Day 8, 30 April: Cappadocia

The GradyBunch love an early start, especially when it means we're heading off for one of our trip highlights - a balloon ride over Cappadocia.

Many of you will be aware that I'm terrified of heights, so I was a little nervous about being stuck in a basket hanging from a pile of inflated silk.  However, if Bonne (my Mum) can go hot air ballooning in Turkey, then so can I!

I'm not sure when ballooning became the 'must do' here, but clearly it's now a huge business.  Each morning there are literally hundreds of balloons drifting across the sky, thanks to the hard work of thousands of locals on the ground.

By the time we arrived at our launch site, the majority of balloons were in the air - such a pretty sight in the sunrise.  

Our balloon was slowly taking shape, and we hopped in... Moments later our pilot uttered 'I'm sorry, we cancel, it's safety' pointing towards a large gaping hole towards the top of the balloon.  The collective sigh of disappointment from the 12 passengers was loud, but I'm just so grateful that the person who flies the balloon has the final call on safety!

Hasty phone calls, and another balloon appears.  By this time, it's nearly 2 hours since the first balloons were launched, and the skies are starting to clear.  This meant we had magnificent uninterrupted views across the Love Valley and the whole Goreme National Park - a World Heritage listed site.

An amazing and unforgettable experience for all of us, that somehow didn't test my fear of heights at all, although I'll admit that I only looked down once...

The 'fairy chimneys' are the result of volcanic activity and the erosion of sedimentary rock beneath the basalt caps.  Over time, the fairy chimneys will continue to erode, form and fall.  From above, we were able to get a full appreciation of how far the formations stretched, and how magnificent this area is.  So glad we came down here!

The great thing about a balloon ride at sunrise is that the rest of the day is still free to explore.  Our itinerary today included a hike through the Rose Valley, lunch prepared and served by local Turkish women and then a visit to the underground city.

The hike down the Rose Valley was a fabulous way to spend the morning.  The weather was perfect, skies were blue, and it was so nice to be out and active in the fresh air.

Getting up close to the rock formations we could see the 'Pigeon Houses' that were carved into the side hundreds of years ago.  These were built to allow people to collect the pigeon eggs, and droppings for use as paint.

Historically, the predominant religion in the region was Christianity, so there are many tiny churches and chapels carved in to the rocks.  This particular one was tiny!

Some of the rock formations that have previously house locals are now becoming very dangerous and are uninhabitable. Apparently though, if you have enough money and the right connections, you can still buy sites and many are being renovated and converted to hotels (although I think the formation below is beyond hope!).

Our tour stopped at Pasagi - our guide's favourite site.  Here we could see the chimneys forming, with rows joined together that will eventually erode and separate.  You can see the consistent line of the heads of the chimneys, where the basalt sits on top of the sedimentary rock.

This was also the site of a monastery many years ago, and we were able to enter a small house, with the kitchen, living areas and stable still clearly identifiable.

This town and country have their sights clearly set on the Tourism market, and some operators have really managed to build the end to end experience.  Lunch was held in King's Valley on a small farm that belongs to the owner of our hotel, a balloon company and tour company.  Local ladies prepared an amazing vegetarian meal of yoghurt soup, stuffed eggplant and capsicum, salads, a chick pea dish and a pumpkin dessert.  Fabulous food, in a setting that you'd find in a Spicers Hotel!

Last stop for the day was the Kaymakli Underground City.  It's hard to believe that 4000 people lived in this maze of underground rooms that go down to over 30m deep for weeks on end.  The first few rooms and initial overview was enough, and the thought of tight tunnels further down saw us take the option to resurface pretty quickly.  No miners in this house!!!

Dinner at a great local restaurant, and a short walk under a starry night, and our Geography/ Earth Science lesson was complete...

Love M & theBunch xxx

Day 7, 29 April: Heading to Cappadocia

While the GradyBunch aren't known for relaxed holidays at a leisurely pace, the last 6 days have really taken our adventures to a new level.  It has literally been non-stop, with sleep grabbed in an hour here and there, so the thought of a day in transit was pretty appealing - even when it included 2 flights!

