“Located a short distance from Hattusas, Yazilikaya (the “inscribed rocks”) was the official temple and sanctuary of the Hittite empire. It consists of several rock-cut chambers carved around a large rocky outcrop possessing two large alcoves and an open-air sanctuary. Both alcoves contain reliefs of Gods and Goddesses in a parade, all appearing by profile. It is possible that some of the smaller alcoves were used for burial of the deceased Kings, and that the whole sanctuary was therefore a funerary monument built to celebrate some Royal ancestors.”  http://unchartedruins.blogspot.com/2012/08/in-hittite-lands-yazilikaya-and-alaca.html

“The rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya ( = rock with writing) lies nestled between rock outcroppings at the foot of the high ridge east of Hattusha. In contrast to the temples within the city, the two rooms of this sanctuary (Chambers A and B), hemmed in by natural rock faces up to 12 m high, lie open to the skies. Although the site has been in use since the 15th century BC at least, not until the 13th century did the long procession of gods and goddesses take their place here, chiseled onto the rock faces by Hittite sculptors. It apparently represents the "House of the New Year’s Celebration," a House of the Weather God where festivities were held to honor all the pantheon at the coming of the New Year and the beginning of spring.”  http://www.hattuscha.de/English/yazilikaya.htm

Largest known Hittite Rock Sanctuary

Chamber A entrance is the dark area to the right of the tree and Chamber B on the right cut into the rocks with the V of blue sky overhead. 

Chamber A

“On the left side we have male deities (with two exceptions); on the right, female. They all face the opposite end of the chamber, towards which they appear to be slowly progressing; and there, indeed, is the climactic tableau: as leaders of the holy procession, the two supreme divinities, the weather god and the sun goddess greet one another.”  http://www.hattuscha.de/English/yazilikaya.htm

The relief sculpture in the small chamber B is much better preserved because the chamber was partly filled with earth and remained unexcavated until the mid 19th century. http://www.hattuscha.de/English/yazilikaya.htm

Chamber B 

Relief of the 12 kings

“On the wall immediately to the right of the entrance was carved a line of gods of the Underworld. They wear shirts, belts, short skirts and shoes curling up at the toe. They each carry a crescent-shaped sword flung over the shoulder, and the horned pointed hats that identify them as divinities.”

http://www.hattuscha.de/English/yazilikaya.htm

View of the countryside below.   It was an absolutely picture perfect morning and the landscape was beautiful.

Our second stop was Hattuṣa  (spelled various ways) and the remains of the Great Temple that, at this point is mostly a stone outline of what must have been and reconstructed Hittite City Walls.

We saw these women off in the distance and some of us were curious.

Taṣ asked and it was some kind of tiny leaf they made him eat; but he survived without growing larger or smaller; so I guess it was okay.

So cute!

Lower City

Remains of the Great Temple and reconstructed Hittite City Walls

“With this project, some 65 meters long, segments of the mud brick city walls of Hattuṣa were re-erected as of 2005.  Three wall segments 7 to 8 meters high, along with two 12 to 13 meters high towers were re-constructed.”  Çorum Guide from the Ministry of Tourism

The green cubic stone at Hattusa was probably a gift to the later Hittite rulers of the city from the Egyptian pharaoh with whom they signed a peace treay in 1258 BC    http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/AnatoliaHattiHattusa.htm

It was a lovely fragment of some type of vessel but I left it behind…which was not only the moral thing to do but the legal thing to do.  It’s illegal to take “antiquities” from Turkey.  This shard might have been a year old or a thousand years old. 

Our next stop was Lion Gate

I believe one lion has been reconstructed and the other untouched.  According to the Çorum Guide the hieroglyphic inscription on one side of the lion still has not be deciphered except for the last word which means gate.

Mark and David walking forward; Patricia taking a photo.

More beautiful countryside with other sections of the Hittite complex.

Our last stop of the day was the Atatürk mausoleum and museum complex.  

Every town in Turkey has at least one statue of Atatὒrk.  He’s the Turkish  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt rolled into one.  (With maybe a bit of Stalin and Mao thrown in too.)

“Atatürk was a Turkish nationalist leader and founder and first president of the republic of Turkey.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in 1881 in Salonika (now Thessaloniki) in what was then the Ottoman Empire. His father was a minor official and later a timber merchant. When Atatürk was 12, he was sent to military school and then to the military academy in Istanbul, graduating in 1905.

