I hope you enjoy my slide show of our “Day in the Life” experience at the farm in Cappadocia, featuring my photography. Thanks to Nuri, our tour leader, for sending me some Turkish music to accompany my photos!
For the best viewing experience, use a desktop computer, turn up the speakers and view on full screen by clicking on the symbol in the lower left corner of the YouTube screen after the show begins.
Coming up next: TURKIYE #8: KICKING IT IN KONYA & OVERLAND TO ANTALYA
On of my favorite experiences during each international travel journey is seeing how people live in different countries and learning about their work and daily life. Traveling with Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) assures us plenty of opportunities to do this on each tour.
First, we visited Osiana, a women’s cooperative that was founded in 2024 and became a beneficiary of Grand Circle Foundation (OAT is owned by Grand Circle). The foundation donates equipment and fabrics to Osiana, so the women can make products to sell at local farmers markets, empowering them to be financially independent. The cooperative is open to any woman in the community, and the ladies can make whatever products they would like.
Hand-stamped tote bags are one of the products, and we had the opportunity to make our own bags with their handmade wood block stamps dipped in paint.
(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)
This lady made this cute little hot air balloon key chain, which I purchased for $6:
Tote bags in hand, we headed to the countryside to visit a family and learn about life on their farm. Irfan and Zeliha Abdullah, along with Irfan’s parents, grow grapes to sell for making wine. Cappadocia produces the best wine in Turkiye; other crops in the region are potatoes, peanuts, and pumpkin (grown for seeds).
After learning how to make Gozleme, we enjoyed a wonderful lunch with the family. Don’t know what Gozleme is? See for yourself by watching a short four-minute slide show I made that will appear in the next post, Turkiye #7 (Part 2).
Zeliha, especially, made quite an impression on me. She was so full of joy; lots of smiles and laughter! We really connected, even though we didn’t speak each other’s language.
Next, we visited Omurlu Ceramics, a family business that began in 1807 and now has 20-25 potters and artists and is in its seventh generation. Such beautiful works of art!
Our final stop was to tour a cave home that has been in the family since the 1800’s. The current family has lived there since 1954, and they earn money by inviting small tour groups or individuals to tour their home. They also have a small gift shop in an adjacent room.
What a fabulous day!
Next up: TURKIYE #7 (PART 2): A DAY IN THE LIFE OF CAPPADOCIA- A SLIDE SHOW
Cappadocia is famous for its hot air ballooning, and I can see why. In addition to the favorable wind conditions for pilots, the landscape is quite a draw for photographers and anybody looking to enjoy a fabulous view. Bruce dislikes being at heights like that, so we opted to take a hot air balloon watching tour. This way, we could enjoy the views of the launch from the ground as well as at a spot overlooking the valley. I didn’t mind; it was my idea! I had been hot air ballooning a few times before—the best experience at the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, where I joined a friend who worked for Nikon. He got us both press passes, allowing us to go up in the balloons for free. So, rather than go ballooning on my own and spend $300 to possibly get stuck in the middle of the 20-passenger balloon, we spent a fraction of that on the small group tour.
The first stop was to see the launch, which was beautiful. It was still quite dark when most of the balloons took off, so I just watched and enjoyed the beauty of it all. It was quite a sight!
(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)
After the balloons had launched, we hopped back into the van to drive a short distance to a gorgeous overlook to see the balloons flying in front of the rising sun. Spectacular!
We rejoined the group after breakfast to visit the Goreme Open-Air Museum, Cappadocia’s most visited attraction. Within the museum grounds, there were fifteen cave churches and eleven rectories dating back to the 11th century. At the time, they were used extensively as Christian churches, but they were abandoned until it later became a Turkish village community.
Jumping ahead to the 1970’s, scholars came to analyze the cave churches, and the Turkish government took steps to preserve them. Tourism increased when Cappadocia was declared a “Privileged Region for Touristic Development.” It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, which has increased tourism to over one million visitors every year.
For lunch, we were driven to a traditional Turkish restaurant to enjoy Turkish cuisine cooked in clay pots and bazlama (Turkish flatbread). It was all so delicious!
