One day up in the air - the next one down in the ground!

Today we took a day tour around Cappodocia. There were only ten of us (four Argentinians, two Koreans, a couple from India and us) and our tour guide and a driver. We drove quite a few kilometres and didn't finish until about 6 pm, so we had enough time to get to know each other. We all got on very well and this made the day a special one for us.

Our first stop was a large canyon that a river had carved into the soft local stone. This canyon is the Ihlara Valley and we walked the 360 steps down into the valley and then walked along the river for three or four kilometers. It was an excellent walk with great scenery and a good view of the many caves carved into the steep cliffs.

Next stop was the Selime monastory carved into a hillside. We had to walk up a very steep and awkward hillside for about 120 metres and this really tested our fitness. It was a very impressive set of cave ruins with an equally impressive view over the surrounding flats.

We then went on to the underground city of Derinkuyu. This is the largest and deepest of the underground cities discovered so far and we walked down to the fifth level, 55 metres underground. We saw where they pressed grapes for wine, where they prepared bodies for burial, a chapel, a large common area which it is thought they used for religious education, and where they stabled their livestock. The grey hole below is the ventilation shaft looking down from the fifth level!

The history of these cities is complex, but they were carved out over thousands of years, each successive settlement of peoples carving, modifying and enlarging for their own purposes. In the early centuries after the death of Christ, Christians settled here and used the underground tunnels and caves for refuge from raiding tribes.

After Derinkuyu we returned to Goreme (where we are staying) via a jewellery emporium specializing in onyx and a store specialising in Turkish delight, nuts and dried fruit.

After all that climbing and walking Judith and I were, in the vernacular, knackered so we packed our cases and had an early night. Tomorrow we fly to Barcelona via Istanbul.