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| Day
6: A travel day as we fly from Izmir to
Ankara. Steve and Janet are nearly bumped from
the plane, but get on at the last minute. After
lunch, we visit the Ataurk Mausoleum and then the
Anatlian Civilization Museum. We pull out at 5:00
PM for the 5-1/2 bus drive to Cappadocia,
arriving for dinner at 10:30 PM, again! We stay
at the Pier Towers in the town of Nevsehir for
two nights.
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 The
Ataurk Mausoleum
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 Downtown
Ankara
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| Day
7: A full day to exploring the region of
Cappadocia. We go to many scenic stops and
tourist traps, giving views of the badlands and
the Fairy Towers. This is a unique area because
the rock in the valleys is soft until it comes in
contact with the air. It is the prefect medium
for sculpting entire buildings out of the rock.
Generations of the local people carved doorways
and rooms into the rocks over several hundred
square miles. |
 City
Carved into the Hillside
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| In the afternoon, most of
the group went on several sales programs for
carpet, jewelry, and other items. It is rumored
that much money changed hands. That
evening, the group went to a cave nightclub where
our ears were blasted out and we were entertained
by bellydancers.
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 Underground
City at Kaymakli
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Day
8: We spent the morning touring one of
the underground cities at Kaymakli. The cities
were refuges for the early Christians between 400
AD and 1100 AD when they were being attacked by
the Pegans around them. We were told that the
city we visited would hold 20,000 for 3 months.
Even though it was 8 stories deep, it sure didn't
seem that big. Nevertheless,
looking down the ventilation shaft was amazing.
We only went part way down. Steve Edberg tried to
make it to the bottom in our limited time, but
could not.
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| Open Air Museum in
Goreme |
Chruch
Carved into the Rocks |
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| We went on to the Open Air
Museum in Goreme and the red coned monastic
churchs of Zelve. Five of the churchs were open
for us to go into. These churches are carved into
the rocks and contain frescos dating from the 9th
to 11th centures AD. Unfortunately many of the
frescos have been defaced. |
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| After
lunch, we have another 5+ hour drive back to
Ankara where we stay at the Ankara Hilton. |
