Monday 1 October – Disappointment, digging in, and dervishes.

Unfortunately our eagerly-awaited hot-air balloon ride has been cancelled due to upper air turbulence. So, after a more leisurely breakfast, our first stop today was at a local pottery, where John was invited to demonstrate his potential to become a Pottery Master if we ever decide to move to Turkey.  We took time to watch the skilled artisans delicately painting their works, with different experts being assigned different parts of the process.  Fascinating.

Then we made our way to the indescribable “fairy chimneys” for which this region is famous. Sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams and ignimbrite deposits that erupted from ancient volcanoes approximately nine to three million years ago, during the late Miocene to Pliocene epochs. In time, the rocks of Cappadocia near Göreme eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars and minaret-like forms. The area has been occupied by humans as far back as the late Bronze Age and people of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out houses, churches and monasteries from the soft rocks of volcanic deposits.

We moved from place to place, marvelling at the formations, walking in and out of churches dating back almost a thousand years and viewing the frescoes within the churches, some still in excellent condition (unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs inside the churches).  We paused for a delicious lunch and then continued to a jewellery factory where we inspected a large range of precious and semi-precious stones including emeralds, diamonds, turquoise (of course – we are in Turkey), opals and Zultanite, a indigenous stone that changes colour according to the light – and we purchased one such stone for a pendant for Elizabeth.

Then to a brief wine tasting of the local wines, then to one of our guide’s very favourite places with a spectacular view, for a further wine tasting and photos.  Last stop for the day was to witness a Whirling Dervishes display, a mystic Sufi Muslim ritual dating back to the 13^th century where the men go into a trance-like state and continuously twirl around to the accompaniment of haunting music.  An absolutely brilliant day, despite the disappointment of missing out on our balloon ride.