Next I headed to the Capadoccia region - famed (and heavily touristed) for it's strange landscape formations. The columns and spires are the result of uneven erosion into soft rock formed from volcanic sediment. This soft rock is also easy to carve into, leading to the area's other big draw - houses, churches, and even cities built out of and into solid rock. I stayed in Goreme, backpacker's central and a good base from which to explore the surrounding area. This town was built up in and among these strange rock mounds. In fact, my room was carved into the base of one of these pillars. Kind of funky. I spent the first afternoon checking out the nearby rock citadel in the next town over. Great views of Uchisar from the top. I walked back from here through Pigeon Valley, so named because of the pigeon houses carved into the side of the walls. Why? Guano = good crops.
The next day I stopped in the local "open air museum" - a group of churches built into the rock, replete with religious frescos in various states of decay. I spent the rest of the day walking through the eerie landscape, passing loads of carved out rooms and passageways. Though long, it was a good hike through constantly changing, but bizarre, terrain. Another day I went to see a local pottery village. Though I got to try my hand at a kick wheel, the place wasn't too exciting. The most interesting thing was the pottery showroom of eight rooms carved into the rock, including a cool lifesized statue of a potter. And a room which could only be described as odd - a collection of locks of women's hair. Can you say fetish?
One day I took a day tour out to the Ilhara Valley. It had some pretty scenery, but wasn't as nice as I was expecting. Again there were a few churches cut into the hillside. The best part of the tour was visiting the ancient monastary at Selime. This was a huge network of catacombs carved up the side of a mountain, with loads of passageways and tunnels to explore. I climbed a tunnel which led all the way to the top, but didn't go the last 20 feet - too hairy. The last day in the area I rented a bike and headed out to the small town of Mustafapasa. There is a cool house built by a Greek immigrant in traditional style, now a hotel. This is definitely a quaint area, with donkey driven carts, traditional dress, and a leisurely pace to life.
I turned out to be in the right place at the right time: that night there was a free concert at Aspendos - the most intact Roman ampitheater in the country, restored and used for occasional performances. I'm not sure exactly what I saw, but it looks like there was a good sized orchestra featuring a star pianist. Unlike the slightly dull classical piece I was expecting, the music was jazzy and modern, and accompanied by slides and film projected onto the giant wall of the stadium. It was pretty damned cool sitting in a Roman-era open air theatre with 5000 other people watching this show, for free. Plus there were fireworks for the finale.
Next stop, Kas. This turned out to be a very tourist seaside resort town, a bit expensive for my taste. I was hoping to do some sea kayaking out to some sunken ruins, but it didn't pan out. So instead I daytripped it over to Patara, where there is a wide, gently sloping, mile long beach (at one time rated best in the world). It was a good beach. There were other day trips I could have made, but I was getting anxious to get on to Greece, so I booked it on up the coast to Selcuk, home of the ruins of Ephesus. This site is supposedly the largest and best preserved classical city on the Mediterranean, but I have only one thing to say: now I realize why they call them ruins. Although this was kind of a bust, it was effective at breaking up the sixteen hour bus ride back to Istanbul, where I would rest up, refuel, and head on over to Athens.
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