CHAPTER 13
Arriving in Cappadocia, Turkey is like stepping back in time. The dry desert air, the strange rock formations that dominate the landscape, the goats and donkeys wandering the dirt roads, the muezzin’s call from the minaret echoing off the valley walls… it all combines to give a very 12th century feel to the place. And oh ya, did I mention that they live in caves there? You can’t help but feel like you are from a couple hundred years in the future when people are still living in caves.
If you can believe it, this is actually exactly why we came all the way to central Turkey, for the caves. It’s true, also for the history, and the culture, and the surreal character of the place… but mostly for the caves. I have to admit, whereas the rest of my traveling companions would probably have been happier spending these couple days of their vacation somewhere with a little less ‘barren wasteland’, and a little more ‘sandy beach’, the inner troglodyte in me was absolutely ecstatic to be looking out over the untold wonders of Cappadocia just waiting to be explored. If I haven’t said it before, I just want to say “thank you” right now to you three, for indulging me with this little adventure! But deep down though, I know you liked it too 🙂
In any case, here we were, in Cappadocia, with rooms at a cave hotel (that’s right- for the next two nights we would be living in caves too!), a rental car, and a very short amount of time to reconnoiter the area and find the best it had to offer. I had done a little research before we got there, and had a crude map of the sights I thought we could reasonably see in one long, ok, very long day of sightseeing, but just to make sure, I verified the feasibility of my general plan with the proprietor of our hotel. To my relief, and my companion’s dismay, he gave it a thumbs up. And so, after a tasty, but light breakfast, we jumped into the car and drove off into the Turkish country side in search of some of the most remarkable attractions we’d ever see.
First stop, the underground city of Derinkuyu. Now, this is a place, that if I didn’t have the photos to prove it exists, you would think I had dreamed up- it’s a cave city and fortress, built most likely by the Hittites in the 15th to 12th century BCE, for protection from marauding armies who occasionally came by to cause trouble- though it has been used ever since by an ever changing list of inhabitants. The dozens of miles of passageways descend over 280ft into the ground, with at least eight levels, and it was designed to be fully functioning: with stables for livestock, store rooms for food, wells, air vents, communal kitchens and refectories, churches, schools, wineries, even graveyards, and accommodations for 20 or 30 thousand people! Incredible!
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