Today was another full day of touring. Unfortunately, we didn't start the days ith a hot air balloon ride again. :(
We started off by going up to a beautiful hill overlooking one of the valleys that have a lot of rock formations. I know I sound like a broken record, but I was just in awe the whole day! What a creative and amazing God we serve! He has made such an interesting world for us to explore!!
Then we went down into the valley to hike through it.
The kids, Noah especially, loved this because they could climb all over the rocks.
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| Noah scaling his way up some rocks. |
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| Callie said this rock looked like a frog. |
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| A soldier and his horse |
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| Hiking through the valley |
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| At the end of our hike, our guide showed us this famous formation called "the camel" |
Then we went to explore an old settlement. It was full of all sorts of cave houses, churches, and other buildings from regular city life.
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| You can see where the ladder up to something used to be. Over time it has eroded a bit. |
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| Isaiah thought this may be the bathroom! |
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| Noah and I went into one of the houses. He managed to climb way up onto the third floor! |
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| This is the outside of the house that Noah scaled his way up into. He was in that very top part! |
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| A millstone |
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| Looking towards the city from a bit far back |
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| Max looking out from the mosque window |
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| The mosques looked like a newer addition to the city! |
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| fairy chimneys |
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| Even little Lucy had fun climbing around and exploring the intricate houses. |
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| You can still see some of the ancient paintings and wall decorations. |
Then we went to a pottery demonstration. This region has a special type of clay that they use to make pottery. Also, they still have a few designs that have been used to decorate the pottery since the Hittite times!
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| This man explained that his family has been making pottery in this region for hundreds of years. They even had a special family design that they painted on some of the pottery. |
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| I loved watching these artisans work. They go so quickly, yet they do such fine and beautiful work! |
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| Then we got to watch a potter demonstrate how to make a wine holder. He turned the potter's wheel with his foot just like they had done for hundreds of years. |
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| After the demonstration they asked if any volunteers wanted to try it out. Noah gave it a spin! |
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| He made a cup. I wish we could have kept it. But, of course, it had to be fired in the kiln. |
Then we had lunch at a place around the corner. It was pretty standard. Nothing to get excited about.
After lunch we went to see Üçhısar. It is a well know fortress.
It looks like it is the highest point in the region, so it makes sense that it was a fortress.
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| These ladies were selling their handicrafts at the place where we stopped. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of them! |
We stopped at another overlook for tea and to shop a little bit.
To be honest, things started to run together a bit, so I can't tell you where this is! HA!
The last stop on our tour was Pigeon Valley.
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| This place was called Pigeon Valley because of the many pigeons that live there. You can bet it wasn't my favorite place! |
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| Each night as we walked down the hill from our hotel to find a restaurant for dinner we passed these ladies. On the first night I politely said hello to them. So, from then on, we chatted a tiny bit as I passed by. So, since this was our last night, I asked them if I could get my picture with them. I think they are just the quintessential village ladies! |
