The 6:30am bus left Palmyra bound for Homs, from where we organised a taxi to Crac des Chevaliers. This amazingly well preserved Castle has been built up on a mountain top overlooking the countryside. Before we set off to explore the Castle, we had a wonderful Mediterranean / Arabic breakfast in the restaurant overlooking the valley. The castle was first built in 1031 and was completed in the 12th century by the Crusader knights. It was open to attack many times but it was built to be impenetrable and remained so until it was eventually handed over to the armies of Islam.
It was then on to Tartus and the city of Lattika on the Mediterranean Sea. We were getting our bearings to head into the city centre, when a lovely young man came up and asked if he could help us. His car was being detailed so he suggested we wait a few minutes and then he would take us into the city centre. He actually lives and works in Dubai as a gold jewellery merchant and gave us his card to come and see him when we plan to visit Dubai in September. Hmmmm.....
We checked into the Lattika Hotel in the City, set out to explore the area and then went out for dinner. The following morning we headed for Kassab on the Syrian border to organise visas for Turkey. No problems - it was all done in about 15 minutes. At Antalya 60 klms inside the Turkish border we organised some Turkey Lirer and U.S. dollars which we like to keep on hand as a standby.
Since travelling in Turkey we've noticed that the streets are cleaner and people seem to take more pride in their homes and gardens. We are hardly seeing any of the strict muslim black robes and face veils for women and the full traditional robes for men. Turkey seems to be very modern and more westernised than some of the other Middle Eastern countries we have visited. The bus fleet in Turkey is very modern - we haven't seen any clapped out old buses which is a refreshing change.
Adana was just another big city so we decided to take an evening bus on to Goreme in Cappadocia. The beautiful countryside of southern Turkey has been a lovely change from the vast deserts areas we have been visiting. Our bus seats were right in the front row so we sat back and enjoyed this documentary which was being played out for us as we travelled along. The worst part of an evening bus trip is that as soon as nightfall arrives the scenery is out of sight. All buses here in Turkey have one or two stewards or stewardesses onboard - serving tea, coffee, water and snacks for the trip. We are also noticing women in the workforce since arriving in Turkey - up until now men have been dominating the work scene in places such as reception, hotels, restaurants, kitchen, shops and the like.
As we were travelling into Cappodocia we could see strange cone-like hills around us and wondered what sights morning would bring. We walked up the cobbled streets of Goreme to The Panoramic Terrace Pension and booked in for 3 nights. Our room was an original cave room in one of these strange little hills - again what will it look like in the morning? It's quite neat to sleep in a cave.
To quote the Lonely Planet: Cappadocia's heavenly backdrop consists of soft volcanic tuff that has been sculpted over millennia into fantastic shapes by water and erosion. The end result is fascinating: huge stone mushrooms (dubbed "fairy chimneys" by locals), soft ridges and deep valleys, acute edges and mild undulations. Early Christians carved chambers, vaults and labyrinths into the chimneys for use as churches, stables and homes.
To see Goreme for the first time in the daylight is amazing - it's hard to believe we are actually in such an amazing place. We went out onto the terrace for brekky and sat and enjoyed the views that had unfolded before us. Our day's tour was booked for an hour's time so we were able to sit and enjoy our leisurely breakfast on the terrace.
What a day we had ahead of us. Our bus trip was made up of Australians, Koreans, Taiwanese, Italian, French, Brazilian and Spanish. Anthony was an Aussie from Sydney and presently working as a teacher in London and his girlfriend Barbara is from Brazil. We climbed many fairy chimneys and could see the homes that were carved out of these hills; we visited dug out churches and chapels; we even visited a full Underground City. We visited Ihlara Valley where lunch was served in a restaurant beside a stream in the bottom of a canyon following a 4 klm walk. All along the walk we could see homes which had been dug out of caves in the walls of the canyon. On the return trip we stopped at Pigeon Valley and saw the beautiful views across Goreme. After dinner that evening we sat out on the deck chatting with Anthony and Barbara until quite late.
In the morning I awoke to an odd noise - I said to Pat it sounded like the gas and flame in a hot air balloon. I went to our window in our little cave and floating just outside our window was a massive hot air balloon with about 15 people on board waving and calling out good morning in the direction of our little window - what a hoot! It was amazing to see the balloon so close to our building (cave) - we went outside and couldn't believe our eyes - we counted 27 hot air balloons floating above the little village of Goreme! What a sight to behold! PJ visited Goreme about 10 years ago on his 3 month backpacking trip - we had often heard of Goreme but had not imagined it to be the spectacular place that it really is.
The following day we walked with Anthony and Barbara to the Goreme Open Air Museum to see more of the little fairy chimneys. We headed back into town for lunch before they set off on the late afternoon bus. Our next stop will be Olympus, so we booked our seats and tickets for the following morning at 9.30.
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