We’ve spent the last few days ballooning, walking in the eroded valleys, tunnelling in underground in cities that once held 10 000, entering cave churches and homes that people dug into the volcanic ash deposited here way back when the Flintstones were around. There is even a Flintstones Hotel in town which is appropriate seeing most hotels and restaurants here are burrowed into the soft stone sides of the hills.
I woke early yesterday and watched the balloons rise over Goreme.I spoke to the workers in the restaurant we ate at in Avanos. The woman was watching me draw a picture of the meal I was eating and writing about the food. In my case meatballs cooked with tomato. onion, garlic and peppers in a clay pot. I asked her about some ingredients and she was very helpful and hovered around watching me draw. I sketched a quickie of Musa, the man in the middle which we all laughed about. He signed his name on the drawing.We ate lunch in Avanos and saw this barber shop nearby.Avanos, a town near Goreme where we are staying, has many pottery kilns and there are many road side stalls selling their wares.This church had a particularly fine cross carved on its ceiling. My wide angle lens gives Sharon a few extra centimetres of height.Many of the churches carved into the hills have adjoining rooms, refectories, kitchens, living quarters – whole towns!
This church complete with columns and domed ceiling was built inside the mountain.
