"Spent the night in Turkey in a cave up in the hills..."

We made it to Cappadocia, the land of fairy chimneys and rock cut churchs. We are staying a small, quintisential traveler town surrounded by a surreal rock garden landscape. We had a nice long day of rental scooter accessed hiking in and amoungest the valleys and rock chimneys.
Words can't adequately describe this place so I will refrane in hopes of getting some pictures up on this blog tomorrow, but think of Southern Utah or Western Colorado with its delicate intricacies of mud hills and sandstone rock formations.
As we are preparing to leave Turkey in 24 hours, there are a few things I wanted to share. Talking with the locals it has been interesting to discuss Turkey's bid to become part of the EU. It isn't too surprising that the more affluent the individual (ie. Istanbul residents), the more strongly they are in favor of the idea. Most people oppose the idea and cite the recent economic woes of neighboring Greece as an example. Things are expensive here for the local people as is true in nearly all of the underdeveloped world (petro is at least $7.50 /gal and can be as much as $11). Joining the EU would only make things more expensive for the average Turk. Traveling within the country would also be more expensive and possibly have a negative effect on those in the tourism business. And while it isn't near as expensive as traveling by western standards, it isn't exactly cheap either. We are running about 25% over our modest $100/day budget. We anticipate (and hope) costs will go down as we head south in the region.

We have been really surprised with how few independent travelers we have seen in Turkey but it is nearing the end of the slow season. However there appears to be no shortage of package tourists who pour into the sites by the bus load and can make visiting such sites rather unpleasant. We often have to wait for a big group of aging Koreans or Germans to pass
so we can have a moment to process what grand antiquity lies before us (we have been known to trail an english speaking group on occasion however these groups are few). Word is these trips are offered cheaply back in their respective native countries in the Turkish off season. They can appeal to older folks because the climate is much more mild this time of year as well. But outside the grandiose, well known sites, it is very quiet and peaceful. It allows one to get a better feel for the land, the culture and its history, and presents many more opportunities to converse with the local people which we certainly enjoy.

Turkey really is a surprisingly straightforward place to travel. Tourism is very well rooted here. They have seen visitors for a long time and the infastructure reflects that. There are plenty of hotels, restaurants, ticket offices and the associated services make getting around surprisingly simple, which is nice. While it may be exotic to most people from the west, there are plenty of western familiarities and is probably a great place to get an introduction to the greater region. At least that is what we think, for now.
-CB, with extensive editing assistance by CN