Happy Winter from Kapadokya

Finally some photos from a snow-covered visit to the famed Cappadocia region (sounds Italian, actually central Turkey). Cappodocia is a big Turkey tourist site best known for mazes of cave dwellings like the ones pictured here at the Goreme Open Air Museum and underground cities where ancient Christians supposedly sought concealment from invading Muslims. Fellow GAntep Fulbrighter Kelsey and I got a taste of real winter and got to see fairy chimneys looking like they’d just been doused in powdered sugar. Perfection.

Seeing mountains around neighboring city Kayseri, bizarre rock formations, and some SNOW made me feel so at home and really did the trick to put me in the holiday spirit. Thanks to our Fulbright friends Jenny and Dan for hosting us in nearby Nevşehir! What a cool place to call home! Buyrun.

    

Goreme Open Air Museum

Majestic, eh?

                  

I believe Kelsey's caption on a similar photo said something along the lines of,
"Sometimes I remember that two national governments pay for us to be here." Yeahh...
P.S. In this moment I converted Kelsey to the long time Cassidy favorite: jump shots.

Mad Cheesin'

Nope, not Utah. But it toats could be, eh?

Afyon: At the Gates of the Black Opium Fortress

One of my favorite things about Turkey is how little I know about it. Don’t think this effect is from lack of interest or education (but wait, when did I learn about Ottoman or Central Asian history in school...oh right--never) because I’m totally digging novels about Turkish history, reading Turkish news sites, talking to my students about their hometowns, and scouring my Lonely Planet on long bus trips. I’ve got a good handle on the famous Turkey stuff, but I feel like I discover gems with each random trip I get invited on and in each little town where I visit friends. The regional, cultural, political, culinary, urban, and environmental diversity is rich, and I’m loving traveling around and learning SO MUCH about this country. Corndog, I know, but I guess it's kind of why I came here.

This post is about Afyonkarahisar (translated: ‘opium’ ‘black’ ‘fortress’). We went for a Thanksgiving mini-reunion and fell for surprisingly lovely aging Ottoman architecture, ‘typical Turkish’ (ha) charms, and the most striking castle I’ve seen in Turkey (and there have been many) on a tremendous mountain smack dab the middle of town. Really quite a lovely little place. You know, once we got over the coal smog. But whatcha gonna do?

I was super bummed when I saw that this photo of Erik was out of focus. But it's growing on me. Sort of fitting.

"I love you."

Toats Fellowship of the Ring, is it not?

VIII / Fin

I    II    III    IV    V    VI    VII

couldn't ask for better travel buds

a full fulbright crew meet up in kaleci (plus a rando dutchman)

day 8: surprise fbright friends; oddly magical waterfalls of city runoff water (only 3 TL!); goodbye sesh with cassie at Lara Beach; frantic postcard buying (for my apartment wall project); otogar see-offs; ten hour bus ride next to a woman with an infant; a beautiful reunion brunch back in GAntep; home.

And so...

Antalya: Honestly, the views were beautiful, but the city atmosphere kinda blew. After being constantly heckled by (English speaking?!) shop owners and restaurant customer-getters on the streets, I was SO ready to get back to Antep where things are more appropriately Turkey-priced and the meals are actually quality because (a) no one ever has to tell me how delicious their food is and (b) walking vendors usually don’t tell me to, and I quote, “fuck off” when I don’t want any knockoff designer perfume with my kebap. Yep. ... If I had it to do over I’d go straight for Lara Beach, wander around smartly restored Kaleci for a bit, enjoy an alcoholic beverage in a restaurant (a rarity in Turkey and I did have a mighty fine White Russian), and get my fill of fresh orange juice in the morning. If ya ask me, equally (and usually more) spectacular scenery abides in the small coastal towns of the Lycian Peninsula where the lodging is absurdly inexpensive, the oranges are plentiful, and the rakı flows just fine.

Olimpos: We felt like the freakin’ Swiss Family Robinson. Popular, yes, but really cool to see Greekish ruins after living and traveling mostly in eastern Turkey where the Arab influence is so potent.

Chimera: Super weird. Totally wondrous.

Lykian Yolu (Lycian Way): My Turkish friends had no idea what it was, and when I managed to explain that I was going to “walk between villages” they absolutely did not understand why I would do that. In fact they sweetly tried to give me bus advice. The Lycian Way is totally a foreigner thing to to know about and to do, but it should absolutely not be devalued just because the Turks don’t dig on trekking. November was  excellent weather with no one around. Amazing. A double do.

Myra: A serious diamond in the rough--we decided to visit this baby because I recognized a photo on a tour service sign. The Santa Claus eccentricities of Demre were freaky but charming, and in a country where ancient ruins are, well, plentiful, Myra sticks out in my mind for the killer necropolis (ahbadoomcha). Just saying, if I’ve gotta be buried someplace, I’d dig (and again!) the inside of an artfully spiffed up mountainside.