In 1911, he served against the Italians in Libya and then in the Balkan Wars (1912 – 1913). He made his military reputation repelling the Allied invasion at the Dardanelles in 1915.

In May 1919, Atatürk began a nationalist revolution in Anatolia, organizing resistance to the peace settlement imposed on Turkey by the victorious Allies. This was particularly focused on resisting Greek attempts to seize Smyrna and its hinterland. Victory over the Greeks enabled him to secure revision of the peace settlement in the Treaty of Lausanne.

In 1921, Atatürk established a provisional government in Ankara. The following year the Ottoman Sultanate was formally abolished and, in 1923, Turkey became a secular republic with Atatürk as its president. He established a single party regime that lasted almost without interruption until 1945.

He launched a programme of revolutionary social and political reform to modernize Turkey. These reforms included the emancipation of women, the abolition of all Islamic institutions and the introduction of Western legal codes, dress, calendar and alphabet, replacing the Arabic script with a Latin one. Abroad he pursued a policy of neutrality, establishing friendly relations with Turkey’s neighbours.

In 1935, when surnames were introduced in Turkey, he was given the name Atatürk, meaning ‘Father of the Turks’. He died on 10 November 1938.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/ataturk_kemal.shtml

The question is how much longer Mustafa Kemal can remain on that pedestal. To the people of his country, Atatürk—the sobriquet means “father of the Turks”—has been both a national hero and an ideology, bolstered by decades of indoctrination in the schools and by his ubiquitous image in the form of busts, portraits, statues, figurines, T-shirts, currency, key chains, and even iPhone cases. A reformist Ottoman Army general, he led an independence struggle against the invading Greek, French, and Italian armies after the First World War, culminating in the establishment of a modern republic in 1923.

Under Mustafa Kemal’s leadership, the young republic made a clean break from its Ottoman past nearly nine decades ago, ditching the caliphate for a secular regime and turning away from the empire’s former Arab territories in favor of an anti-clerical, pro-Western vision that became known as Kemalism. He pushed for women’s suffrage, decreed the alphabet’s conversion from Arabic to Latin overnight, established parliamentary government, declared war on Islamic zealotry long before jihadism became a global concern, even banned the Ottoman fez in favor of European-style hats. Turkish schoolbooks today summarize the changes he imposed as “the Atatürk revolutions.”

Nevertheless, Mustafa Kemal’s staunchly secularist legacy is now being challenged by a new Turkish strongman, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Free at last to espouse and promote his conservative Muslim faith publicly, the prime minister embodies the political aspirations of millions of Turks who have been alienated from the military-backed secular establishment for generations: the rural folk, the urban poor, conservative Muslim clerics, and the rising religiously conservative business classes. While studiously avoiding direct confrontation with Atatürk’s Westernized ideals, Erdogan and other pro-Islamist leaders of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have inaugurated an era of deep political transformation.

With the party’s encouragement, many Turks have come to regard Kemalism as an outmoded ideology unsuited to the needs of present-day Turkey’s dynamic society. “I don’t know if Atatürk himself is dead,” says liberal academic and commentator Mehmet Altan. “But Kemalism will eventually die, as Turkey democratizes.” Altan has argued for years against the Kemalist doctrine, calling instead for the creation of a “second republic” that would be less centralized, more inclusive of Kurds and Islamists, and less rigid in its secular and nationalist policies.

That’s what’s already happening as the Erdogan government dismantles the Kemalist establishment. The military, once the country’s most powerful political force and the self-proclaimed guardian of secularism, has been relegated to the barracks and publicly reprimanded for the series of coups that have stunted democracy’s growth since Atatürk’s death. Religious conservatism is on the rise, and Ankara has turned its attention away from the country’s longstanding bid for European Union membership, seeking instead a more prominent role in the Middle East and the former Ottoman lands. Vestiges of the old Kemalist order—the headscarf ban on university campuses, restrictions on use of the Kurdish language, Soviet-style commemorations held in stadiums on national days—have nearly disappeared.

And yet liberal democrats like Altan are not happy. Many feel that Erdogan’s government has lost its reformist drive, becoming authoritarian and single-mindedly Islamic instead. Intellectuals who once supported Erdogan against the military now complain about his efforts to control the media, his intolerance for dissent, and his halfhearted concessions to Kurdish demands. “Politics in Turkey has always been a struggle between the barracks and the mosque,” says Altan. “Because we never had a proper capitalist class, the Army represented the bourgeoisie, and the mosque represented the underprivileged. With AKP, we thought a democracy would emerge out of the mosque. But instead what we got was simply the revenge of the mosque.”

