A.B. Away: Antalya Hamam - Goreme - Kayseri Train

(John) As Lesley mentioned we all had a Turkish bath while visiting Antalya on route to Goreme. The

Hammam was divided by gender so Sam and I followed our attendant and were shown into a large cubicle adjacent to the waiting room where we were given a large tea towel and a pair of plastic sandals and told to take it all off. Suitably undressed we emerged in our new outfits into the public waiting room, also in full view of the street and were quickly, thankfully, shown into the bath area. First stop was the toilet, then the rinsing room. Actually the rooms did not have names, I am just naming them based on their functions. We were simply shown to a marble basin with a small metal bowl by it and told to pour water over ourselves. There was another man in the room who was lying on a big raised slab of marble. His tea-towel was soaked so we guessed that we were supposed to keep them on. It felt good to pour hot water over ourselves. I figured that the next thing we should do was lie on the marble slab, but the incumbent had left little space for anyone else and seemed to be in no hurry to move, so we just carried on pouring water over ourselves until he eventually got up and left. We lay down on the slab where Sam was disappointed to learn that I could make much better farting noises by pressing my back into the slab and lifting it off again than he could. Skinny people have no fun. The slab was warm and it was nice to lie on, a bit hard, but the room was cool, obviously very old with great echos. Our attendant came and got us and we went into another room where we were to be first peeled and then massaged with soap. I was a understandably nervous about the peeling but denied it to Sam as he was likely much more worried than I was. To be peeled I lay on my front and our attendant soaked me down some more with hot water, then rubbed my body with a rough cloth glove. It was only slightly uncomfortable. He pressed quite hard and I was doused regularly with hot water. Sam was sat watching. I was trying to look cool, but he later told me I looked like I was in pain. After I had been peeled. I was soaped and massaged. That was great . He had a big muslin bag, like a pillow case that he soaked with soapy water then filled with air and squeezed, forcing a massive amount of soap suds to cover my body. This peeling and soaping took about 15 to 20 minutes. When I was done I sat and watched Sam go through it. He took it all in his stride and as a parent it was very gratifying to see the large amount of dirty dead skin come off his body. That was pretty much it for Sam. I had paid an extra 13 TL to get the oil massage. We sat wrapped in towels in the public waiting room drinking tea while we waited for “take the whole slab guy” to be massaged. We knew it was him in there because we could see him quite clearly, basically naked on the massage table. It wasn't long before I got to go in and show off my butt. It wasn't the greatest massage I have ever had; it was probably worth 15 TL. That's about 10 CAD.

(Lesley) Goreme is a cute little town in a valley in Cappadocia. The population is less than 3000, where most families run a restaurant, a hotel or a pension. Tourists descend on this town by the bus load. The rock formations in and around town are so totally neat and bizarre (chimneys, rockets and mushrooms). Many are lived in and have been turned into cave hotels. Solo travellers and those in small groups stay in town and those travelling in big tour buses stay in the 4 and 5 star hotels in neighbouring cities, but come to Goreme for its Open Air Museum (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

We arrived early in the morning on a night bus. The sight of the 40 plus hot air balloons in the sky was surreal in the dawn light. We wandered around looking for some cheap dorm beds. We didn't find cheap beds easily but persevered and eventually found a gem of a hotel.

Nomad Cave Hotel got a lot of bad reviews in recent years but is now under new management and is exceeding expectations. (They burned the beds, put down new floors and got rid of the bed bugs). We got clean new beds in a cave, good breakfasts, helpful advice, clean towels, soap, hot water, unlimited free tea, coffee and internet and some good company (all for 20TL each).

On our first day, after a long nap, we went for a walk to get our bearings and tackled one of the valleys. The next day, we rented bikes and worked out. We cycled to Love Valley where we hiked for a bit, then cycled on to Çavusin where we saw the castle and had a terrible lunch (lentil soup, but from a package and cost 4 TL each!) Then we took a small tractor trail then a road to Zelve Open Air Museum (OAM) via Paşbaği. The bikes were great, we spent the extra for really good mountain bikes as John is a fickle cyclist and won't ride on anything less than the best. We all benefit from this affliction as we didn't want to be left behind so we upgraded to keep up with John. And keep up we did! The kids never cease to amaze me; we did over 25 km up and down, against the wind sometimes on highways with tour buses and with only a vague notion of where we were going.

The Zelve Outdoor Museum was great. We got to go through a tunnel, well a series of tunnels, rooms and steps inside a mountain from one valley to the next. Fortunately, Sam had a mini flashlight and was able to see just enough to lead us through.

