Capadoccia: The Flintstones Never Had it this Good
Earth melded onto rocks, rocks perched atop pillars carved from fire, fire molded valleys into undulating folds, like, dare I say it, labia tissue of Mother Earth. It's an eerie landscape, something out of a B-movie.
Somewhere, between millions and hundred of thousands years long since hurdled into irrelevance (as with all numbers higher than 2,000) – volcanic forces, combined with wind and water, decided to, unlike the band of the same name, create lasting impressionistic art in a non-descript middling area in what is now known as Turkey.
Earth melded onto rocks, rocks perched atop pillars carved from fire, fire molded valleys into undulating folds, like, dare I say it, labia tissue of Mother Earth. It's an eerie landscape, something out of a B-movie. Half the time, I expected to find cardboard props behind the pink-guava mountains.. moonscape, the tourist industry describes it. I call it something straight out of Gaudi's brain, or a Salvador Dali painting.. if he ever chose to depict landscapes.
Later, proto-humans, then Hittites, then scavengers and stragglers and nomadic types and Christians and Arabs and Ottomans and finally – Turks – came and settled in the rocks, hewing out caves and churches and underground cities from the soft karst. They came to hide, to live, to cavort, to make war and food and life... they dug labyrinths, warrens of hovels and nooks and crannies deep underground, they carved pillars and chapels high into the cliffs, and when I got there, they converted a lot of these into hotels.
Have dinner in candlelit dens with hookah pipes, local wine and a rush of melodies and drums. Sleep on wrought iron beds nestled into stone walls, as the soft glow of lamps illuminate the carved ceilings of natural rock. Or hole up in the fairy chimneys (looking a lot like big stone penises) that jut up from grassy knolls, their shafts punctuated by tiny windows, slits of history. Being a tourist in Cappadoccia can be great, and it is one of the few times where I think you can get a sense of the place without going on the off-beaten path.
Of course, you can also choose to strike out beyond the 120 euros hot air balloon rides, the packaged off-road tours, and the 20 minutes of real worth sunset horse ride through the desert.. and get lost in this weird wonderland altogether, which is what I did...