“Turkey, Cappadocia and Soganli Valley”

• September 25, 2020
• By Daryl
• 0 Comment

Some days go so well, we carry with it with that warm feeling in our souls, which makes living such a joy.
A life full of adventure, tickles and stimulates our seat of adventure called Ventral Striatum in our brains. We get a pleasure boost of Dopamine and Adrenaline and Endorphins every day from our traveling life style. 

Today was one of those days, driving back and forth in a valley, we felt had so much to offer; a story told, lives lived and history inscribed. We were searching out homes made of stone caves, which ancient people carved a life out, for their families to live in. This area where many people lived, were homes called in these fairy chimneys. They also carved dovecotes in the soft tufa so the pigeon eggs and guano could be harvested. The guano was used for fertilizer.  The egg whites acted like glue and was mixed with the tufa to make a plaster that would cover the cave walls of churches and homes. Paintings could be made on the stable surface, once the plaster mix was applied. Once the soft tufa was carved out, the surface would oxidized and harden. 

We drove down the canyon that called to us to explore. Our desires enriched us with some very interesting finds. A church carved out in the six century was perched above us. We crawled up the side of a steep, worn out steps that lead up to The Big Church or Kilise in Turkish. What we found was a great example of a church and living areas for the monks. This was our first experience with these hand carved structures. In the church meeting area, deep ruts was cut out in the floor so they could sit comfortably.   

We ventured further down the road to the end of the canyon to find six more carved churches. Many Christians must have lived in these canyons. The area is fertile for growing crops with a stream for water. The Silk Road passed through this canyon, so many caravans brought riches to these simple Christians. 

Bunny had a ball hiking to all the churches and photographing them. I sat most of them out and had an omelette for breakfast and purchased some honey for my coffee. I still was not feeling well for lack of sleep and not enough rest after my hair transplant surgery.