Continued from Days 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Day 8
One of the few days on which we could afford to wake up slightly late. The breakfast view from the Dedeli Konak terrace was quite awesome. This hotel was owned by our tour operator, and he visited every morning. We had seen him the previous day, but since we were in a hurry, we couldn’t chat. He joined us for breakfast, and promised to ensure we got time in the evening for shopping, have a driver ready to take us around and find good restaurants for us in Istanbul.
Our tour guide joined us at the hotel soon after. Aygan was her name and she was one super enthusiastic person! Our van was a repeat of the previous day and so were our van mates, almost. The first place we visited was Monks valley. It was quite a beautiful day and the ‘fairy chimneys’ here got themselves a good background. This place too consisted of rock mazes, and a small but slippery climb took us to a tiny hill top that offered a spectacular view.
Devrent valley was next and the place was full of rock formations crafted by wind. You can recognise various shapes as per your imagination. We moved to Avanos next and visited a carpet factory. This was government subsidised and the carpets were so awesome that we were really tempted to buy one particular Kurdish design. But they were just too costly. The colours vary as per region depending on the flora and fauna of the land. Next was lunch in what was the best looking restaurant we had been at while in Turkey. There was also live music . The manager saw my moustache and gave it an impromptu combing! 😀
After lunch, we visited a pottery workshop, owned by Galip Korukcu, who sported an Einstein hairdo. Superb stuff, and a trade that has been plied by his family for generations. His own contribution has been the use of phosphorous in his creations which give it a glow-in-the-dark effect. The next place we visited was the Goreme open air museum. Again, churches carved in rock, with different names according to the frescoes inside them. Goreme seemed a fancier place than Urgup where our hotel was. They were separated by a 15 minute drive. A couple of Singaporeans who were part of our tour were staying there. Uchisar, the troglodyte town was next. Tour companies do not let their guests climb up the ‘castle’, since an Italian tourist died 5 years ago, while trying to climb up. The name of the town made me think of Uchchaihshravas, from Hindu mythology. Indra’s horse that came out during the Samudra Manthan. The area is famous for horses, and I wondered about a potential Aryan connection.
The last item in the itinerary was the panoramic view point. The place did live up to the name.
We finally got back to the hotel by 5:45. Aygan reminded us to mention her on TripAdvisor! We just had enough time to do a quick round of shopping since we had to leave at 6:15 to catch a flight. So much for the tour operator’s promises! The town centre was only 5 minutes away, and a boy in one of the shops took a fancy to my health band! He even offered to buy it.
At the airport, Pegasus struck again. Our flight was delayed by half an hour. We were received at the Sabiha Gökçen airport by the same guy we met on day 1. We pretty much knew where this was headed, but this time it turned out to be even more crazier. First the van driver tried to pick up people on the way, making us wait while he negotiated, along with a boy who served as his assistant. My snarky comments weren’t even understood by him! He then went on a crazy need-for-speed mode and we figured that there was a pattern as per the music that was being played. After we reached the city, he tried to drop us off at some random place, claiming that the hotel was just a turn away. I asked D to wait in the van while I went to check. Turned out he was bluffing. We refused to get out of the bus until he dropped us right in front of Sokullu Pasa.
It was almost midnight by the time we reached. We had made plans to dine at some rooftop place, but it was too late to go restaurant browsing. We walked to the Hippodrome and found a restaurant open – Alzer. The Blue Mosque was a lovely sight to watch as we wined and dined. As though to entertain us, a poor guy who was visiting the restaurant got mobbed by the resident dogs. Immediately after that, we witnessed their battles with the resident wily cat. All of this, and the good food lifted our spirits. We walked back to the hotel, and learned that we would have to be ready the next day by 8.20!
