Sept 13, 2010 – Cappdocia, Devrent Valley, Fairy Chimneys
We had our breakfast early and were ready for the group tour by 8.30 am.
North Cappdaocia Tour :
The first place we visited was Devrent Valley aka “Imagination Valley”. This is one of the most surreal-looking landscape that we have witnessed. Do read about the Story Behind The Fairy Chimneys in Cappadocia. These natural formations are due to Volcanic eruptions. Many people live in these fairy chimneys. We saw a Mercedes Benz parked outside a fairy chimney. Our next stop was Pashabagi called also the Monks Valley because Christian hermits chose to locate hermit cells and churches in these three-headed pinnacles symbolic of the Holy Trinity.
The world famous potter – Chez Galip, a lookalike of Einstein
From Pashabagi we went to Avanos (Venessa) the pottery centre of Cappadocia, this village is set on the banks of the Kizilirmak/Red River. The river gets its name from the red clay it deposits. We went to see the world famous potter called Chez Galip who looks like Einstein. He gave a demonstration of how he shapes the clay on a potters wheel and then we went to his gallery. The entrance to his gallery-cum-shop is a tiny space but inside its huge. Interestingly, his gallery-cum-shop is inside a fairy chimney !!
After our visit to the pottery village we went to a restaurant for lunch. And…. the restaurant was inside a fairy chimney !!
Göreme Open Air Museum
The world’s most important Byzantine cave churches are found in these once remote valleys where monks and nuns pursued monastic life from the 3rd century on. Here you can see the best preserved Byzantine cave wall paintings and frescos from the Iconoclastic period through to the end of Seljuk rule. Icons with scenes from the Old Testament and the New Testament above portraits of Church Fathers and saints depict the structure of the Byzantine universe.
Panoramic view point Esentepe
From the Goreme valley we went to the Esentepe view point and our tour came to an end.
We got dropped back to our hotel. We went out for a short walk after our dinner. This time we went towards the front of the hotel and found ourselves in a residential area.
Tomorrow we go to an underground city… that should be interesting !
Nice