Pamukkale to cappadocia

Thursday 28th April 2011
5.30am wakeup call to set off early for our long driving day to Cappadocia. We stopped at 2 little roadsides on the way and then stopped for lunch at a shopping mall in Konya, the most religious city in turkey. It was very lively, and there was no English words anywhere, I had gotten a bit used to these international hotels and travel stops which were used to English speaking travelers. So it was a great adventure ordering food, I recognized the word for "hot" on a sign next to "kofte" so I went with that option. So I received some sort of spicy sausage meat ball patties with rice, tomato, gherkin and thin pita wraps, it was quite delicious and a lot of fun practicing my new words like please (lutfen) and thank you (teshekkyur).
Got back to the bus early so I had a little language lesson with Murat the bus driver who speaks a little english. Unfortunately I have already forgotten what he taught me. We stopped at the tomb of the founder of the Whirling Dervish sect, Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi. The calligraphy was beautiful and the various korans on display were so old, covered in gold leaf. Part of the building was constructed in the 13th century. Of course, a lady in our tour got busted sneaking photos... so many rules!!
After this we drove to a caravanserai which was pretty cool, had the best souvenir shop across the road where Chris and Rob bought their Turkish hats you see in the pictures.
This night we went to see the whirling dervishes do their ceremony. It was not a dancing spectacle, more of a sharing in their religious devotion... Not what I expected, but very enchanting. I won't need to see it again though. Got to skype my little niece Kennedy when I got back to the hotel for her 5th birthday, was great to talk to the family at home

Friday 29th April 2011
Today we spent the whole day in the cappadocia area, we saw the cave dwellings carved into the volcanic rock where monks used to live. There were little churches carved in various spots. It was like nothing i had ever seen before, imagine something out of a desert planet in Star Wars. I paid an extra 8lira to get into the Dark Church, which was like the Sistine Chapel of Turkey, it had ancient paintings of various Christian scenes, all particularly well preserved. Definitely worth the extra money. I got completely scammed by an arsehole with a camel, I should have known. Had my photo taken and then they brought out a sign saying 10 lira for camel photos!! I carried on a bit so I only parted with 5 lira. Shared this experience with Murat, who thought it was very funny. We stopped at another special rockcave formation for photos, and Murat chatted to another camel man and arranged for me to have a free camel ride! So it was worth it in the end :)
We also visited the underground city today, a vast network of interconnected tunnels, chambers, storage areas, kitchens, sleeping areas, it was fascinating. They could live down there for ages, it was so thoroughly thought out and they planned for everything, there was even a spot for graves of those who had died underground. 
Tonight we went out to a folk dance and bellydance show in town, wow it was great. Rob got dragged up to shimmy with the bellydancer, it was an energetic show! I got extremely drunk and was informed of the various antics I got up to when I went to breakfast the next morning. Shame!