Pamukkale (site): Awesome.

Pamukkale (village): Not. I'm glad we didn't stay long. It was an excellent day trip and the Pamukkale line bus ride from and back to Antalya was breathtaking (if a bit long) and equipped with a wonderful selection of tunes, music videos, and movies.

Heiropolis: An unexpectedly impressive site. Maalesef they charge out the ass for entering specific things like the hamam and the pool. Luckily it’s totally impressive without all the touristy kitsch. Highlights included the beautifully preserved theatre, “main street”, fantastic landscaping, and, of course, a stupendous view.

so great to see ya, jakey

A pretty stellar Bayram that was totally worth the early planning and researching. Loved seeing some Fbright buddies that live across the country. Met a fantastic new Jordanian-date-brining friend. Exploring new glorious outdoor scenes with one of my favorite friends was just over the top awesome.

Southwestern Turkey, you were enchanting, ama it is in the East that my heart abides... 

Good news, everyone! It’s snowing in Gaziantep!

I’ve heard that this only happens once a year. (Which, to be quite honest, is more often than I expected. Yeah... didn’t pack real well for a “plateau” winter.) Well, babybaby! That time is right freakin’ now! Or at least it was. About twenty minutes ago it was snowing big fatty flakes--for at least a solid five minutes. Though short-lived, this baby flurry unleashed my true Utahn. It’s absurd how my mood skyrocketed instantaneously at the sight of snow. And it’s stickin’ around--I’m totally listening to Christmas tunes (real cheesy like--we’re talkin’ Michael Buble style), soaking my freezing feet (wore Chacos on what I thought was gonna be just another rainy day), and having hot chocolate and cookies (even though I just ate). We Utahns are so connected to snow because it both satiates our winter sports lifestyles and fuels our livelihoods. A bad snow year in a ski town not only dampens everyone’s powder-addicted moods but can cripple the economy which just pisses everyone off further. In any case, my relationship with the white stuff (even just a little [of not-drugs]) clearly runs deep when it makes me this giddy even though I was one hundred percent prepared for a no-snow holiday season. Gosh, what good stuff!

Sorry, I know this isn’t very Turkey related. But MAN. Anyways, off to Cappadocia on a midnight thirty bus. Check back for cool geo photos!

VII

 

 

 

Best lookin' (not-)couple 'a yabancilar up in that place.
P.S. I secretly HATE when strangers offer to take my picture. I'm almost always convinced I could have set up a better one with a rock tower and self-timer, but then I feel like a big ol' jerk doing that after someone has very sweetly inconvenienced themselves to help out. Sigh.

I'm telling you, this gets a lot easier once you just accept recurring the feet pics.

Night skiing, anyone? Travertine psych!

day seven: sprinting through the streets of Antalya at seven thirty am; making the bus to Denizli with a solid seven minutes to spare; Pamukkale--best bus line so far in Turkey! (ella fitzgerald/frank sinatra station through pastoral autumn scenes); suckered into scarf buying in the village of Pamukkale (trans: cotton castle); absurdly touristy lunch place with some deliciously authentic gözleme AND three consecutive (but different!) versions of ‘my heart will go on’; meandering through Pamukkale (convenient wiki link for the geologically curious--it's not snow, folks) travertines; turkish security scolding us for going “too far” (big surprise); drifting around the surprisingly impressive ruins of Heiropolis; bizarre non-light and vistas of another (particularly badass) ancient civilization’s empire; surrounded by german/dutch/french/japanese senior citizens; sunset travertine wading; getting caught up on american music videos the whole three (turned four and a half) bus ride back to Antalya; necessary otogar-hostel transport hangups (after more running to catch the “already finished” tram); early am beer in Kaleci with russell; one UNESCO World Heritage Site and turkey-tourist-thing-i-actually-wanna-make-sure-i-see down!

VI

I      II      III      IV      V

    

    

Nope, never gonna get old, guys. #americansoccermomshoes

Pick up some Ottoman-Gypsy babies on your next trip to Southern Turkey.
(Not even a little bit okay.)

day six: “which ancient site d’ya wanna visit today?”; "hallo! hallo! you go to Myra! Myra!"; in-between-german-tour-bus timing at Myra/Kale/Demre (depends on the millennium) ; petra-esque necropolis; giddy theatre ruins scampering; russell woos audio tour chick--scores cep telefonu digits and jake and i score free orange juice (jigga yeah); Saint Nicholas Cathedral; freakyass santa statues and placards all ova town; windy dolmuş ride to Antalya; tramvay cart negotiations (in turkish); turned away from first hostel; mistaking “başka pansiyon” for a helpful hostel recommendation (başka actually just means ‘another’); penthouse of Camel Pension that “definitely could have been an old Ottoman house--yesterday”; late-night fulbrighter lady meet-up; a başka collapse.

Weird.

Weird.

Pretty nice (but still a little weird).

Tempting... [read: 'weird']