Living in caves

10th June 2006 - Cappadocia
In the half light of evening it spread itself out before us. A sereal landscape formed thousands of years earlier as molton volcanic lava fell like huge droplets of soft honeycombe rock over the floor of the Goreme valley. A Disneyland like paper mache ocean unfolding before us in the soft moonlight.
It had been a long and exhausting drive. Some 600km south east of Istanbul to the Cappadocia region of central Anatolia. It was here almost 2000 years ago that the early Christian community established itself in the thousands of caves carved out of the soft volcanic rocks by erosıon and generatıons of earlier inhabitants. The network of caves and interlinking underground cities, some housing upwards of 50,000 people, offered them cool and secure shelter. Today they are a national park and world hertiage site which we were able to climb over and tunnel through like creatures from Fraggle Rock before returning to our own dug out accommodation in a nearby tourist camp. Ours is a complex of several rooms including kitchen and toilet facilities. It has carpeted floors and plastrered walls and ıs most comfortable. It ıs, I ımagıne, much like the homes of the communities who have lived here before us.
Whilst centuries of erosion has caused physical decay to many of the older complexes, as you will see if I am able to up load the photos, the same works of nature are also exposing new columns which seem to be growing at the same rate as the old ones are being eroded. Perhaps God is in control after all.

Next stop the Black Sea and crossing into Georgia. Meanwhile, the swimming pool calls.