Our tour company booked us with Pegasus Airlines - the JetStar of Turkish skies.  A couple of things stood out - firstly, the requirement to deliver your weapons to the 'Weapons Delivery Desk' (better than on the plane I guess!), and then the inflight safety announcement video, filmed using pre-schoolers!  Very cute!

Our first glimpses of Cappadocia were amazing - this place is like nothing I've ever seen before...

Thankfully Andrew had the energy to go climbing and capture the first of many photos that are bound to be taken in the coming days!

I think it's impossible to stay in Goreme (the central town in Cappadocia) and not stay in a cave hotel. Ours is particularly quaint, set high on the hill with rooms in every nook and cranny.  It's been lovely to stay here, sip Turkish tea and coffee and enjoy the magnificent view!  Definitely a hotel highlight of our tour :)

Can't wait to explore Cappadocia tomorrow!

Love M & theBunch xxx

Day 6, 28 April: Ephesus

Our Ancient History lessons continued at Ephesus.  Built by the Greeks in the 10th Century BC, then the Lydians from 600BC, and the city later flourished under the Romans in around 100BC to become a thriving town and trading centre for slaves, textiles and ceramics.

The land around Ephesus is rich and fertile, so the area was lush with a range of nuts, stone fruit,  berries, olives and herbs. No wonder the food is so good around here!

The view from the top of the city down the main processional street and towards the library gives a real sense of what the city would have been like.  Like Pergamon and Troy, this is a city that has been slowly excavated and rebuilt, however there seem to be so many more original artefacts and stone carvings in Ephesus which provide a better picture of the how the city once was.

The Goddess of Victory, Nike is just one of hundreds of carvings and statues dotted around the town - so open and accessible.  I wonder if she ever thought that the 'tick' under her right hand would become one of the most recognised brands in the modern world!

Many of the statues have lost their head over the years, however our guide also shared that often statues were created without a head, as this allowed the manufacturers to build up stock (reduced lead time for statue purchasers), and allowed the purchaser to customise the statue, and for future generations to recycle it.  Efficient!

Even the entry to the bath houses were ornate!

The communal latrine was extremely cosy, with 46 seats lined up side by side.  While the marble seats were nice in Summer, Winter was another story, so one of the most common jobs in ancient Ephesus was 'seat warmer'!  In the centre of the seats was a pond filled with frogs - apparently they were there to take the blame for any interesting noises that emerged... Poor frogs.

The building actually had four purposes - toilet, bath house, wine bar and brothel.  At some stage a secret passage was built from the library, providing a great escape for the men who sent their wives off shopping, while they went to 'the library'!

The facade of the Ephesus Library is magnificent, and while it was the 3rd largest library of the time (after Alexandria and Pergamon) the facade actually made it look much more impressive than the single level, 4m deep room that sat behind.

Beside the library was the market used for slave and animal trade.  It's hard to imagine this space filled with thousands of people, fighting to get the best slave!

Another impressive amphitheatre sat at the base of the town.  This one is almost fully excavated, so we got a great sense of the acoustics - pretty impressive!

Leaving Ephesus, we stopped at the Temple of Artemis - one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  The temple was originally built in the Bronze Age (3300 - 1200 BC) and rebuilt three times, however was destroyed in 401AD.  Now, only foundations and a pillar remain visible within a murky lake, on the side of a local road, providing a strong argument for preservation of historical sites!

Tonight we wandered the streets and waterfront of Kusadasi where we're staying.  It's a Cruise Ship port, and the shops definitely reflect a different style of travel! Very pretty spot, so it's easy to understand why people are keen to get here.

Tomorrow is a transit day to Cappadocia... After a huge week I think we'll all appreciate the rest!

Love M & theBunch xxx

Day 5, 27 April: Troy & Pergamon

Our trip now shifts from the Modern History classroom to Ancient History as we visit the ancient ruins of Troy, Pergamon and tomorrow, Ephesus.

My knowledge of Troy stopped at the Trojan Horse, so it's been great to fill in some big gaps with the help of a great guide, Mohamet. 

