Friday, September 26 –

A jam-packed and fulfilling day. No early morning jog because our day started at 4:30AM. Thank you, Claremont fitness peeps, I think I was the only one not fazed by the time!

Why the early start? A sunrise hot air balloon ride over Cappodocia. Just an amazing experience that I could not properly reflect in my photos, but I tried.

After breakfast, back at the hotel (actual pots of coffee, not machines!) Taylan took us out for a walking tour of the village. Mustafapasa is small and far less touristy than some of the larger villages, which is nice.

Our tour took us past stone houses being renovated (definitely some fixer up specials here), local restaurants and shops as well as some local color–tomatoes being grown on a sandy ledge and old women who invited us up to watch them boiling grapes into syrup for the winter.

Next we took a short drive to see the Goreme Open Air Museum. It is a valley where Christian monks carved churches, chapels, refactories, and dormitories into the rocks. The cave spaces include frescoes, icons, and painted patterns. Photos aren’t allowed, but it’s amazing to think of this detailed work being done in places that essentially cliffs, as far back as the 4th century AD.

I also once again enjoyed watching Taylan try to deal with frustrating tour leaders who clearly don’t play well with others. It was fun watching him try to deal with the frustrating behavior–same, Taylan, same!

We had a lot of free time to climb (and it was climbing) into the various rooms and chapels (once again, working around the dreaded influencers). By the time we were back to our meeting point, everyone was ready for a break.

And what a nice break it was! We went to the house of an older woman who had made her living weaving carpets. She now makes lunches for Rick Steves tour groups. We had a very traditional meal, simple, but delicious. She also answered questions (through Taylan’s translations) about life in a small Turkish village.

Mid-afternoon we had free time to relax a bit or shop.in the town. After a short rest to sort my photos, I took a little stroll downtown to poke around the shops.

Later in the afternoon, Taylan led an optional hike. Dan was settled in with some tourmates who were sharing their bottle of wine, but I figured I might as well run the full gamut of the day’s activities.

About 8 of us went. It was actually more of a stroll, slightly uphill and then around the area above the town, but it was nice to walk in a quiet area surrounded by grape vines.

When I returned, we had been invited to join some others for dinner, and we had a lovely meal together at a local restaurant. We tried pot kabobs, a Turkish specialty, and they were delicious. A perfect end to a very full day.

22,626 steps

11.0 miles