A lot of hot air

 Tuesday 17 September

I haul myself out of bed at 6.30am and look out of the window - yes, the balloons have gone up (they're often cancelled at the last minute), so I throw on some clothes, grap my phone and make my way up to the highest roof terrace to gaze at this beautiful, peaceful sight as about 50 hot air ballons take flight, probably about 1km away. I manage to get a few pictures though there are some houses and rocks spoiling the view, but it was well worth getting up for.

After breakfast, the usual random assortment of buffet dishes (although I like the hotel, the food is dreadful and it feels like a canteen, not a dining room), we head off in the bus to take a closer look at the landscape, which currently has UNESCO status but is likely to lose it due to excessive and unbridled commercial activity - everywhere we went, bar one viewpoint where the shops had been deliberately knocked down in an attempt to abate the spread of trade, presented a retail opportunity and as always our small coach was dwarfed by the big buses packed with tourists from all over the world, but especially the Far East. 

These lunar-like canyons formed of frozen ash and basalt were forged by ancient volcanic activity (there are no active volcanoes in Turkiye now) and it's very dramatic - not quite on the scale of the Grand Canyon, but awe-inspiring just the same. We have a photo opportunity at Pigeon Valley and there are as you might expect pigeon-holes there where birds nested and their guano was collected. We pass through the Goreme Valley peaks and return there later for the Christian churches carved into the valley.

People also lived in caves cut into the limestone, and nowadays there are hotels and houses continuing that tradition.  Christianity was brought to Cappadoccia by Paul and Barnabas, but the early Christians weren't tolerated by the Pagans (though peacefully co-esisted with the Turks at a later date), so they lived in caves to protect themselves from attack and even created underground cities to protect themselves from attack (more of that tomorrow). These caves and houses have a constant year-round temperature of 18C, so they knew what they were doing.

However, before the jaw-dropping archaeological stuff, we have the inevitable visit to a leather showroom, though I have to say that this was one with a difference. We were treated to a little fashion show before the hard sell, where we saw the showroom models strutting their stuff  (along with some of our tour group roped in to shimmy down the catwalk) to demonstrate how supple and versatile this lambskin leather is. Most of the jackets are reversible - because they're so thin this works brilliantly, and the leather is amazingly strong and crease-resistant. I almost succumb to a racy red number which is a last chance to buy and mine for £378 after discounts - but I come to my senses, recalling my very well-stocked wardrobe, and politely refuse. A couple of our party do purchase, so we don't totally disgrace ourselves. No photos allowed here.

After yet another inclusive but repetitive buffet lunch, we head to the Goreme Vally Open Air Museum and take a look at the Christian churches built into the rocks dating back to the 13th century, with their partially preserved frescoes in iconoclastic style (no pics allowed - but why are so many faces scored out? We think vandalism that they've not afforded to renovate, or the Pagans got to them eventually). A visit to the gift shop and a goat's milk ice cream rounds off the visit (though I also think it caused me an upset stomach later) and we head back to the hotel on the bus.

Unusually, we're back well before dinner so Dee and I take a dip in the pool and it's a case of once you're over the shock of the cold it's really quite pleasant, and we feel we've actually done something more active than sitting on a coach or strolling through an archaeological site. Yet anothe dismal buffet dinner and we retire early as I'm not feeling too great - think the buffets have finally got to me...