Day 1,454

Ihlara Valley

Tom still wasn't feeling 100%, but after a reasonable night's rest he felt strong enough to hike the Ihlara Canyon. Our kind host had arranged a lift for us to the start point, 8 miles down the road. On the way we stopped and checked out a thermal pool. Dug out by locals over the years it is a wonderful place to relax in the thermal waters, with a stunning backdrop, today though it was simply too hot to think about relaxing in hot water. So after a quick explore we were back in the car heading to Ihlara. We saw two touring cyclists speeding along but apart from a wave we didn't get a chance to interact with them. We do love a natter with fellow tourers. 

A free and accessible thermal pool - but too hot even at 8.30am!

The views on the drive up were simply stunning, with the now dormant volcano, Mount Hasen, at 3,253 metres, dominating the skyline. The roadsides were lined with a stunning array of wild flowers, we've seen so many on our trip through Turkey, and feel so fortunate that we arrived at the right time to enjoy them at their best.

We expected more tourists but the car park was pretty empty. Recently renovated, we had over 400 steps to descend to the valley floor and into some welcome shade. The canyon is 15 km long and at times 150 metres deep, with lush green vegetation all around. It had been carved out in prehistoric times by the Melendiz River, by the 7th century AD Byzantine monks had settled there. They dug out houses and churches from the tuff stone, which had been deposited by eruptions from Mount Hasen. 

The Ihlara Canyon - this was going to be good!

The first half of the valley running from Ihlara to the small hamlet of Belisarma, has been developed by the local government as a safe walking trail, there are plenty of seats for the weary to take a rest, endless bins to discourage littering and even a restaurant, apparently until recently virtually the whole of this section was lined with cafes and shops but wisely the management of the area decided one cafe was enough. It is all really well done and doesn't detract from the surroundings too much. 

There are over 50 churches hewn from the rock, the older ones are nearer Ihlara, these are decorated with paintings of what is called Cappadocian type, the style showing they were influenced by Persia and Syria to the east. Further down the valley the churches date from a later period, around the 10th century onwards. Unfortunately over the passage of time they have been deliberately damaged, with much graffiti scrawled over the walls as well. Despite this, with the aid of helpful information panels we were able to understand what we were seeing. It was incredibly moving to see such beautiful paintings in such a unique setting. 

The eyes were often scratched out of the paintings - a result of religious beliefs changing over time

We sat for a while by the Melendiz River, enjoying a cup of tea, and admiring the beauty all around us. One thing we had noticed was how relaxed the birds were around people, which enabled us to see as well as hear them easily. 

At Belisarma the ‘managed’ part of the trail ended. The canyon continues on to Selime, there's a path but it's more natural with a bit of scrambling occasionally over the rocks. The vegetation is much lusher, left to grow naturally and for us all the better for this. Unfortunately this meant no bins and I ended up picking 3 carrier bags full of rubbish! We only scrambled up to one building, a mosque rather than a church as this area was settled later.

Wonderful wildflowers everywhere

All too soon we started to see the fairy castles we had explored last night, we had reached the end of the canyon but not our walk. I deposited my rubbish bags in a bin by our host's house. Then he kindly joined us and guided us through the vast sprawling remains of the Selime Monastery. Built during the Byzantine period, around 900 AD, it's the largest and most complex remains to be found in Cappadocia.

Countless rooms with a view

Built over many levels, it has an enormous kitchen, halls, churches, a bathing house, many more rooms and 2 courtyards. In its day, visitors would leave their camels and horses in the stables at the base of the cliff, then walk up the entrance tunnel. Built as it was, it had a great view of the surrounding valley and hills, passageways could be blocked by the use of millstones rolled into position. Over the years the use of the rooms changed. When the Christians left, families used the churches as houses. A fortress once stood over 200 metres above these remains and locals swear that the tunnel that links them still exists. Our guide, whose family have lived in this area for generations, wasn't letting us in on the secret though!  

Reluctantly we decided to head back to our tent and rest. Tom was starting to feel quite unwell. Our host and his uncle were very concerned. They cooked some simple food for us, shopped for bread and bananas and insisted that Tom rest in a proper bed in the house. In the morning they had plans, if Tom was better, on we would go, or if not they would arrange a lift out of the valley, worst case they'd take him to see a doctor. I slept well knowing I had their support. As for Tom, well at least he had a toilet close by!