25 October - Thursday evening. I arrive in Kayseri. The Decar rental company agent meets me with a placard. We finalize paperwork via flashlight in the airport parking lot. The agent gives me good directions for escaping town and finding the proper signs for the 100 km drive to Uchisar. I turn off a little early and end up driving through the countryside looking at the spotlit Cappadocia sites. Drove right up the the hill and asked the first person I saw where the “Maison de Reve” Pension was. I was only a block away. Its 10 pm so it’s a hasty retreat to bed.
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| Stopped the car and took this blurry shot before driving up to Uchisar to find my pension. |
26 October - Friday - Despite waking to the call for prayer by the mezzin before sunrise, I slept till 9:30 am. Forced myself up to get breakfast before it closed at 10 am. I’m the only tourist in the entire pension.
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| View from pension of the valley. Ballons float over this valley in the early morning. |
This is bad for finding companions but great for using the free internet. Had the breakfast plate of cheese, olives, hard boiled egg, jelly and bread.
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| Took a walk along the Pigeon Valley which is noted for its dovecots carved into the stone. |
It’s sunny and warm. Some of the path is steep. In the old days, they used pigeon fertilizer for agriculture and pigeons also supplied food.
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| Dovecots |
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| View of Uchisar Castle from Pigeon Valley |
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| More Dovecots |
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| Fairy Towers |
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| Another view looking up at Uchisar |
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Didn’t see many pigeons. I’ll see them all in Istanbul. The birds have all moved to the big city.
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| Turkey in Turkey |
Back at the pension for lunch -- had pieces of lamb with peppers, onions and tomatoes in a cast iron pan. I was told to visit the main attraction in Uchisar -- the Castle at sunset. So I walked up to the square, found all the tourists coming in buses and bought all my souvenirs and tasted some sesame coated peanuts.
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| Women's skirts are divided into pantaloons |
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| On top of Uchisar Castle. The last rays of the sun light up the far away hills. |
Back to the pension for dinner which was very similar to lunch except the meat was chicken.