Kayseri – Goreme

5th September 2014           35℃            164km
Kayseri – Derinkuyu – Goreme

I rode out to the underground city of Derinkuyu, where I descended over 100M underground, through a maze of ancient, narrow passageways. The tunnels carved through the sandstone, with massive rolling stone doors strategically placed to block the enemy from entry. It was a brilliant experience climbing through these tunnels, despite bumping my head on numerous occasions. They must have built these tunnels for shorter people.

After a quick stop for a 4ft long Turkish pide for lunch, I continued onto the town of Goreme. Most of Goreme’s buildings are actually caves, carved into the rock pinnacles. I located a hotel (not difficult, there are so many) with a room carved into the rock. After dumping my gear, I walked around Goreme and explored the ancient churches, also carved into the hillsides. Many still contained magnificent frescoes, vivid with colour due to their being devoid of light inside. Walking through these 10th century churches was amazing, with kitchens, bathrooms all carved into the rock, with small doorways. Goreme is an amazing place, even despite the tourist volume, and it was a pleasure to explore on foot, albeit sweaty.

I also met a young Turkish literature teacher named Ridvan, and we had a good conversation on Turkish history, along with modern Turkish society and culture. It was very interesting to hear a local perspective on the divisions in Turkish culture and the different opinions towards Ataturk.

I ended the day with a veritable feast at a local restaurant, before retiring to my cave room, directly adjacent to the mosque speaker…. Which means a 4am wake up call.