Güle güle Cappadocia

More trekking through underground cities with trap holes and stone one-way doors, 4000 year old cave playhouse/jungle gyms, hiking in the beautiful valleys and mountainside, exploring little Greek villages (yes in turkey) and ending the day with a massage and relaxation at the Hamam. What a perfect way to end our stay in cappadocia. :)

Looking forward to Istanbul tmrw!

Cappadocia

We are in a mystical dreamy land of fairy chimneys, cave churches and homes and over 200 underground cities.

Yesterday we explored huge rock church caves with frescoes and paintings inside.

Rich climbed up 3 story rock houses where people used to live (I only made it up 2). See photo of rich in orange shirt.

This morning we woke up at 4am to go on a hot air balloon ride. It was quite windy, so we were lucky as we were one of the 2 of the 5 balloons in our group that flew. We flew over many pretty valleys and saw many other balloons too.

We then visited a large, intricate underground city where they used to hide for over a month. They had 8 levels underground with stables, wineries, churches, kitchens, etc. They has tiny small tunnels and one way stone doors to prevent intruders. It was quite claustrophobic.

We also stopped by a pottery shop where they make beautiful pottery. Lucky for rich, I only took a photo. ;)

Ps ghostrider2 was filmed here. Guess we will rent it when we get back.

Afrodosias and Pamukkale

Two more beautiful sites in Turkey. We drive over 7 hours in one day, but it was worth it.

After Afrodosias (2 hrs from selcuk) we were feeling ambitious and adventurous and decided to trek on 1.5 hrs to pamukkale.

We arrived around 7 pm and asked if it was open. "open 24 hrs" said the guy.

We hiked 1.5 miles and finally arrived at the beautiful white tide pools. As we were wading through the warm water, it started to sprinkle and soon thereafter it started to rain and then it began to pour cats and dogs.

Of course it would rain on rich (Charlie brown) :) we hiked all the way back in the dark and pouring rain.

Thank goodness for the iPhone flashlight, singing in the rain and the dog who lived in pamukkale. The dog sort of led us back to the entrance (because there were no lights to guide us back) and then tried to go home with us.

Efes (Ephesus)

Wanted to share a few pics from a few days in efes. Natureland efes (a retreat) sort of reminds me of carmel valley, Turkish sunset and the library of celsus at efes. A tremendous amount of history in this region.

cozy up to me

reuse this colorful cozy everday while enjoying your aromatic morning coffee.

mr. and mrs. passport cases

these mr. & mrs. passport cases would make a nice newlywed or bridal shower gift. the imprinted love birds and the scalloped edges make a pretty light blue leather case.