Balloons and breakfasts

Hi all again, so soon you will think we are spending all the time on the computer.
This will be the last post before Ireland.

At 5 o'clock this morning Bernie dragged himself out of too little sleep and took a hot air balloon ride with the sunrise. I'm sure he will have lots more photos to share but I've not seen them yet. I went for an early walk and checked out some hobbit holes then we met for breakfast. That took hours! Sitting on a sunny terrace looking over Goreme (a place where the innate insanity of mankind is visible everywhere you turn) eating all you want of a buffet to burst for. Normal Turkish breakfast is tomato and cucumber, olives and two kinds of cheese (soft unripe cheese and a gouda like one), hardboiled egg, bread and jam, honey, tea/coffee. This mornings feast was all that and multiply by at least four! So how not to overindulge ?

Yesterday we visited an underground city. For food storage and defence against both enemies of the warlike kind and of the climatic kind, the people in the early centuries AD built honeycomb cave warrens for all the world like those of rabbits. These were extensive and complex and multi-levelled. We went down about 4-6 stories. In typical Turkish fashion there was little or no info available, the level of visitor safety was certainly below north American or European standards yet it all worked fine. No-one suggested that a torch/flashlight might be a very valuable piece of equipment, yet there were huge holes in the floor with drops to the room below, tunnels that were almost crawling size and very narrow, steps as high as your thighs, altogether requiring a certain amount of agility and tour buses of people all trying to negotiate this labyrinth. Yikes. We managed to hit it at lunchtime when the bus hoards were having their "typical turkish lunch" so it was empty and we could explore to our hearts content. I have to say the "typical turkish lunch" is invariably excellent, no cynicism implied.
Later we walked along a deep gorge with a small river swollen with melt water from the snow covered mountain above. Here they have restaurants with tables right out in the flow with rickety bridges for access. Easy to get out  but a bit nerve wracking to get back after a beer or two (which we didn't have!!).

The valley walls were a place of refuge for monks and hermits in the early days of the spread of Christianity and they carved out churches in the cliff walls. Many of the frescoes and decoration are still clear and beautiful. The air is dry and the stone absorbent so apart from the ravages of human vandals removing the faces of the pictures of saints and apostles where they could reach, or scratching their names as if we wanted to know who they were, they were in good shape. Certainly the builders and inhabitants had to be in good shape too. These places are very hard to access.
They left a hardy legacy too. The people here are all in pretty good shape and the country provides a bounty of foodstuffs of the more delicious kinds. With almost 80 million people, Turkey is self-sufficient in food and most other necessities, and more. They have  healthy export trade too and very little import. It is no wonder they basic cost of living is low.

Gotta go and check out and explore for one more day before we search out fresh pastures as we wend our way back to the airport.
Gule, gule,
Mary