A year ago Altan finally became one of the many journalists who have lost their jobs for criticizing Erdogan. It’s the same penalty commentators used to incur for finding fault with Atatürk. Altan grieves for the fading of Turkey’s European dreams. Bringing European standards to Turkey’s democracy was the only possible solution for the conflict between the secularists and the Islamists, he says. “But the EU reforms have stopped, and the government’s Islamic reflexes are more obvious now, making the division even sharper.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/12/16/turkey-is-ataturk-dead-erdogan-islamism-replaces-kemalism.html

Model of the Atatὒrk complex.

http://andresalvador.smugmug.com/Travel-Turkey/ATATURK-MUSEUM/17111707_XjBgzL#!i=1296793661&k=B87vNVF

Lonely Planet review for Anıt Kabir

The monumental mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), the founder of modern Turkey, sits high above the city with its abundance of marble and air of veneration. You enter via the Lion Road, a 262m walkway lined with 24 lion statues – Hittite symbols of power used to represent the strength of the Turkish nation. The path leads to a massive courtyard, framed by colonnaded walkways, with steps leading up to the huge tomb on the left.

To the right of the tomb, the extensive museum displays Atatürk memorabilia, personal effects, gifts from famous admirers, and recreations of his childhood home and school. Just as revealing as all the rich artifacts are his simple rowing machine and huge multilingual library, which includes tomes he wrote.

Downstairs, extensive exhibits about the War of Independence and the formation of the republic move from battlefield murals with sound effects to over detailed explanations of post-1923 reforms. At the end, a gift shop sells Atatürk items of all shapes and sizes.

As you approach the tomb itself, look left and right at the gilded inscriptions, which are quotations from Atatürk’s speech celebrating the republic’s 10th anniversary in 1932. Remove your hat as you enter, and bend your neck to view the ceiling of the lofty hall, lined in marble and sparingly decorated with 15th- and 16th-century Ottoman mosaics. At the northern end stands an immense marble cenotaph, cut from a single piece of stone weighing 40 tons. The actual tomb is in a chamber beneath it.

It takes around two hours to see the whole site. It is virtually a pilgrimage site, so arrive early to beat the crowds; school groups frequently drop by midweek, especially in May, June and September.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/turkey/central-anatolia/ankara/sights/monument/ant-kabir

Statues illustrate the sterotypical occupations of Turkish women and men  supposedly showing  the strength of Turkey’s  people.

Whoever this man was, he had security with him as he walked along having his photo taken with visitors.  I think Randal, former Marine that he is,  was tempted to have his photo taken with this officer too.  

The tomb of the second president of Turkey.

“İsmet İnönü,  (born Sept. 24, 1884, Smyrna, Ottoman Empire—died Dec. 25, 1973, Ankara), Turkish army officer, statesman, and collaborator with and successor to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as president of the Turkish Republic.  Identified with one-party rule between 1939 and 1946, he later emerged as a champion of democracy. “  http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/288786/Ismet-Inonu

A car and boat that had belonged to Atatὒrk were housed in a small wing of the complex.

The main museum with exhibits illustrating the history of Turkish independence didn’t allow photos.  Photos were allowed in the building that houses the tomb.

Marble cenotaph over Ataturk’s tomb

There were so many people posing for photos directly in front that I could only get this side view.

I like the contrast between the 3 men and the lone woman with her several bags. 

I used the long lens to get this photo and only when I was writing this email did I notice all of the people in both groups were female.  Now I wonder why. 

All women with various types of dress; some with their heads covered and some not.

We were there at closing so saw the changing of the guard.

I have to say that I think our “marching” looks less militaristic than this type of marching.  It would be interesting to know why some armies march one way and others differently.

On a more peaceful note, there were lots of lovely flowers.

Then it was back to the hotel for a short rest before dinner.  Randal and I had a time figuring out how to get our shower to work.  There were so many optional buttons for lights or radio or water jets.  I just wanted a plain old shower which we finally figured out.  I had planned to take a photo of the thing but forgot.  When we stayed in the same hotel our last night our room had a less fancy shower  but it was much easier to get the water to do what you expected it would do.