We still had some energy after the Zelve OAM so before heading back to Goreme we tackled the Devrent Valley, just. We sort of ran out of steam there so we headed back uphill and against the wind and were knackered when we got back. We ate, napped, Skyped Janet, then went out to see a famous Turkish singer and to watch whirling dervishes. The event was locally sponsored and brought people out from their caves, literally. It was not a tourist event, though there were some random foreigners attending. It was like an evening at Folklorama in the town square with bleachers. We enjoyed the dervishes, the kids running around and approaching the stage, the women seated around us waving to their friends and neighbours and the lighting man’s obvious pleasure discovering the abilities of his highish tech new toy with sometimes little apparent relation to the action on the stage. We didn't really get much out of the speeches except a new word. Each time anyone said hosgeldiniz clapping began. Apparently it means welcome but is often said at the end of a speech. John had seen it in writing near towns and assumed it meant drive carefully. John also had trouble distinguishing one song from another and asked Sam why the singer kept singing the same song. His cultural awareness clearly needs some work.

The next morning we went to the Goreme Open Air Museum which had more impressive churches but didn't in my books rate as superior to the less popular and cheaper Zelve OAM. For the afternoon, John and Mhari returned to nap while Sam and I set out on an adventure to see an underground city. It was not an easy one to get to, we had to negotiate several dolmuşes but it was an adventure. We found some good eats in Nevşehir where we changed dolmuşes, and loved our time in the underground city. We went about 8 stories down and had the place pretty much to ourselves. I'm sure Sam has described in in his blog so I will not bore you with a repetition but just add that it was neat and a little unnerving as we were there late in the afternoon and I was conscious that if they forgot about us we could be locked in for the night after they switched off the lights.

On our way back to Goreme we stopped in Uçhisar, the upscale French dominated town on the ridge above Goreme. It is a great place to see the sunset over Rose Valley and there is a big castle there that is fun to climb around. The touts and shop keepers there speak French rather than English. Then we hiked down through a little valley and met up with a dolmuş to get back to Goreme just after dark. Needless to say we slept very well that night, as we were sure tired.

Goreme

Near Goreme

Whirling Dervishes

They call it Love Valley

Zelve Open Air Museum

Balloons over Goreme

Goreme Open Air Museum

Underground City

Cave homes

Wilma?

(John) We left our hostel in Goreme and boarded a bus to Kayseri. We asked to be dropped at the train station where we were delighted to find that we were able to buy tickets for the night train to Erzurum that left at 2.00am the next day. We were less delighted to be told that there was no where to leave our bags at the station. We have become accustomed to bus companies giving us their office space for this purpose that the wall of officialdom we faced at the train station was a surprise. Lesley was not daunted, she asked the man running the cafeteria on the platform if we could leave them with him. He was obviously used to such requests and produced a receipt book and charged us 15 TL. Why the Station Master could not have told us that we don't know, but we suspect the answer lies wrapped up in the rules somewhere. Then we had about 12 hours to kill. We started by eating another Tavuk kebap then found our way to the bazaar. We had no sooner walked in when were approached by mister 'can I practise my English and be your unofficial guide' guy. He was very natural with his patter and we were not sure whether we would be charged for the guiding or shown to a carpet shop. We had time to kill so we went along for the ride which included an interesting tour of the old Caravanaserai (Camel Train Motel) that was now a wool storage warehouse. The tour ended up as expected in the carpet shop where we declined the hospitality, which was tea in the shop and then were introduced to Mr Big carpet seller guy. He was even smoother with his patter and tried several times to lure us in. But we had a lot of time so we just kept chatting, asking questions about Turkey and his opinions on politics and other things. We told him all about India and basically wasted his time. He assured us that if we came into his shop he would sell us a carpet as the people who don't want to buy carpets are the best customers. Lesley told him he was right and that is why we were not going into his shop. Towards the end of hour long chat he shot himself in the foot a bit by talking about good and bad quality tourists. Basically the more a tourist spends the better quality they are. And as far as that goes the Russians and Americans rule. Chinese people and backpackers were basically not welcome. He was a bit embarrassed when we told him we were backpackers. We told him that backpackers do a lot of travelling, see a lot of places and then when they have earned some money and had children they come back in tour buses and spend their money. We left when fresh meat showed up and Mr Practice my English guy was sent out to reel them in. Later, at the station we met a traveller from France and a newly wed couple from Vancouver. They had all met the same carpet seller and had been brought in to the shop via exactly the same route.

(Lesley) One of them went in, drank tea and struggled to leave without a purchase but succeeded, the other bought a lovely carpet and at a better price than in Istanbul. So much for low quality tourists.