Next, we visited a carpet cooperative where they weave and sell beautiful Turkish carpets with colorful and intricate designs. Also known as Anatolian rugs, they are made in the region historically dominated by the Ottoman Empire. An important part of Turkish culture, these carpets have a long and extensive history.
I found it interesting that Turkish carpets are the masterpiece of a dowry. When a woman gets engaged to be married, two weeks before the wedding, women in the neighborhood and family are invited to see the dowry her parents are giving to the couple. Everybody brings gifts, but the star of the party is the Turkish carpet that the family members made. Everybody in attendance wants to see it and learn if the bride made the carpet.
At the carpet cooperative we visited, the women are paid by the number of knots they tied. They can either work at the store or at home; however, if they work at the store, they receive benefits. The women who choose to work at home get paid only for the completed rug.
The rugs are woven with only natural fibers such as wool, silk and cotton (and sometimes even goat and camel hair), and the spinning is done by hand. The dyes used are obtained from plants, insects, and minerals. Red dye, for example, is made from Madder roots. The price of the rug depends on the type of fiber used and the number of knots. Silk is the most expensive, because it is fine. It requires 100 knots to produce just one square centimeter! The benefit, however, is that a silk rug is the most durable.
From balloon watching to visiting Goreme and then learning about Turkish carpets; it was a full and enjoyable day! We capped it off with a memorable group dinner at a restaurant in a small village. The view of the volcanic rock formations was spectacular, just out the window next to where I was sitting at the end of the table. Across from me sat our bus driver, who didn’t speak any English, but seemed so kind and always greeted us with a friendly smile. While waiting to be served, I broke my self-imposed rule of no phones at the tables and brought mine out. (Don’t even get me started with how I feel about my dining companions taking calls, texting, or checking emails while we are having a conversation!) I quickly opened Google Translate, so we could have a conversation we both could understand. We learned a lot about each other, his family, work, and dreams for the future, while dining on Turkish cuisine and passing the phone back and forth. It was truly memorable and an example of what I felt was an appropriate way to use technology.
Next up: TURKIYE #7: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF CAPPADOCIA
To get from Istanbul to Cappadocia, our group took a short flight, about one hour and twenty-five minutes. The flight may have been short, and we may have been traveling from one Turkish location to another; but we arrived at what appeared to be an entirely different planet.
Located on the plateau of the Taurus Mountains, the geology is what made me feel like we had left planet Earth. Soft volcanic rock of the landscape had eroded into towers, cones, valleys, and caves—all very dramatic and photogenic.
The volcanic rock was the result of three volcanic eruptions over a period of 10,000 years—the last one being in 1854.
Throughout the countryside, there are rock churches and underground tunnel complexes that date back to the Byzantine and Islamic eras. We stopped to visit Ozkonak, one of these ancient underground cities.
(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)
These are all photos taken by our tour leader, Nuri:
Although the age of this particular complex is uncertain, it was probably built during the Byzantine era for protection from enemies. It was discovered in 1972 by a local farmer who was curious about where his excess crop water was disappearing to. He discovered an underground room, which ultimately revealed a large city that could have housed 60,000 people for up to three months during a siege. Imagine his surprise at that discovery! The complex contains ten floors, to a depth of 40 meters; however, only four floors are open.
This volcanic granite city is connected by tunnels and contains a pipe communication system reaching each of its levels—a unique feature of this particular complex. Each carved room had ventilation provided by further piping when the city was sealed during sieges.
Another unique feature was the holes above the tunnels that were used for dumping hot sand on the enemy. The complex also has a water well, winery and moving stone doors.
After visiting Ozkonak, we continued our drive to Cappadocia, stopping along the way to see some of the volcanic formations along the roadside:
Misty Cave Hotel, our base for three nights, was the most unusual hotel I had ever seen! The rooms were built into a volcanic rock hillside and our bathroom was downstairs, underground. Each room was completely different, so our group enjoyed visiting each other and checking them out. This was something we will never forget!
Dinner at the hotel:
Coming up next: TURKIYE #6: BEAUITIFUL BALLOONS, GORGEOUS GOREME & COLORFUL CARPETS
Elaine-iaK's Travels: A Traveler's Tales of People, Places, Photos, Pools... and CHOCOLATE! 