Some folks went directly into the Museum of Anatolian Civilization.  I joined the group that followed Taṣ up the hill to the castle neighborhood.  After sitting all morning and eating half a cheese pide at lunch, I needed  physical exercise more than I needed intellectual stimulation. 

The ones that got away…

While I was off doing my own wanderings, Randal visited this shop and almost bought a carpet but buyer and seller couldn’t agree on a price.

Saatli Kapı  (Clock Gate)

“The most interesting part of Ankara to poke about in, this well preserved quarter of thick walls and intriguing winding streets took its present shape in the 9^th century AD, when the Byzantine emperor Michael II constructed the outer ramparts.  The inner walls which the local authority is slowly rebuilding, date from the 7^th century.”  lonely planet Turkey

Taṣ pointing out the information about Ankara Castle. 

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ankara-castle-not-preserved-but-a-must-see-in-the-capital.aspx?pageID=238&nid=18083 is a great human interest article about the castle and the still lived in neighborhood that surrounds it. 

The constant and ongoing renovation taking place on the castle walls and within the castle walls.

Castle walls entrance with its few souvenir shops at the far end.

Construction workers were happy to pose

View from the Washington Restaurant where we were allowed to visit their roof top dining area to take some photos.

“1923’s …

Having worked at Karpiç Restaurant, until 1940, which was the only protocol restaurant of the period and frequented by Atatürk in 1923, Şişman Kardeşler gained privileged experience in the restaurant service and management, from cuisine and food culture to protocol service and food servicing manners.

1940’s …

Their experience and success in providing service for Atatürk and protocol members of the Republic of Turkey have resulted in assignment of Şişman Kardeşler for cuisine and service requirements of the protocol dinners thrown by the Embassy of Turkey in the USA, in a manner to represent Turkish cuisine.”

http://en.washingtonrestaurant.com.tr/

Washington Restaurant Review

“An institution in Ankara, the Washington Restaurant was established in 1955 with the money the owners raised while working at the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. The restaurant remained in Kizilay until 1992, and then spent the next 14 years in the citadel before heading back to Kizilay. Now installed in a two-story house in Gaziosmanpasa, Washington remains true to the menu that has drawn politicians, journalists, and artists for more than 50 years.”

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/ankara/D39937.html#ixzz2RBuZGy95

Our walking group dissolved as we each went our own way.  I was attracted by both the felting and the old Ottoman building.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Akeka/286432591413535

Upstairs was the showroom.

Some colorful samples.

I loved the hats, the windows, lace curtains, floor..

And the original ceiling from the 500 year old building.

I wandered back down towards the museum through the crumbling but still lovely neighborhoods.

White-washed walls, wooden windows and balconies, and stone walls totally capture my imagination. 

The outer castle walls and the path to the park were inviting, but I felt compelled to make a quick visit to the museum so alas, another road not taken.

The streets below the castle were filled with small shops and restaurants which I was able to visit for a short time after racing through the museum in no time flat.

These were interesting.

Three bags full….

Not sure where this wool goes as there was no apparent carpet weaving happening anywhere we visited; much to Randal’s and our friend Dave Murphy’s disappointment. 

Gourds and spices galore.

Museum of Anatolian Civilizations

This Buds for you. 

I believe these are the original Hittite statues from The Sphinx Gate.

Originally erected in Alaca, they are now housed in the museum.  We visited Alaca the following day and saw the reconstructions in situ.  More about Alaca and Çorum, the land of the Hittites in later emails.

My nephew teaches some classes at the University of Pennsylvania so I found  this sign worth a photo.

Our next stop of the day (and the next email) was the complex that houses Atatürk’s tomb. 

The weather cleared for our visit to Amasya Castle high above the town.

“…so graceful a place, so protected by its fortress mountains, that it was chosen for centuries as the city where Ottoman princes were sent to be educated in the arts of government.”  Mary Lee Settle

Selahattin, Reyhan, Suzanne, and Randal

There was a wonderful bean/wheat stew Keṣkek or something that sounded like that.  It was topped with a buttery pepper sauce that would make any foodie swoon.  And the spicy red lentil balls and the cinnamon rolls and bread and apple cake …  and gallons of Turkish tea.

Reyhan and me.

Reyhan is a wonderful cook and everything tasted great!  There was enough food for 50 and only 5 of us to eat it.  Suzanne and we were sent home with bags of food!

  From their lives in Istanbul.  Don’t they look like TV News Anchors?

Their lovely condo with a photo of Turkish hero Ataturk.

