Turkey (Cappadocia)
The Land of Fairy Chimneys


The arid land

My dear friends, I am not writing about the magical chimneys through which you can ‘apparate’ or ‘disapparate’ by using Floo-powder. If I knew how to do that, I wouldn’t be spending my hard-earned money on flights, buses, trains, trams, ships and such other ordinary means of transportation. I would be using broomsticks, magic carpets, unicorns or dragons to take me from place to place, totally free of cost. (Or, may be for some ‘goblin gold’.)

Alas! I pay a heavy price for being a ‘muggle’.

In fact, the ‘Fairy Chimneys’ have nothing to do with fairies or chimneys. They are just mundane rock formations found in the Cappadocia region of Turkey. See the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_chimney

The rock formations are unique but they are definitely NOT scenic. I mean, they do not appeal to me aesthetically even when they impress by their size and their odd shape.

The fairy chimneys

We had traveled to Cappadocia after enjoying the ‘Garden of Eden’ like beauty of the western coast of Turkey in springtime. By contrast, Cappadocia region is so arid that we felt like Adam and Eve after their expulsion from the Eden.

However, we did take our apple with us and listened to our favorite songs on it (Yes, silly, I meant apple iPod.)

Perhaps, a balloon-ride over this ‘moonscape’ would have been a novel and ‘uplifting’ experience. I dreamed of floating in the calm, cool morning air in a wickerwork basket over a forest of conical fairy chimneys while the sun rose and bathed this alien landscape in the rosy light.

However, we were not so lucky.

We were taken to the ‘launching site’ early in the morning for the balloon-ride and waited patiently while the crew sent up test-balloons from different points of a fairly large area. There small balloons are indicators of the wind direction and velocity and the crew judges from them whether it is safe to launch the big ‘hot-air’ balloon with tourists standing in a basket, attached to the balloon.

That particular day was windy and so the crew decided it was not safe to launch the balloon.

The balloon-ride does sound like a risky proposition, but the crew is so cautious that hardly any accidents have been reported.

http://www.cappadociatours.com/cappadocia_balloon.html

Follow the link above to see what the ballooning is about.

I will always associate Cappadocia’s unusual landscape with the unusual architecture of its houses. (Which have been converted into hotels now.)

The small rooms of our Istanbul hotel were an index of Istanbul’s urban congestion. The Canakkale hotel was on the posh waterfront and very decent. The hotel at Selchuk was small but had the ethnic charm of a ‘butic’ hotel.

Our Cappadocia hotel was unlike any other hotel that we have stayed at. It exactly fitted my idea of what Alibaba’s house would have looked like. It had an intriguing ‘Arabian Nights’ kind of atmosphere.

It was like a small fortress. A huge double door opened into a large room which served as the office. The large inner courtyard was surrounded by rooms with trellised windows. A huge earthen jar, standing in the corner, was big enough to hold one of the forty thieves.

The humongous ‘room’ allotted to us was like the veritable Alibaba’s cave. Of course there was no treasure, but treasure-chests, covered with rugs and furs, occupied the niches and fired the imagination. The rooms were made of thick stone walls and the ceiling was barrel-vaulted. Three steps down was a large, dark cellar without any windows.

Thank God, the bathroom (and plumbing) was modern.

Cappadocia, obviously has no ‘space’ problem. No lack of building materials either. In fact, all they have to do is carve out one or two chimneys into rooms and start staying there, perhaps after a ‘house-cooling ceremony’. I do not suppose the houses need warming there.

Chimney-houses (This looks like rather like a ant-hill, right?)

The danger of the chimney-house crumbling down on you at any time, perhaps adds to the piquancy of staying there. (Mind you, the rock from the volcanic ash is brittle and friable.)

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/cappadocia-goreme-open-air-museum.htm

Goreme Open Air Museum was a bit of a disappointment for us. People, who have seen Ajanta and Ellora are bound to compare the two.

http://www.clippertourism.com/ajantaellora.htm

I think, Ajanta and Ellora are the last word in cave-temples anywhere in the world. (or, cave-churches.)

Goreme open air museum

However, I must give credit where it is due. The website of the Goreme Open Air Museum is better than Ajanta Ellora’s.

However, the Kaymakli Underground City more than compensated for our disappointment.

Imagine a city carved out of volcanic ash, which has solidified into brittle rock and which goes 8 floors underground.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaymakl%C4%B1_Underground_City

http://www.guide-martine.com/centralanatolia7.asp

The above two links might give you some idea about the underground city which was used as shelter by Christians in the times of religious persecution of Christians. (It is still not very clear to me whether the Pagans or the Muslims or both were the persecutors.) However, it cannot give you any idea of the feeling of claustrophobia that you get when you are bending and crawling about in its tunnels.

A tunnel in underground city 'Kaymakli'

The Kaymakli Underground City was well-lit by electricity for the convenience of the tourists. It gives me shivers to think of it lit only by oil-lamps.

What people would not suffer for their faith!!

Fleetingly, I introspected whether I would brave such hardships for the preservation of my religion.

I am afraid, I would not have. I would have buckled down and converted to the other faith.

My self-esteem took a deep plunge and hit a nadir.

However, as we came up in the bright sunlight, and ate a hearty lunch, my self-esteem came back and said to me,

“At least, you were honest.”

At Pigeon Valley, the sight of a pigeon trying to land against very strong head-wind and failing to do so again brought home the Truth to me. (The poor thing was flapping its wings with all its might but stayed stationary in midair because the wind against it was so strong. For the first time in my life, I felt sorry for a pigeon. Otherwise, I have only animosity towards them.)

The forces of Nature are stronger than us living creatures.

At Pigeon valley, some men were clustering around a hawker. With my usual curiosity, I too wanted to make a beeline there and buy the same thing but Avi did not allow me. Later he told me the reason. He had found out from other men that the hawker was selling ‘aphrodisiac’.

We bought there only figs.

Let me make it clear to those of you, who have a frivolous bent of mind.

We bought figs, NOT fig leaves.