Amazing End to An Amazing Travel

Here are some pictures of our beautiful hike through a valley in Cappadocia.

                                      

                    

                                          

Chez Galip Pottery. 

This man was a fifth generation in the art of pottery. He himself had been doing this for over 50 years, and is now considered a master- he flies around the world, sells top notch quality products, and offers classes to continue his legacy. 

The technique they use dates back to the Hittites.

The temperature they use to fire the clay is between 900-1200 degrees Celsius !

I also would have more information about him, but I was too intrigued by him making a vase, that I forgot to take notes :P

<-- the round circular with a spout on top is actually a wine vase.





Their family
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Then we went to a little village called Ibrahamipasha.

This was a beautiful village where we went to see a few more cave homes and lovely scenery. The sad part of the town was that these cave homes were being turned into hotels, and more consumerist businesses were being built... Soon enough, this town will also lose its traditional charm. 

Well.. the scenery may lose its charm, but the people probably will not.

It was definitely an old style town with very traditional habitants. 

For example, we did not see one woman out in the town because they were all home doing chores, cleaning the house, etc. We only saw a big group of men sitting at a cafe playing cards, drinking beer or coffee.... and blatantly staring at us. No, probably not because we were obviously tourists, but because we had a large amount of women in our group doing what we pleased. As we walked to the restroom, eyes would follow us, as we spoke, they would stare. 

The last stop of the day, as well as the last stop of our journey through Turkey, was to see the sunset at Red Valley. It was a wonderful way to end the travel with a new group of friends, some wine, wonderful tour guide, and an amazing Professor !

~Alexa

Welcome to My Crib

Today was such an amazing day !

(Well all days in Cappadocia were..)

Today, we had the chance to meet an actual cave home owner. 

This family had fought for their right to own this home, and now they also use it for tourism. 

Even though it has been their house since the beginning, they have to pay the government to live there. 

The man we spoke to was actually born in this house, and remembers carving rooms with his father. 

The paintings found on these homes were used to protect against evil spirits. 

The houses go back to 13th century ad. 

Carpets are used to decorate the walls (as well as keep the rooms warmer). 

We asked him questions how he was able to keep the house stabilized- well that's something they learned growing up- how to fix cracks, etc. 

Also, before they start caving shelving or rooms, they use sound to see if it is okay to carve or not, while using lights and shadows to make sure the carving is straight. 

In this particular house, 12 people could live here (and did in the past). During the winters, the man and his wife live in the city, but during the summertime they enjoy living here. He would like to live in the cave home 24/7 because now they have the possibility of running water and electricity.

What we all found extremely shocking was that the government is actually tearing down these cave homes to build hotels... The first thing I thought of was the states. Anything remotely historic is saved and untouchable by anyone except to restore it. 

How long does it take to build a room? He said about one cubic meter in two days. He remembers carving a storage room for apples and food when he was younger. 

He keeps this cave home stabilized, but the others are just sitting there waiting for destruction. 

Riding Camels and Carpet Weaving

We are now officially in the beautiful place of Cappadocia,

a location formed 25 million years ago with four volcanic mountains in the area. 

People would strategically carve homes in these rock formations (same type of rock as the underground city in a previous post), and for many years, people would pass the homes down through the generations. 

However, the government decided to intervene once again...

After 1973, the homes were only allowed to be used for tourism, and the residents were kicked out with no where to go. 

This was most definitely my favorite stop of our travel. I would actually have been okay with less time in Istanbul and more time here because its a beautiful scenic town. 

Our next stop was to the Goreme Open Air Museum (Goreme Acik Hava Muzesi). 

This is the place where the Christians in the 7th-11th century lived.

There are still remnants of paintings and frescoes; the Anti-Iconic period was during the 8th century and the frescoes were covered up. Some people still worshipped icons in secret. 

This region was under the rule of the hittites- The name Cappadocia comes from the son of the azurian king- The name is from the persian language which means "land of beautiful horses," but there were no horses, but mules...

There are a lot of black walls in certain areas from the smoke from the fires.

In the frescoes, you will only see the animals smiling, not the animals. People believed that smiling was only an animal trait because Jesus suffered for us. Suffering is more valuable. Also, the baby jesus never looks like a baby, but usually as an adult. 

 

                     

Then we saw camels, and YES, I had to ride them :)

Evil Eye Tree in Pigeon Valley.

This is the highest point of the fortress here. 

Pigeons were very important tools of communication (also for Fertilizer). 

Some pigeons even went up to 50,000 lira. 

Then we went to the Gallery Cappadocia, which showed us Turkish Carpet Demonstrations. 

Its a tradition that women pass down through generations.. but each year less and less women are weaving carpets. In past times, carpets were used as dowries because they are very expensive and excellent quality. 

The colors are made from plants, nuts, etc. and used with sheep wool. 

How can you tell the difference between vegetable and chemical dyes ?

If its vegetable dye quality, all you have to do is walk around the carpet and the colors will change. 

Also, listen carefully to the price (will be higher priced). 

The more knots, the higher quality the carpet.

The women knot about 7,000 knots a day. 

The next stop of the day was to see the Whirling Dervish Ceremony. 

The history: Founded in 1273. Music and dancing was used to get closer to god. It was then outlawed in 1925 with Ataturk's reforms. In 1954, they got their partial rights back to perform the ceremony for tourist purposes only instead of religious practice. BUT, they perform under strict registration under the government. Today, it's led under the 20th grand son of the founder. The founder was born around 1204 in Afghanistan; he was known as the "lord of the teachers." He said "you cannot reach truth by mind but by following your heart."

The ceremony itself: Performed in seven stages. The point is to abandon your personal ego. 

Derbish means "One on the path to God or truth."

They wear a long white dress that symbolizes the burial dress. Their hat is a symbol of a tombstone. Their cloak is a symbol of a tomb. 

"Look as you are or be as you look"

Ataturk forbid all religious sects, which is why this mystical sect was outlawed for a while. 

"You have to die before you die- leave your ego behind"

~Alexa