Just when you think you know what the world looks like

Thousands of years ago volcanoes erupted in central Turkey, covering the land with volcanic ash and basalt. Over time, erosion swept away some of the soft rock and created the geological amazement that is Cappadocchia. The guide books alternatively describe the rock formations as a Salvadore Dali painting, an acid trip, or Salvadore Dali on acid. The rock mounds look like mushrooms or pyramids or shark teeth or weapons depots or...youll just have to see my pictures to appreciate how positively unlike anything else this place is. George Lucas reportedly wanted to film part of the Star Wars movies in Cappadocchia, though it didnt work out.
Anyhow, well before 1200BC the Hittites settled in the area and carved their homes and fortresses into the rock hills or underground - some of the underground cities are 8 stories deep and could house 2,000 people. Then the early Christians came along and expanded existing cave cities and added churches, monasteries and convents; next the Byzantines took up residence and added their castles and expansions and finally the tourism industry added hotels carved into the stone. I hope I have that in the right order. This human intervention took an already unusual landscape and added a swiss cheese element to it - there are over 40,000 homes carved into the rocks in the region.
Julie and I stayed in a cave hotel and enjoyed two full days of guided tours around the area and got to enjoy a smaller town - a nice change from the bustle of Istanbul. All of our scrambling, crawling, climbing, burrowing, and hiking has left us a little tired and dusty, so we plan to head posthaste to a beach in Greece. We stopped for the day outside of Ephasus and checked out the old town - very ruined, very fascinating - and tomorrow we bid this country and all its rug salesmen gule gule.