Second night in a cave.

Ortahisar.

Tuesday, May 26.    

We have had a good night in our ‘cave’ hotel room. It is not truly a cave in that there is a front wall which has been constructed from blocks of stone, cut from the rock. However, most of the suite had been carved out of the large protruding lump of the local rock which is relatively easy to work and cut. Creating living spaces in this way has its limitations as well as advantages. Light and cross ventilation is restricted. Our suite has only one small window. But the temperature is very stable at a comfortable level. It is also terribly quiet. For better or worse, there is no rain patter on the roof.

Breakfast of an assortment of interesting things is on the very pleasant shaded terrace. The local first meal of the day, it seems, is not based around the British style but more like Europe – an assortment of spreads, cheese, fruit juice, savoury nibbles, a small omelette like serving and a big basket of bread. We have no difficulty filling ourselves trying everything.

We realise we have made no fixed plans beyond Ortahisar. We seek the advice of our host. As a result, we book a balloon flight for Thursday and a tour of the wider area around here for Friday. There is some rain and cloudy sky forecast but apparently the balloon flights go on regardless. We all have to take pot luck with the weather. However, it is still inconclusive how we will get back to Istanbul to catch our flight home.

Our neighbourhood and Ortahisar.

Our host briefs us on some walks we can take around here. Instead of walking to the start of the trails, we play it safe on his distance estimates and decide to catch a taxi. Just as well because the route is not particularly enticing. Once we get there, we soon discover that the trails are unsuitable and unsafe for Lois. They are too steep with loose gravel surfaces. Regrettably, we agree that I will have to set out on my own for about an hour. 

The commercial opportunities at the start of the trails. I trust the freshly squeezed orange juice (juicers silhouetted) outbids the Coke.

Once on the trail, the magic and enchantment of the landscape is quite overwhelming. It is the weathering effects on this rather soft volcanic ash rock which has created this unique and magnificent setting.

Once on the trail, the magic and enchantment of the landscape is quite overwhelming. It is the weathering effects on this rather soft volcanic ash rock which has created this unique and magnificent setting.

Of course, having an attraction always creates commercial opportunities. We examine their wares but buy only a bottle of water. Their dried fruits look attractive but even by our standards are very expensive.

We want to call the taxi driver who gave us his card so that he can come and pick us up but I have left my phone behind. One of the stallholders is happy to call and accepts no money.

Home, blog and chat to our host. On the way to seek dinner, we stop at the local café for a beer and have fun observing the local scene. We stroll uptown to look for a suitable meal venue. There is the terribly unassuming place recommended by Ausie couple at Castle café. A regular customer offers to help us with the menu. We start a wide ranging conversation as he speaks reasonably good English. We cover politics, ethics, religion and the weather. He is a really nice guy.

Our dinner venue.

We order our meal, recommended by our conversation partner – chicken kebabs + salad. We thought we ordered just one but two servings arrive with a stack of fresh Turkish bread. The salad is good. It is all very nice but a bit too big. However, we work our way through it.  We get back, do a little more work to let our heavy dinner go down and then bed.