View of Rose Valley from "Sunset Hill" in Goreme (a small town in Cappadocia):
Wow this is a weird place. Here I am looking down over the town of Bedrock (enlarge this if you can, it's worth seeing up close):
By the way, what is a pansion?
Everything claims to be "cave" here. My hotel is called "The Ottoman Cave Suites" and there is not one cave on the premises. It's nice, though, luxury.
Here is a cave house with cave parking:
I am recovering from a dark night of the soul. I wasn't going to write tonight because it was going to involve a lot of whining and I wanted some distance from it. But things change quickly, and the day turned out okay, and now I even have rug fever, but I will get to that.
The bad part, summarized for less painful reading:
All-night bus, screaming infant right behind me (those seats remained empty until the very last stop before hitting the highway, then the family climbed aboard and I knew what my night would be), only two bathroom breaks for an eleven hour journey (Casey, I know it's no problem for you, I know...), being scolded by a toilet attendant for not paying my one Lira fee after offering it to him on toilet entry and him refusing it, only movies dubbed in Turkish (500 Days of Summer - the other time I saw it was a bad copy in Vietnam). I'm the only person without a pickup from my hotel at the bus station and must walk a ways to get there. "Check in at noon," he says to me, and I hold back tears. It is 8:30. He gets me a room after some discussion. A really hot day and me agreeing to an ATV touristy crap outing. Ugh.
The change began with this:
Yes, it is Korean noodle soup with vegetables and an egg. I can't quite comprehend why Russians go to Mui Ne, Vietnam or why Koreans come to Cappadocia, but that is the law. Tons of Koreans here. So I have my really bad attitude and I'm walking into town for dinner thinking 1) I will NEVER travel outside of the US again, ok maybe Canada to see Katherine, but that's ALL 2) OK, if I ever DO travel outside of the US again, it will only be in first class style, and 3) I am sick of this country AND eggplant. When all of a sudden I come across this noodle shop. A Turkish man is working three raised burners and Korean noodles are displayed in the window with only Korean characters on the wall. As I look inside, three noodle eaters finish their meals and ask if the Turkish noodle master will pose with them. They each hold a package of their noodles and give the "thumbs up" sign for the camera and tell the man that he made them "perfect."
Of course I had to try them. "Can I see a menu?" I ask.
He shrugs. "This is it. Noodles, vegetables. egg. They like it."
I ordered a bowl, and they actually were perfect. Two Australian girls walked past and said, "Wow, those look really good," which led to them inviting me up the hill to watch the famous sunset, which is captured in the first picture.
I stayed with them for a while, then wandered down a trail by myself. This is where the weirdest thing yet happened to me...a pair of guys stopped me and said, "Hello, can we take a picture with you?"
Surprised, I said, "Why?"
"We are from Iraq and we just want your picture!" says one of them, and they all laugh, embarrassed. So I posed with one, then the other. Then another pair, whom I suppose were their friends, also got in on the picture-taking. Then two more. Now there are six pictures of me with Iraqi men circulating. I'm not sure what to do about it.
But it was a spectacular view, and suddenly, I let up on my previous three decisions a little. Later, I walked through Weird Town and found a carpet guy I really liked. His shop was kind of up the street, not gaudy or anything. He "fixed" carpets for a living and seemed pretty cool. So, I fell in love with this carpet and want to know what you think. It's 60 years old, from this area. All hand-dyed. I have until tomorrow to decide, and it can be shipped home:
Turkey crazy? Have they finally gotten to me? Or is it really, really beautiful?
Off to bed. Getting up at 4 am to go up in a hot air balloon for sunrise. Another touristy thing, but this will probably not be crap.
No eggplant, but admit it - you enjoyed the Korean soup surprise, too
6 comments:
Buy it! You'll regret it if you don't. We bought one from one of the touristy places and I love it. Every time I look at it I am reminded of a wonderful trip to Turkey.
Never leave the US!? Seriously. Never experience Korean Australian Turkish Noodles and fall in love with a rug which glows?
It does glow.
Buy it. That is an order from your mom who is sitting beside me. We are experiencing our own lovely sunset here at the lake, but it isn't near as grand as yours!
We loved the Korean soup surprise! Perfect. And the rug is perfect for you. I say buy it too.
Dad says Hi.
Love you from all of us.
Angie
First, it was a bad day. But you will leave the US/Canada again. With me. Somewhere. Promise me!
Second, you will regret it forever if you leave that rug behind. It is beautiful... you know that wall hanging above my fireplace? It's the same kind of "touristy" thing from India but every day it makes me happy. Buy it!
Third, I can't believe you took a night time bus ride. All my worst travel stories involve them. I've vowed never, ever, ever to ride one again! So when we travel, you won't have to worry about that. :-)
I really didn't even notice eggplant was missing until you pointed it out.
Is it Stain Master(R)?
Only buy it if it's Stain Master(R).
LOVE CAVE TALK!! Noodle & Rug talk!! Random pics of u w Iraquis!!! UR NIGHT BUS RIDE SURVIVAL STORY TO ADD TO UR LIST!!! Man girl- u r SOMETHING ELSE!!!!
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