Birthdays and Hikes

We strategically had a pretty chilled night yesterday, given we had a busy day yesterday and were due a big night tonight. We started our day by sleeping in a bit and heading to the Goreme valley to begin a small hike. This wasn't a particularly difficult hike, but it was amazing as you strolled through the valley, passing some ancient buildings simply carved into the rock. You would be walking, and suddenly there is a huge structure, hidden in the walls of the valley, that you can walk all the way through.

The most amazing part of this tour is the access that you can get to some incredibly ancient buildings. Instead of being blocked off, the Turkish government allows for unrestricted access. Meaning that despite having to climb multiple stories high with nothing but some small foot indentations stopping you from falling to your death, they just say, "Go ahead." I think it's great, but it is something that would not happen in Australia. The landscape was incredible, and I've never quite seen anything like it. Not only do these spires of rock erupt out of the alley, eventually creating a canyon, but these spires have also been used for thousands of years to accommodate people and their businesses. It is truly a hard thing to fathom, and it placed Capaddocia close to the top of my list in terms of surprises on my trip. I did not expect the diversity of the site that I got. Highly recommend.

After this, however, there was little else planned, and so we simply began playing cards. Some got the Turkish bath experience or went on additional walks, but I felt like it would be good to spend it with Annie on her birthday. As such, we had some beers and chilled before heading to dinner. After dinner, the drinking really began, but so did the chaos. We had multiple bottles of wine, and played fuck the bus, a truly vicious and ruthless game that can get you incredibly drunk if luck is not on your side. But at the same time, with the gods smiling down on you, you may escape scot-free, only worsening the effect for the person who follows you. Sarah got very stuck on the bus and went through a whole deck of cards, before we allowed her to retire for the round. After this, it is safe to say that we were very drunk. We then tried to organise people to go to a rooftop bar, but Sarah and I realised that Annie had disappeared. By the time we found her, she was hiding from a very strange and very forward receptionist who was making moves on her and sending some very strange messages to her on instagram. As such, we hid for a while before we realised everyone had gone to bed. In the end, we decided we had to leave, so the Englishmen and I made sure to block her from view as we evacuated the building. We wandered the streets for quite a while, playing with a friendly stray dog and just chatting. Eventually, though, the single stray dog became about 15, and the girls started to freak out a bit, and we went home to retire for the night. Sarah and I stayed up a bit longer chatting and so didn't get to bed until about 4 am. Other than checking out, we had nothing else to do tomorrow, and I planned to make the most of it.Read more