Continuing East to Armenia

Grand départ ce matin, marqué des petites suprises de rigueur: pneus à regonfler, sacoches à rajuster, bol oublié à racheter dans un bazaar turc, vitesses à desserrer. Après 35 km de banlieue & autoroute, nous arrivons enfin dans la campagne d'avril.

En fait... nous sommes sur la route de la soie! Ce caravanserail n'était rien d'autre qu'une station service améliorée, avec chambres, artisans, commerce, restos, etc. pour le ravitaillement des caravaniers et leurs équipages. Il est établi près d'un grand trou d'eau qui a bien perdu 10-15 m de profondeur avec l'assèchement d'un lac voisin et la baisse de la nappe.

Chance, le caravanserail nous invite aussi à camper dans le jardin! Première nuit réussie, l'appel à la prière nous fait gicler deux fois du sommeil, sans merci. Czytaj więcej

We are now on the edge of Cappadocia. Arriving at the hotel, Alain and I arrange to be dropped at the bottom of the Ihlara valley, wending our back on foot up the wonderfully green valley which is hedged with red cliffs and filled with rock formations and carved caves. A lush river runs between the meadows at the base of the cliffs.

The valley and its formations are due to the nearby volcano. The rocks are soft and easily carved, hardening when exposed to air. It is a troglodyte heaven. There are multistory appartment caves. There are caves containing a monastery with kitchens with huge chimneys. There are chapels galore from the 4th century with carved arches and frescos from the 9th and 11th centuries. There are rooms with cow troughs and there are passages that were camel routes for the caravans that used to run here. All of these are carved out of the rocks.

At the base of the valley are the fairy chimneys - a classic of Cappadocia- they are hard not to fall in love with. Several of these have also been internally carved out.
We find so many things to visit along the valley - our afternoon walk extends until dinner time. Czytaj więcej