Friday 11th April

Hiking the Red and Rose Valleys

Today, we woke to blue skies and sunshine.  However, the temperature was -1 degree Celsius!

A little after 9am and well wrapped up against the cold, we set off to hike the Red and Rose Valleys. Osun, the hotel manager had given us directions to the trail that leads to the valleys.

Passing by one of the many horse ranches, we admired the beautiful horses.

A jeep convoy passed us, as did some horse riders and we saw one or two signposts which confirmed that we were heading in the right direction.

 

Outside one of the huge rock formations, commonly referred to as fairy chimneys, we stopped to chat with a couple from Switzerland who were in the company of a young woman from North Carolina.

The guy was brushing his teeth, a couple of bicycles were laid on the floor.  As I looked up at the fairy chimney, I noticed a large opening and a couple of sleeping bags.  “Is this your house?” I enquired smiling. “Yes, this is our new house”, one of the females answered.

She added that it was much warmer inside the cave, although they were expecting tonight to be even colder then last night. Brrrr! They had walked the valleys yesterday.

Incidentally,  Onur had told us that there really is just one valley which is the Red Valley.  He said that some locals started to call them the Red Valley and the Rose Valley and the names had stuck.

Continuing along the trail, a couple stopped us to point out an entrance in a rock.  The guy told us that it was a church.

He said it had shown up on his digital map, but it didn’t mention the name of the church.

The man said that he had managed to climb into the church.

His wife (who must have been around 20 years younger than me) said she  couldn’t manage it. I suggested that if she wanted, Dave could push her and her hubby could pull her.  Dave immediately corrected me, saying that he could push me, but not the other lady, however, he was willing to pull her .

The lady refused the offer and the man offered to show us photos but we declined saying that we were going to go inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, it was a bit of a climb and then Dave pushed me upwards and I managed to crawl in though the opening.  At the time, the question did cross my mind – how will I get out!  The church had a couple of fading frescos.

The on line maps are not precise and the internet warns of fake arrows along the trails.

I had attempted to scramble up a steep  sandy slope assuming that it would lead to a pathway through the rock formations but I just kept sliding down.  Dave kept putting his foot out to stop me sliding further down but after a while we decided to abort the possible (or impossible) pathway and retrace our steps.

It was the sort of path that we would have sent my brother Jim up to investigate or our friend Pete, but unfortunately they weren’t with us. It is great fun though!

At this time, we were walking through incredible white rock formations with a seemingly straight line of yellow running through them.  Everywhere we looked, there appeared to be openings in the rocks, some of which were extremely high.

 

 

 

 

 

Around two hours into the hike, we believed we had found the beginning of the Red Valley.  The walk so far has been incredible, with one stunning landscape preceding another: there are pinnacles, tuffs and fairy chimneys.

A young couple stopped to chat with us, they were carrying various high tech equipment. They were attempting to follow their GPS signal but they confessed that they had wandered around for three hours, retracing their steps many times.

A hiking group that we passed, confirmed that we were indeed on the right trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A short while later, we came across a sign which pointed up yet another steep pathway, to a church.  We agreed to continue on the fairly level path and after a while, we came face to face with a perilous looking metal-runged ladder with a platform halfway up.  A rickety metal hand rail was on one side of the ladder but not attached to the platform.

A dilapidated signpost indicated that the ladder led to a church, a café and a restaurant..really?

One at a time we tentatively climbed the ladder which led us into a white walled narrow cave which we had to climb up a little and them scramble through.  All the time, a voice in my head screaming ‘please let there be a way out’.  I really did not want to face the ladder again!

When we emerged from the cave, we did see a makeshift café. However,  it was closed and probably had been since the end of the last season.

There was no sign of a restaurant or a church. We continued to follow the trail and absorb the panoramic scenery.

Sometime later, we came across the Cross Church which had a small café next to it.  There were quite a few hikers there drinking Turkish coffee or freshly squeezed orange juice.  This appeared to be the only choice but as I mentioned previously, it was out of season.

Dave sat on the café’s shaded terrace admiring the view over the valley.  I decided to ascend another precarious staircase to the Church. The staircase was erected from old pieces of furniture including dressers and curtain pelmets.

 

 

 

 

 

A stone cross decorates the church’s ceiling. The apse has frescos in a remarkable condition considering that they are believed to be the work of artists in the 9th century.

Leaving the church, we walked along undulating trails which led us through a couple of tunnels and then we followed a sign to the Güllüdere Church ll.  This church is also referred to as the ‘Church of the Columns’.

It’s access is (as we are quite used to by now) across a wobbly and unstable wooden bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As our research notes prompted us, we went through the cut out rock entrance and found the few sandy steps. At the top of the steps, the space opened out and there were gigantic stone columns and arches. We were both awestruck by the sheer size of the stonework.

I couldn’t even begin to contemplate how this amazing feat of engineering could have been accomplished so many centuries ago.

After leaving the church and hiking another couple of kilometres, we could tell by the change of the terrain that we were moving away from the trails and heading into Çavușin.

This was excellent timing as a few minutes before we entered the village it started to snow.

Çavușin was much more lively than when we had visited it the first time. The shops had their colourful goods on display outside and many people were wandering around.  But, of course until a few minutes before, the weather had been beautiful.

From starting our trek in -1 degree Celsius at around 9am, the temperature had warmed up considerably and we had enjoyed clear blue skies.  Now, however it was almost 2pm and the snow was becoming heavier.  We noticed a couple of shopkeepers rushing to cover their products with protective plastic sheets.

Dave and I agreed that our hike had been absolutely fantastic but admitted that it had been a little dangerous too! Slipping and sliding on steep sandy slopes, and climbing hazardous steps, along with crossing dilapidated looking  bridges was, I suppose, all part of the fun!

With the weather deteriorating we decided to  jump in the only cab at the taxi rank, and return to Goreme.

Now, we are sat in a restaurant drinking a couple of well earned cold beers.

Our hot lunch is a sausage and cheese gözleme and a dish of haricot beans topped with pastrami.

 

The place is cosy and has a warming somba, it is also full with many people who like us are watching the blizzard outside.

Back at the hotel, Osun the manager said that we were extremely lucky to experience two seasons in Cappadocia. I mentioned to Dave that I didn’t know if it was autumn or spring and winter, but I decided on spring and winter due to the delicate miniature yellow iris that we spotted while hiking.

 

 

 

 

For our dinner this evening, we decided to return to the Family Cave Restaurant again, but this time sitting on the ‘Istanbul’ side of the cave restaurant.  The smiling waiter had offered us on our first visit, a table in a cave room in ‘Cappadocia’ or one in ‘Istanbul’.

It is –4 degrees Celsius, (definitely winter) so we are pleased to sit in another warm and comfortable eatery.

We ordered a traditional Turkish moussaka which is without béchamel sauce and Mamas’ stuffed ravioli with spicy tomato sauce and yoghurt.

Wow, both meals were absolutely delicious!

 

 

 

Tomorrow, we have an 8am pick up time to take us to the airport.

Our experience here in Cappadocia has been unbelievably amazing.  We have been completely astounded by the enchanting colourful landscapes, coupled with the obscure rock formations which include tall pinnacles and fairytale like abodes.

In addition to this, we are extremely  lucky to have experienced two seasons in such a few short days.

 

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