From their 3^rd floor balcony is a lovely view of the mountains.

Suzanne had to return to work so Selahattin and I resorted to our dictionaries.

Sultanhani, Aksaray  http://www.anatoliantappeti.com/

http://www.anatoliantappeti.com/ is their page that shows before, during and after photos of restored carpets.

The man working at the table seemed to be in charge and he knew a bit of English so between us we could have a few sentences worth of communications.

Women weave carpets and men repair them…

No camels but a horse-drawn cart.

Our next stop after  Aksaray  was a giant sink hole.

http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs13146-011-0044-7#

Obruk Han Gölü, doline (sinkhole) behind the old caravansary

30 meters deep

“75 km to the east of Konya a street turns near the village Kizören to the north away from the D 300 towards the village named Obruk. After about 3.5 kilometers one reaches a big 145 meters wide, oval doline with a cross section dimension from 200 – 230 meters. The doline is situated a few meters away from the street hidden behind the big historical Seljukic caravansery Obruk Han from the year 1320, so that one sees the doline first if one stands close the brim.” http://www.geocaching.com/

The Seljuk  caravanwery near just near the sink hole…being reinforced.

Since it was like forever, or at least an hour or so since our comfort stop, we had a stop for lunch.

More Ayran, notice the foam in the tub being bubbled up by the flowing Ayran.

The Ayran is topped with scooped up foam…kind of like beer but Not though it does have a slightly fermented sour taste. 

This order of Pide was just for Randal and me!  Mary and Rick had their own.  Of course there were lots of left-overs which Taṣ collected for stray dogs we met at each stop.  Sometimes when we order we just have no clue.

After lunch we were driving along and passed some blue industrial buildings.  Randal and I had passed the same buildings on our motorbike in 2011.  It was quite amazing to recognize them in what was seemingly the middle of nowhere.  But they are located on the outskirts of Seydisehir which is just 25 kilometers from the Tinaztepe Cave, our planned stop on the way to Antalya.

http://www.mydoramac.com/wordpress/?p=7574 is the story of our stay in Seydisehir which was very restful and where people were very kind.  We’d gone there planning to visit the Tinaztepe Cave but were just too tired to drive there, spend hours at the cave and then drive back to Seydisehir. 

Tinaztepe Cave

Going through the cave can take an hour or two so some of us just hiked up to the entrance.  It was very cold and blustery with snow covered mountains nearby.  This stop really was just for “comfort” and coffee at the small restaurant near the parking lot. It was still a long way to Antalya so only a short “stretch your legs” stop at the cave was possible.

Tınaztepe Cave System

Location: Konya, Seydişehir District

The Tınaztepe Cave System is at the Keçili Village locality which is at 35 km. southwest of Seydişehir. The cave is at 5km west of Mortaş Aluminum bed. The Seydişehir-Manavgat highway passes close to the cave.

Properties: This cave system has developed inside the Creates limestone and is formed by three layers one on other. The upper layer having 100 meters length is completely fossilized. The intermediate layer has 1015 meters of total length and is semi active. Water flows Inside this layer at precipitant seasons and it ends with a siphon. The lower layer is a branch developed on a big fault and is active displaying sinkhole cave characteristics. In precipitant seasons, the surface waters of a wide area flows here. These waters flow inside the Susuz Güvercinlik Cave which is at southeast and come out from the springs near Suğla Lake. The explored length of this active cave until now is 527 meters. But the total length of this cave had not been completely determined. The deep but narrow lakes and siphons inside this cave makes the explorations difficult.

http://turkiyeninilleri.tr.gg/Konya.htm

I looked up lots of sites to check the length of the Tinaztepe Cave.  Most give the same numbers but most only use the letter m rather than the word meters or miles.  Mi is the abbreviation for miles and M is the abbreviation for meters.  And most sites mention other lengths in kilometers so I’m thinking that m stands for meters.  However, the info brochure from the cave says  Tinaztepe Cave is the 3^rd longest in the world as does the following website. 

Located in the Konya district of Seydisehir, Tinaztepe Cave is the longest cave in Turkey and the third longest in the world.  The cave is 22 km/13.7 miles long. Best time to visit is in Turkey when the water level decreases and the gallery can be explored by foot.   http://www.turkeylogue.com/caves

I have no local library so I can’t look up the real answer. 

