beneath, leaving chunks of the sturdier material precariously balanced atop pinnacles of what they call 'tufa.' Many of the 'caps' have fallen off or entirely eroded away, leaving cone-shaped formations everywhere. The ones with the 'caps' still intact are known sometimes as 'fairy chimneys' for obvious reasons. This whole succession of events has left a strange landscape of pointy rock cones across the valley of Cappadocia. Although I question the guidebook's access to firsthand information, the scenery is definitely odd and interesting. But my mind was elsewhere. I was thinking of renting a scooter or motorcycle for a tour of the area. The entire area of Cappadocia is probably forty-five miles from end to end, and I thought that would be an excellent way to see it. I accquired a map and guidebook quickly as my ideas rolled around inside my head. I was only slightly suprised to hear myself asking the motorcycle mechanic what kind of a deal he would make if I rented the motorcycle for SIX DAYS. At just over $13 U.S. per day for a new year 2000 300cc motorcycle I couldn't stop myself. (I had no idea that the cost of gas would nearly bankrupt me!) I returned to the Pansyon and asked them to hold the majority of my equipment while I packed my daypack and tied it to the back of the bike. By noon I had hit the road. continued...
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