The underground city was the last site on the program for the day so we headed off towards Konya whi

Cappadocia is always banff alberta travel guide a great day. We started from the hotel and went to the panorama area. When we arrived there a couple of balloons banff alberta travel guide were heading through the valley and we were able to get some nice photos. It was pretty cool early. Apparently it got down to 6 degrees C overnight. Once the sun got going the day turned out to be pretty fantastic banff alberta travel guide on the weather front. After 30 minutes or so at the viewing area we headed into Goreme to see the rock-cut churches and chimneys. We have done well avoiding the crowds so far the trip. There were hardly any other groups when we arrived and we were half-way through our visit there before banff alberta travel guide the coaches and groups started rolling in. As we were finishing up it started getting pretty busy.
From Goreme we went to an area where there are some really nice chimneys. I thought it was called Pigeon valley but Hakan called it by a different name that I just cannot remember. The chimneys there are really spectacular. banff alberta travel guide When our time was up when headed to Avanos which is a centre for ceramics in Turkey. We go to a place where there is a very famous master potter called Mr Galip. He has been on TV in Turkey quite often and he is also in the Guinnes Book or Records for 2 things. He is noted for having made the worlds largest banff alberta travel guide pot. It is more than 3 metres high they said. The other is that he has the worlds largest collection of womens hair. Yes, thats right. Women give him bits of their hair. He has more than 100,000 pieces I believe. Cannot remember the exact number. banff alberta travel guide We saw some of them. There is a little card with the details banff alberta travel guide of the lady who the hair belongs too and then a strand of their hair. It is an usual hobby. banff alberta travel guide Moving on, he is also an exceptional potter. banff alberta travel guide He gave us a demonstration on a foot wheel. He made a tea pot. While he was making it he asked if anyone could guess what he is making. Shane guessed banff alberta travel guide correctly and won a prize he got a hand-shake (a very muddy one thanks to the master) and a little dish. Shane mentioned a few times later in the day that his hand still stunk like the clay. Galip puts on a pretty good show. We then saw how they do the decorations and of course we got to see the show-room. I am still trying to get my head around the hair collection Mr Galip also bears a striking resemblance to Einstein. The potter show was definitely an experience.
From there we went back to Goreme for some free time to have lunch and look around. We dispersed among the little shops and cafes and found some lunch and then met back at the bus at the appointed time. Goreme is a great little town. Very tourist focused but really relaxed and cheap. I had a very large toasted cheese and mushroom sandwich and an apple tea and it was only 7 lira. The same thing (without mushrooms and half the size) in Istanbul was 32 lira. After lunch we went to Kaymagli I am sure I spelt that wrong. It is the underground city. A very interesting place. It is a bit squeezy in some of the tunnels but the group seemed to enjoy the visit. There was also a little shopping done today.
The underground city was the last site on the program for the day so we headed off towards Konya which was a 3 hour drive. We arrived safely at our hotel and had dinner. Dinner was interesting. There were a number of groups there including us. One of the other tour leaders seemed to have an issue with the floor manager and she was not shy about making a scene. banff alberta travel guide I am not sure but I thought banff alberta travel guide she may have been Italian she was definitely unhappy about something. There are a couple of us vegetarians and when the starters were coming around I asked if the soup was vegetarian. The waiter said he would check and came back and advised that the soup did have some chicken water in it. We did have a good laugh at all the possibilities for the meaning of chicken water but we were pretty sure the word he was after was broth .
The hotel is very nice and I am very glad to be turning in for the night. Tomorrow is another long day and we will be at Pamukkale where we can stay for 3 days, the first of which is a free day. Looking forward to the sites tomorrow and then a nice relax.