We arrived just at dark in Antalya where everyone gets lost at least once upon arriving.  Randal and I missed the city entirely in 2011 on our motorbike trip..  Rick, Mary and their son Robert along with Dale and Joanne had gotten lost the weekend they’d gone to Antalya.  So even with Taṣ using Google maps we got slightly lost trying to find our hotel.  Our driver was amazing as he backed up narrow streets and then into the tiny hotel parking lot.  We had a late dinner and then an early bedtime.

The next day we visited Upper Duden Waterfalls and old town Antalya before making the long drive back to Marmaris.

Our first stop of the day was Upper Duden Waterfalls about 5 miles northeast of Antalya.

Randal and Taṣ.

The Upper Düden Waterfalls,are located 14 km northeast from the centre of Antalya. The waterfalls, formed by a karstic depression, are 20 metres high. The location of the waterfalls has the appearance of a botanical heaven thanks to the rich variety of plants. In the deep valley formed by the falling and flowing water of the waterfalls there are promenades and trout restaurants " http://www.turkishclass.com/turkey_pictures_gallery_85

Randal and me

Cave of Wishes:  I’m sure mine involved world peace and the Boston Red Sox

    To use the flash or not to use the flash….  We used the flash so you can see us but can’t see the water falling in back of us.

“By entering into Dilek Magarasi (Cave of Wishes), located underneath the waterfalls, it is possible to walk behind the rushing cascade or sit and admire the might and splendour of the waterfalls from inside the catacombs.”

Walking along the trail of the Upper Falls.

“After 8km the water from the falls forms a small creek, creating a magnificent spectacle as it cascades over the 40 metre high falez rock into the sea, as Lower Düden Waterfalls on the way from Antalya to Lara Beach.”

From the Falls we drove to Old Town Antalya

The dog image encourages folks to clean up after their pets… though cats usually clean up after themselves.

Taṣ pointing out the jams the Antalya region is famous for.  We skipped it as we buy our fruit spread from Selahattin ὕnver, our friend at the Sunday Market whose home we visited this past Tuesday.

Antalya ruins

Modern moderns.

http://www.ottomanscent.com/fruits_soaps-ottoman_scent.html  explains the history of these lovely soaps shaped as fruit.  This gentleman made the soaps for sale in this tourist shop we’d peeked into.

Spice art similar to sand art. 

A snack to tide us over until lunch: pomegranate cake and coffee.

We all gathered back at the bus to continue our journey home.  These two insane boys were doing stunts on the high way, rearing up on the rear wheel.  Not sure if they are still alive or this is the last photos of them ever.

Half way home we stopped again at the House of Mushrooms for lunch.  Instead of soup many of us ordered mushroom caseroles.  Some came with meat.  Some with chicken.  My choice was just mushroom with cheese. 

Sales have dropped in the US so Coca Cola is invading Turkey.

My steaming hot sizzling mushroom casserole.

The End

The lights were dimmed and the belly dancer appeared……

She was quite impressive…the wine bottle enjoyed the performance from their front row seat.

Victoria’s Secret

I actually can almost do this…..

After a bit, the fun started with the “audience participation.”

Irina’s turn and she was really pretty good!

Almost..

The next contestant was almost as cute!

He certainly had lots of fun and it was fun for those of us watching.

She actually did the same thing to Irina!

Not a prayer.

The third contestant…wasn’t as sparkly as Irina or a little cute old guy so she didn’t have a prayer in the applause-o-meter. 

There was one final act that involved the all the cast and a huge Turkish flag and then it was time to go.

Even though it was only 5 minutes back to the hotel there was no way Randal was going to drive our bus.  Our driver had the keys.  But Randal had fun sitting there and surprising a few folks.

The food at Turkish night was Okay…not the star of the show.  There was plenty of cheap wine and Raki to insure everyone had a good time.  I’d overdone the wine in Eḡirdir so kept mine to the minimum.  I enjoyed sharing the good time with good friends; but my heart was back in Soḡanli.

PS  Note our waiter opening the wine bottles at the end of the table…you will see the bottles in almost all of my photos.  That was not the plan but I didn’t notice it until going through my photos afterwards.  (Sort of like the Diet Coke can in my Florence, Italy photo.)

Folk costumes and wine bottle

Red costume and wine bottles

Blue costume, wine bottle cropped out:  same red haired dancer from previous photos.

The next set of photos seemed to be the reenactment of a wedding complete with the groom being tidied up, some audience dancing with our pals involved, and then a competition for the bride.  One of our group took on the role of the “foreign competitor.” 

