Day 2
MAP OF DAY 2
Early next morning we were up and ready for our journey to Kapadokya (that would be 285miles/5.5 hours). The wind of the previous evening was gone and the huge lake was calm and beautiful. We began by driving northwards along the eastern side of the lake through apple orchards and lovely scenery. The favoured means of rural transport here (apart from the ubiquitous tractor and trailer) was the donkey - laden with crops, carrying a rider, or pulling a cart. We had intended to travel by what my map told me was the "panoramic route" to Yalvaç but we missed the turn-off (retrospectively we realized it was in the middle of some huge roadworks) and found ourselves unexpectedly heading into Sarki Karaa&gac. So we replanned our route and continued. This was a serendipitous choice because we saw a sight we would otherwise have missed; two large flocks of storks flying high over the hills with at least 50 birds in each. Then we cut eastwards through Hüyük on a small country road that took us over rolling hills that rose slowly until they were quite high, mountains really. We crested the top and saw below us the Central Anatolian Plain spread out below us. Swooping down the steep escarpment we came to Konya.
Konya is a city of some 1 million citizens and is an ugly urban sprawl across the flat plain. It is known as the most devout city in Turkey (so I was surprised to see women without headscarves during Ramazan) and home to the Mevlani, the Sufi Muslim sect that is famous for its Whirling Dervishes. We began to circle Konya via its ring road but were eventually diverted (due to roadworks) through backstreets, an industrial estate, and various derelict areas on a single track potholed road following the optimistic signs "Ankara". That such a route would connect a major Turkish city with its capital seemed odd - if not disgraceful. Finally we rejoined the normal highway and headed for Aksaray.
It is difficult to convey the sheer tedium of this part of the route. The Central Anatolian Plain is almost dead flat - like the Great Plains of the United States when you see then on films. The single-carriageway road is rifle-barrel straight. The plain is, apparently, a major supplier of wheat and barley in Turkey. But, by the time we were there in September, this had long since been harvested. What remained was a parched stubble in vast dusty expanses. There are no features; no trees or bushes; there are few people and fewer animals. In short there is almost nothing of interest. Passing a petrol station every 20 minutes is a major excitement. When we were there were roadworks in progress - another two-lane highway being built in parallel to the existing road. Gravel moving lorries were constantly depositing new heaps of dusty roadcovering on this side of the road travelling across from quarries or depots on the other side and throwing up huge clouds of dust through which you had to slow to a crawl to navigate. There being nothing to give perspective, no benchmark for comparison, distances were difficult to judge. The dot in front on the road might be a car 300 metres in front, or a lorry 1 kilometre away. Actually it was always a lorry that seemed to be spaced at one per kilometre all along this awful road. This - coupled with the white haziness of the sky, the whiteness of the road, the whiteness of the dust clouds, and the parched beige of the fields - made the journey across the plain a hard one. Pity we hadn't taken some CDs to help us along it. The only thing to be said in its favour is, that since few other people other than lorry drivers were travelling that way, it took only an hour and a quarter to cross with accelerator hard to the floorboards.
The end of the Anatolian Plain is marked by Aksaray. Immediately driving became easier and more pleasurable. The relentless plain was replaced by rolling hills, a road dual-carriageway road with broad sweeping curves, and even some vegetation. This improved even more on approaching Nevsehir. This city marks the eastern edge of Kapadoka and after here the landscape changed dramatically. Within minutes we began to feel the magic of the country we had entered. We drove up to the commanding heights of Uçhisar and then down the valley towards Göreme. We stopped at the ‘Panorama View' over Pigeon Valley - and were left speechless. And then down into Göreme to find our hotel.
I had selected this place very carefully on the internet before going to Turkey as we were going to stay for four nights; it was the Kelebek Pension. This little hotel is on top of a small hill in the centre of Göreme and most of the rooms are caves dug from the peri (fairy chimneys) that characterize this part of Kapadokoya. The rooms are great, breakfast/drinking/lounging terraces are great, the views are great, the breakfasts are great. Is the hotel great? You bet it is. We had booked a "Junior Suite" (= big room) at 65 Euro a night. It was right by the swimming pool. Just marvellous. You can get a standard room for 35 Euro which, at an hotel like this, seems to me to be a bargain. We settled into the hotel with smiles on our faces. We were in Kapadoka and it was going to be ............................... well ............................ great.
KELEBEK HOTEL
(our room behind the two windows to right of rear entrance)
WELCOME TO OUR CAVE
COME INSIDE
Photograph by Kelebek Pension
Photograph by Kelebek Pension
VIEW UP PIGEON VALLEY TO UCHISAR
(from outside our room)