(John) Well, fun though that all was, we still had hours to kill before our train, we shopped a bit more in the bazaar. I bought a scrubbing glove like the ones in the Hammam. I did not even haggle for it as the store owner was only asking 1 TL. We found a supermarket that, like every supermarket we have found in Turkey was basically useless. Turks must do all their food shopping in the traditional markets as I am sure that no one can afford the prices we find. The selection is also terrible. But we are not able to spend the time to hunt down the markets or find that we miss them by a day or two. After that we went to eat and eventually landed up at the train station at around 9.00pm. Only 5 hours until our train arrives. We retrieved our bags and settled down on the waiting room. We were joined by the Frenchman and the newly weds who helped make the next 4 ½ hours pass by most amiably. At 1.30 am we started to prepare to board the train. At 4.00am we were told that the train would be 2 more hours late. AT 6.00am were told to expect the train at 7.00am. At 7.20am we boarded the train. The train was 5 ½ hours late and we had been waiting for it for over 10 hours. We had long since abandoned the waiting room, it was huge and sound reverberated so badly it was impossible to talk. So we had set up camp outside on the platform. The Vancouver couple had a tent that they lay flat on a patch of grass and we sat around watching a movie on their laptop. Most of us had pulled out and put on all our clothes and blankets and tried to bed down on benches on the platform and had managed to sleep a little. Lesley does not think she did. On the train we were shown to a four berth compartment, and given sheets and blankets. We folded down the beds and promptly fell asleep.

Our journey only got better after we woke up 3 hours later. Lesley and I left the kids to sleep a little longer and went to the dining car for some breakfast. We had soup and omelette and coffee and tea. We were joined by our new french friend, Yannick, with whom we shared travel experiences and chatted about his life in Toulouse and ours in Winnipeg. A little later Sam joined us and Lesley went to keep Mhari company. All the time the scenery was getting increasingly spectacular. About 8 hours in to the journey the rails met a river and followed it through a mountain range for 5 hours. Sam tells me that the river was the Euphrates but it was called the Kerasu on our map. He's probably right though. We went back and forth between the dining car and our cozy compartment for the whole trip. The waiter was a bit bored as there were few people on the train and almost nobody else using the dining car, so he entertained himself and the kids with a rather lame card trick that the kids figured out in seconds. The only annoyance on the journey came at the end when the conductor woke us up to announce our arrival in Erzurum, which we assumed was imminent so hurriedly got ready to disembark. He seemed to want us to vacate the compartment and wanted the bedding so we stood around in the corridor waiting until we realized that we were still quite a long way from our destination and went back and sat down. We eventually pulled into the station an hour after we were woken up.

We were also annoyed by a man and his wife smoking in the corridor, despite signs banning the act. The conductor didn't seem to care so there was no point complaining. The carriage was air conditioned and the windows were not open-able so the smoke permeated everywhere. Smoking is a constant annoyance and we expect it will continue to be until we get home. At least Turkey has anti-smoking laws and most of the time they are respected.

We arrived in Erzurum at 10:45 pm, just 4 ¼ hours late. Yannick and Sam combined to navigate us to a hotel about 1 km from the station, to which we checked in and fell immediately to sleep.

The train journey cost us 106 TL that's roughly 70 CAD or less than 50 GBP. The same journey on the bus would have cost over 240 TL but would have been a little quicker and we would not have needed to sleep on the platform all night. I'd guess that reliability is a big problem and is why the bus system is so popular. Still I'd take the train journey anytime, it was one of the best travel experiences we have had so far.

We left Erzurum after first taking a look at a few old things, a black amber jewellery bazaar, an Islamic school and a Citadel to be exact. Then we dodged a couple of carpet sellers, they are so easy to spot. The second one though told us how to get a bus to Yusufeli. We took his advice and although for a while we were sceptical, our trip went like clockwork. First we had to walk from the hotel to a sub bus station, hidden behind a gas station. When we arrived it looked very dodgy. There were no buses, just a parking lot that looked it had been recently bombed and a group of 6 or 7 tough looking guys sitting on broken chairs, smoking and drinking tea outside a run down shop front. They saw us with our backpacks and obvious intentions and quickly ascertained what we wanted. We had 10 minutes until the bus left so while Lesley and Sam ran off to find some sandwiches, the tough guys took 100 TL from me and then when a bus arrived, handed me 20TL change and put us and the bags on board. We settled down for the two hour trip when 10 minutes in we arrived at a much newer sub bus station and were put on a different slightly bigger bus. I admitted to Lesley that I had forgotten to get a ticket, so she took control and went to speak to someone who then produced them. To my surprise, we had seat numbers and had even paid the correct amount. The journey was beyond spectacular. Mhari said “my standards for scenery are very high now, but this is fantastic”. We went through one mountain range and then into another, down into a massive gorge and then followed along an absolutely raging river. We went over a mountain pass, past snow and eventually came to Yusufeli, a small town on that same river, where we got off the bus and were directed by a man to the hotel we had picked out of the guide book. Our windows our directly over the river, which appears to be in full flood stage. With the windows open we cannot hear ourselves speak. The water is literally flowing along the hotel wall. There is a wood and steel suspension pedestrian bridge by the hotel which Mhari insists on bouncing upon. I have taken to waiting till she is over before I cross. The guide book mentioned that the whole valley is part of a dam project and the town is about to be submerged. So the hotel we are in will be just for scuba divers in a few years time. At the moment life seems to be continuing as normal but unless we plan to go white water rafting or mountaineering there is not a lot to do here. But we think we will stay a couple of days just because we probably won't ever be able to come back even if we tried.