The groom.

The Bride

The man in the blue sweater was on our tour; he was competing for the bride.

Push-ups

Who’s stronger?

Irina in black and Leslie in pink had taken part in the dancing

Randal took part in the wine, but he wasn’t driving us home…or was he?  Cindy in the stripes watches the show.

Mary and Rick    It really was this dark around the tables

Rick and our friend Cindy’s niece Vicky look like they are having a drink in Casablanca.

Then came the lady in the hoola-hoop skirt…which was pretty spectacular

Taking a final bow…with the wine bottle.

Our ever cheerful guide Taṣ

Next email: Irina and the belly dancer!

We crossed the Soḡanli River and hiked to the Church with the Hat (Dome) and the Hidden Church.  I don’t know if this is all looking pretty much the same to you but when you’re there, if you love it, you can’t get enough.  I love the semi-arid landscape so this is just wondrous to me.

“From the Yılanlı Kilise, paths head off in two different directions, but if you walk straight ahead and cross the small stream you will soon be heading uphill towards the 14th-century Kubbeli Kilise (Church with a Dome) that makes Soğanlı stand out from the rest of Cappadocia. Here, uniquely, the top of a natural rock formation has been shaped into a dome — perhaps in imitation of an Armenian church. Inside the two-storied building you will find more frescoes as well as the rock-cut altars and columns typical of the area.” http://www.todayszaman.com/

The trail up from the river or maybe just a stream and what I thought was the Soḡanli River wasn’t the river at all.  I just don’t know.  It was pretty easy to step across at one point.

The Church with the Dome

This is the photo I have next after the Dome Church but I’m not sure if it’s the Hidden Church or not or it might be the view from the Hidden Church.  I guess it was really well hidden though I did go inside. 

…………The Church of Hidden……….

The basement small domed church is named as The Church of Hidden.

There are other rocky settlements nearby The Church of Hidden. However they are not as valuable as the others. You can enter the church from its north door. It has there adjacent rooms in its south.

A narrow and long corridor was built in the narthex part. This corridor has four halls and a window looking to the west. The adjacent room is a large one. There are four big niches and graves in its walls.

Faces were scratched out at different times for different reasons.

Iconoclasm was one reason.  But I also read that sometime the eyes were taken as good luck when the religious were forced from the area. 

Not sure if I read/heard that these were some type of burial chamber.  I definitely need a well-stocked local library.

Heading back down to the river past an abandoned village.

I don’t know why they were abandoned…fear of earthquakes, more modern options, former home of Greeks….

Very picturesque

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=316725 is a lovely review of this small pension and some wonderful photos of the area by a couple mountain-biking their way through Cappadocia this past March.  This blog also shows a photo of the caves used as cold storage for potatoes.  Being on a bus rather than a bicycle we didn’t have the road space to stop and take a photo.  I am jealous that I’m nowhere in any shape to have done that ride.  But once upon a time…..

Ladies selling traditional dolls that I regret not buying, but whose to buy?

I like the long skirts and vests which actually look quite comfortable in the chilly weather but would be really too hot in the warm weather. 

Lunch time where we had choices of omlette, chicken or beef along with meze and a variety of desserts.

Can’t beat the setting!

Lots of folks chose Ayran to drink.  I prefer my yogurt straight. 

http://ayran.com/  explains this yogurt derivative drink.

Plain Ayran

1 1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 1/2 cup water

1 tsp salt

This is very straight-forward but tastes great: Put all of the above in a blender. Mix for about 35-40 seconds. Pour into glasses. Also after blending, at the top, you will see bubbles and that’s the best part. Makes 4 portions. The drink shouldn’t be

My favorite are the ladies and their local fashions.  They look comfortable while half of us were complaining that our jeans were feeling snug from the meals we’d been eating. 

My fashion statement!

I think the blue bead needs to go.  I actually wore my hat/scarf today under my rain jacket and it really does the trick.  Everyone on our trip said it “looked like me” and I’m not sure exactly what that means.  I did get lots of compliments from the Turkish locals. 

Turkish painted desert.

All too soon it was time to get back onto the bus and head back towards Avanos.  We still had to stop at the Carpet Showroom for “yet another carpet lesson.”   We really don’t mind that at all especially Randal who really is quite interested in carpets.   I’ll leave that for last as I’ve written about carpets before.   So next email will be the evening’s Turkish Night.