8. Cappadocia

So up in the mountains we are. No problem anymore with the oil, The Cruiser is cruising like it should be! Last night we slept on a great spot in a field up in the mountains. a fantastic view but I tell ya’, it was bloody cold at night!

We are up up up in the mountains, oh yes we are!

Before arriving in Cappadocia, we stop in Konya. Konya is a more conservative city and it shows. More than we’ve seen before there are a lot of women who wear a headscarf. In Turkey this is definitely not the rule. It is not a Muslim state, although 98% of the people are Muslim. Religion and how you choose to practice it is a personal choice. So you see girls coverings their hair but their friends do not. At the beach most are in a bikini but some of them have a bathing suit, literally a suit that covers the entire body and the hair. No one turns their head for that, no one looks down on the other.

So, after two days of driving we finally arrive in gorgeous Cappadocia. The area of Cappadocia was formed when mount Erciyes erupted, leaving an image of chimneys and underground cities. You can spend days here walking through the different valleys. And off course like in all touristic town you can hire a guide. Kosta and I are not so guide-minded so we decide to have a bit of a hike on our own. Our first walk is an easy one, no way to get lost. When we want to hike the Love Valley we take off on our own again. And although all the hikes are easy and the entrances are probably easy to find, we have no patience at all for finding the entry to that valley. So we decide to go up the hill, ‘cos logically there is a valley behind. And this my friends is true and a more fun way to hike… but have you also noticed that hills always seem easier from further away than they really are? LOL Not that we’ve climbed the highest mountain, but I am sure the path leading to the valley would have been an easier option. But it was all worth it!

After this great hike we hitch hike back into town. And this is really great in Turkey: you just put your thumb in the air and the first car that comes along, stops! We have not used the car once since we arrived here. Or we walk, or we hitch hike. But of course it could also be that the cars just stop for me ‘cos when Kosta goes into town on his own to see if a parcel from Germany has arrived, he has to walk down into town and walk back up again as no one stopped to take him along! LOL LOL LOL

We are by the way sleeping on a campground. The first days all is quite, but then the troops arrive! First 23 Belgians (Flemish) and their caravans arrive. The next day 13 French caravans pull in. There is also a tour bus full of Germans that stay here. They sleep in a rolling hotel (really, I am not making this up, it is even called Das Rollende Hotel). This is one busy campground. But that really is no problem for us: by the time we take a shower in the morning. the ‘older’ people have left for their organized daytrip. By the time we take a shower in the evening, they all have already taken theirs. A 100 people, 4 showers and it all works out! It is all about good timing my friends. :)

After having visited the underground city, we finally get the parcel we were waiting for and are on our way again. A couple of days more in Turkey and then we'll enter Syria.