The City of Troy is actually nine cities that were built on top of each other from 3000BC to 500AD.  The building materials in the early periods were mud brick, so each time an earthquake struck or some other major event occurred, the city was knocked down, and a new one built on top of it.  This means that as archaeologists have excavated the hill, they have found the ruins of older cities at each stage.

Ancient engineering is always fascinating, as the people of the day sought solutions to their biggest challenges.  For the people of Troy, there were two major threats - earthquakes and invasion.  

After the first cities were destroyed by earthquakes, there was a shift to the use of keystones - 6-sided, L-shaped blocks that locked together in the event of an earthquake, and strengthened the structure.  

The Trojans also came up with a couple of ways to manage the threat of invasion.  By placing gates at the top of a ramp, or just around a corner, the enemy would find it near impossible to get a decent run up to ram the gates and break them down.  Simple, but effective!

Every ancient city had an amphitheatre or odeon, so Troy actually had a couple over time.  These amphitheatres provide important clues as to the size of the city, as they were generally built to hold 10% of the cities population.  The 4000 seat theatre tells us that Troy was home to 40 000 people - a lot of people for a small site!

At its prime, Troy was a port city on the edge of the Dardanelles.  Today, there is prime agricultural land surrounding the city, and the Dardanelles can only be seen in the far distance.

Work continues on the excavation of Troy, however the majority of this is completed by archaeologists during their summer holidays.  At the current rate, it will be hundreds of years before the full extent of the city is revealed... But it's still a beautiful place to visit.

Next stop... Pergamon.  Our drive to our next desitination was quite an adventure... a blown tyre in the middle of nowhere looked like it was going to kill our plans for the day.  Instead, it resulted in animated Turkish conversations on the side of the road, before a car arrived from nowhere to help out - 1 hour, and we were back on the road!

Pergamon is situated in a magnificent spot high above the city of Bergama, and is therefore officially an Acropolis (city on the hill).  You can see why the Greeks, and later the Romans, found the spot appealing - amazing 360 degree views of your enemy approaching were pretty useful in ancient times!

There is an interesting contrast between the Greek and Roman building styles.  The Greeks stonemasons carefully selected and laid stone that didn't require any further rendering.   The Romans on the other hand, seemed to take the view that anything can be covered up, so built their walls supported by red brick and mortar, before covering it in marble.

Despite their lack of 'form' the Romans were big on 'function', so managed to bring water to the top of the hill using Aquaducts.  Between the dream, the design, and the build, its all together a pretty impressive feat!

Parts of Pergamon have been rebuilt by archaeologists in recent years.  In the photo below of the columns of the temple, you can see the lower sections look new, and are quite differnt to the upper sections.  This gives us a fantastic sense of how things would have been, but I wonder if in years to come we'll regret the fact that we've interfered with these ancient ruins?  There's probably a Year 10 debate somewhere in that!!!

Again, the obligatory amphitheatre... But this time it seats 10 000.  Huge!  Our guide, an ex-High School teacher recounted the story of the origin of applause at Pergamon.  Traditionally, no one was allowed to leave until after the Emporer, however night after night the Emporer would come to watch the theatre or gladiators and fall asleep, so the people of Pergamon had to remain in their seats until the Emporer woke up in the morning.  

After 3 nights of this, they devised a plan - by clapping at the end of the performance, they would wake the Emporer up, and everyone would get home at a reasonable hour... And so, applause was born!

Some parts of Pergamon are amazingly well preserved.  This section of rooms that housed prisoners, animals, wine and storage was virtually intact - no doubt there have been some repairs, but you wouldn't know it.  As you can imagine, the temperature dropped significantly when we were surrounded by stone.

One of the most famous parts of Pergamon is the library - 2nd largest in the ancient world, only after Alexandria in Egypt.  The library was once said to have held over 200 000 parchment scrolls made of goat skin, but after a fire destroyed all the works at Alexandria, Mark Anthony ordered for all the parchments to be sent from Pergamon.  Sadly, a second fire destroyed these as well, so there are no items remaining from either library - a huge loss.

So that was Pergamon.  A little out of the way, but well worth the trip!

Cheers, M & theBunch xxx