Day 12: Pottery shop, jewelry shop, Capadoccia sightseeing, dervishes
Heading out for a drive, we stop for a bathroom break next to a caravanserai. These were secure
hotel establishments created every 50 kilometers or so, to allow caravans a safe place for the night.
Another stop at a lookout point for the Three Beauties...
...with some more views over Cappodocia.
The real point of the stop was the pottery shop.
A master craftsman turns the various parts of a wine decanter.
The finished product.
One of our group is given a chance to try to copy his work.
Another artisan working with white ceramic instead of clay.
You can get the decanter is a variety of sizes.
This in an ancient Hittite design that takes months to create.
This lace design is done with tens of thousands of individual dots of glaze.
Two kilns in the background, with some pieces waiting to be fired.
Showing a piece that had different levels of finish on it.
And of course the buying opportunity begins.
Nilufer leading us through the shops to the carved homes in the background.
Some of these rooms were previously inside, but eroded out.
The caves in this area have been used for millenia.
The small niches in this one are for pigeons that were kept for eating, and for collecting the
bird poop for fertilizer.
A shot to show how ubiquitous these homes are in the area.
Homes to the right of us...
...and homes to the left of us.
This sign shows the artwork that appears in a dozen or so of these that were early Christian churches.
We go hiking up into some of these churches.
You are not allowed to photograph the artwork in the churches.
In some of the homes, the furniture is carved into the room.
A picture of the happy travelers.
One of the more elaborate churches.
These irises were growing throughout the valley.
It's amazing they didn't over-hollow these out where they collapsed.
A couple of panoramic shots to show how large the valley is.
This doesn't even actually capture it.
After lunch, we head to the jewelry store for another shopping opportunity.
Never thought about it, but "turquoise" is named for "Turkey". Their most popular stone is
a color-changing one called zultanite.
Kimberly in front of the tree of the evil eyes.
Yet another panoramic showing how many homes are carved in here.
We go on a walk up to this remote tea garden.
This was in use as a house until 1982, when this became a Unesco protected site.
Our host, Işmail, was born in this house and lived here until he was kicked out.
He got permission to run this tea house, and keeps it furnished as he left it.
Looking at the stove, and out the living room windows.
The house is actually a complex built around a main courtyard where he grows fruits and grapes.
A tandoor oven in one of the rooms.
This was another living area added on for a relative. It was common practice to extend the house
for new family members.
Up in the pigeon cote.
A bedroom with carved furniture, giving a better sense of how cozy and liveable it could be.
This carved terrace is where we took tea.
That night, we go to another caravanserai, where we are going to see the service of the dervishes.
Inside the courtyard of the caravanserai.
We were not allowed to take pictures during the actual service, but they were gracious enough to
recreate parts of it afterward for us to photograph.
The dervishes remove their black cloaks, which symbolize their mortality.
They cross their arms over their chests as a symbol of unity with god.
The dancing is actually a small part, maybe ten minutes of a forty-minute service.
The white cloaks symbolize divinity, and their hats are to represent "tombstones" for their egos.
Inside one of the cells, where it has been decorated with lamps.
Drinking cinnamon tea in the courtyard after the service. We were worried that it might be cheesy,
but it was a very real service and we were moved.
