Going Underground

 

Time to relax a little after the bike adventure as we headed inland to Cappadocia for a three day tour. We did not get to our cave hotel in Urgup until around 7pm but still we took in the wierd feeling as we settled in for the night. We made a mistake by taking the easy option and eating dinner at the hotel instead of clambering downtown to find a local spot but the tour was at least underway. Then we climbed into our cave and left the world behind.

 

 

This was gentleman's touring as we met our guide and driver the next day at 0930 and, as was to be repeated over our time here, we had finished the tour by around 3.30pm each day.

 

So over the three days we visited caves, churches, monasteries and underground cities in this fascinating part of the world. Our guide was an excellent host as we tried the local food and wine as we went along. We also took several 4-5km walks in the area in the Ihlara valley and Red Valley areas and all in all we enjoyed the tour.

 

We had enough time in Urgup to relax with a drink or two and we also caught up with our internet obligations and the world outside.

 

The last day in the area was the day for potato harvesting, all done by hand and mainly by women of course and it was clear the autumn was well underway with the poplars in the valleys turning colour. So we cannot run against the weather any longer and we now head for perhaps the biggest historical cross over point in the world-Istanbul. There, this adventure terminates and we face the prospect of heading down under and picking up with backward facing Team Australia. What an exciting prospect that is!

But we will look forward to catching up with family and friends and turning ourselves towards Christmas.

 

 Postscript: During our travels we try to get as local as one can as a stranger in town. One way we do this is to explore how the medical and hospital scene works. During previous travels we have tried emergency and outpatient reactions to potential heart attacks in France and we have tested Swiss reaction to head injury after a fall. So this time we have tested the Turkish emergency with eye problem areas.

Yes, it could have been serious with Yvonne seeing flashes and sparks at night over the last few days giving the idea that perhaps she has a potential retina detachment, . So we had to pick Turkish Independence day (not that big a deal it seems) to rapidly get to know Istanbul and to deal with language issues as we ventured into and out of three hospitals before ending up in a major eye hospital where, thankfully things were resolved. So now we can rejoin life and see a bit of Istanbul.