Shiffy and Benny - September 15th report

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Thursday, September 15 - Waking up by the Muasin at Goreme

The Muasin woke us up a little later today, at 5:00 am. The Turks do not seems to get much sleep. Do they really appreciate this noise so early every morning?

And his voice is wailing:
God is Great
I profess that there is no god but Allah
I profess that Muhammad is the messenger of God
Let’s come to pray
Let’s come to success
God is great
There is no god but Allah

And all this in a country that claims to separate state and religion.

A few minutes later I hear the roosters. Our cave is pitched dark. I open my cave door to a beautiful morning. Benny feels much better today. We will take an early morning walk.

Breakfast at our pension. We eat too much sour bread in Turkey, but that is the only bread available. A young Japanese couple sits next to us. I became a good source of information to other travelers and I am proud of it. Everyone sits with his copy of Lonely Planet, each with his language.

The owner of the pension tries to sell me his tours. Hot air balloon tour is 250 euro or 140 euro for the budget trip. No, thanks.

Goreme is a little paradise on earth. How can I describe this place? I think about Bryce Canyon in Utah. Imagine that each shape is carved from the inside and turned into a home and in between there are paved roads, shops, people, chickens and dogs.

For over 60 million years massive volcanoes erupted and covered the area with layers of ash the developed into soft volcanic rock called tuff. In some places, the tuff was overlaid by basalt lava which is harder. The wind, ice, rain, and snow hit the area over years and where there was no basalt, the soft rock eroded into beautiful graceful shapes and valleys. Where there was basalt, it protected the tuff under it from the weather, so columns of tuff were left standing under their basalt caps, while everything else eroded away.

When the first people arrived at Cappadocia, they decided to move into these cones of rocks. The rock is soft so it can be excavated, even with primitive tools. Cave rooms are warm in winter and cool in summer.

There are also 300 underground cities, where people were digging down, up to 20 levels below. When the outside temperature can be plus 40 degrees to minus 30 degrees, the temperature in the underground house is kept at 7-10 degrees at all times. The underground cities were built 4000-2400 years ago. Later, the underground cities became refuge places for the Christians who fled the Romans. The cities are complete with chimneys for air circulation, wells for water, niches for oil lamps, stoves, water tanks and stables.

We are so happy. Benny said, “remember when you told me that you would never stop working, that you must work? Remember how you used to work ten hours a day at the Y and came home frustrated, but believed that that is what you need to do?”

Yes, I remember. I always thought of myself as a workaholic and loved my work with passion. Was that an escape?

Goreme is catered for to the tourists. Everyone here speaks English and there are many pensions and restaurants. We even saw a sign in Hebrew, promoting Turkish music. I find that the Turkey to be full of contradictions. It has both east and west, the people are trying to become Europeans, but very much belong to the middle east.

Dean’s Birthday is in few days, followed by Owen’s birthday. I sent both a postcard.

I started drawing again. Just simple sketches of what I see. My favorite sketches are from the Hamam. I write in my journal: The logic behind the chaos. Somehow things get done. The woman in black. Looks like a black something is moving.

Living out of our backpacks is a great feeling. Everything that you need you can carry on your back. We do not carry dirty laundry and we manage daily warm shower. We wear one outfit and wash the other. If it is not dry, you put it in plastic bag and dry at your next stop.

My brain is working in a new way. I want to learn more, discover more, experience more. I am full of energy and excitement. We love the way we travel and we prefer traveling on a budget. We experience more, learn more, meet interesting people and learn something from everyone. People are people wherever they are. People all over the world love their children, form friendship laugh and cry. I am done for the day.

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Photos

[place holder for photos from September 15]