Ihlara – Goreme

7th September 2014         23-33℃           110km
Ihlara – Goreme

I started the day very early, so that I could walk the length of the Ihlara Valley before the midday sun.
Leaving the hotel, I descended into the beautiful cool valley, and followed the course of the river at the bottom of the canyon.   Into the walls of the canyon, many cave shelters and churches had been carved by Christian monks, who resided here during the Byzantine period.  Most of the frescos are from the 10th century, and despite their age still show brilliant colours, although sadly many have been damaged by both vandalism and religious bigotry.

About half way along the walk, I met a father and son who had setup a small stall selling fresh juice, made from oranges and pomegranates that they kept cool in the river.  The juice was delicious and I relaxed by the river for some time, enjoying the river sounds and the ducks making their way down to the waters edge.

Arriving at the far end of the valley, it was still early, but I managed to find a store and asked them to call a taxi for me.  The taxi driver was surprised to find me wanting to ride back to the hotel at such an early hour, he said noone ever walked so early.  I told him, “Exactly! I had the whole valley to myself”  To which he laughed.

Back at the hotel, I had breakfast and packed before heading out on the bike, back towards Goreme.  On the way, there was a section of roadworks, where the road was deep gravel.  The speed limit was 30kmh due to the surface, but two semi trailers passed me at over 100kmh, pelting me and the bike with gravel, so hard that one of the stones hit the toe of my boot and it still hurt, despite the protection from the boot.  I waved madly at the second truck, trying to get him to slow down, to no avail.

Back in Goreme, I made arrangements to take a hot air balloon flight for the next morning, and after watching the sunset over Goreme, headed to the hammam for a scrub, massage and soak.

After steaming up in the sauna, I was instructed to lay down on a warm marble table, with water flowing from the centre.  There I was scrubbed from head to toe, before my hair and beard were also scrubbed clean.  It was probably the cleanest I’ve been in months, after having an entire layer of skin removed by a man wielding 4ft of emery cloth.
With this cleansing stage completed, I was moved to another room where a Turkish truckie (he at least looked like one) massaged my sore muscles and tried to restore my body to pre-ride state.

I left the hammam spotlessly clean, and somewhat refreshed, although I still prefer the self-service approach of a Japanese onsen, over a Turkish hammam.