of trails and trials...............

My usual multiple typos is bound to be enormously worse tonight since this keyboard is missing almost all the letters......
We are finally in Cappadocia staying in a very luxurious cave, blowing our budget right out of the water. But before I try to describe the indescribable I should explain this blog title.
I last wrote from Tekirova, a town for Russian tourists with a serious penchant for ostentation, where the shopping street is a mile long and the shops are in groups of four repeating - boutique, fancy leather and furs, expensive sunglasses, jewellers, boutique, fancy leather etc etc and all the hotels are huge, gated and 4 or 5 star.

Mustafa's very friendly, and tasty restaurant.

The incomparable Aynur

From there we returned to humbler beach front "pansiyons" and found Sima Peace Pansiyon run by aging hippie Aynur. Aynur is unique, especially for a Turkish woman. She has blond hair suffering from being dyed for far too many years, wears big floppy hats and sort of wild coloured body suits with shorts and sleeveless jackets. Seems to have various versions of these outfits and she is short and plump and kind and warm and loves having guests and hates letting them go! So the first night we were invited to join a special meal to welcome old friends who have been staying with her for years, then we were not allowed leave for another night and I helped out in the kitchen to learn some turkish cooking. Next morning Aynur was late rising so we got our own breakfast which was fine, she is not a morning person,  but then she came after us in the car because she didn't want to miss saying goodbye properly.  Her Pansiyon is a rambling place of separate little cabins, a main 6 room block, half of which is for family, a big dining/kitchen and a even bigger trellis covered area where everything happens. Guests all eat together and keep their own tab from the fridge/bar, definitely a must if you are ever in Cirali.

One more very hot days walking took us to the Sundance Beach camp. Another hippie-like spot but this time under "management" which turned it into a much more business like arrangement and lost all the ambiance of owner -run places. The walk however passed several almost deserted beaches where we thankfully dived right in to cool off. The water was refreshingly cool, and immensely salty, lovely and clear but without goggles we had to keep our eyes closed because it stung so much.

From the mountain villages to......

the high mountain snowfields and then on to....

the interior plateau at 1100m. Totally dessicated.

That day we had arranged to pick up a rental car in Antalya so caught a bus to the bus staion there. That was when the trials began. The pick up was to be in Downtown Antalya and the cost of them bringing the car to the bus station was almost another days rental. So being frugal we declined and said we would pick it up at the place. Mistake!! Finally got a taxi which was already going to cost more anyway! then found the place was miles away and when the taxi driver caller they said no there was no cars at that place but to go to the airport. Got there to find no car nor even that car hire company. The difficulties of no Turkish, no phone and frugality all combined....so we just abandoned that car altogether and rented another. Ah, well. So a long mountainous drive took us part way last night, and an even longer, actually rather boring drive today through dessicated high plateau so flat there was no horizon nor contrast or colour change for hours, finally brought us to Cappadocia. Wow.

How to describe? Firstly I have to say this is tourist cental in a big way. But. The landscape is wild. Huge pillars of rock all pointy like Ku Klux clan hats (or whirling dervish perhaps) hollowed out at various levels into multi-storey cave houses and hotels and shops and some just simply ordinary peoples homes. They are tall and short, fat and skinny, lumpy and smooth and like a cross between hobbitland and a sandcastle town. They are stacked and isolated, cheek by jowl or in solitary splendour and so jumbled you can get lost by just blinking at a critical moment. Our lovely three room bedroom is hollowed out with another piece above accessed by two sets of stairs and an arch but I don't think there is any deeper part just the hill. Even the hotel is a labyrinth, I hope I can find my way back to bed..and then to breakfast tomorrow. We will spend a few days here before returning to Antalya for heading to Ireland next week.