Cappadocia

Cappadocia- truly amazing. We travelled into Illyahara Valley and hiked for a couple of hours along the riverside. The caves in the cliffs are mainly churches that monks built and lived in during the Byzantine period ( from 4th  century AD). They are incredible. The smaller holes in the cliffs are where the priests kept pigeons, and the practice has been in place until about the 1970's by the next inhabitants. The pigeons provided valuable manure which was a source of income. No I am not full of s...!

Next we visited the underground city of Derinkuyu which housed 20,000 people. It has a tunnel nine kms long that connects it to another underground city.  This place goes back to 6000BC!!! The early Christians lived underground to hide from the invading Arabs, and they could stay there, seven storeys below the surface, for at least six months. There was a place for training missionaries, and there was also a large winery and stable. All the human and animal waste was carted out in sealed jars. The soil was was carted out the same way but snuck into a river so that no one knew where the cities were. I was amazed. The winery was smart eh!

Tomorrow I hope to post the pics of the region of Cappadocia from my hot air balloon. Pray for Troy and me as it might be the closest we get to heaven!

Oh yes, these little chaps in the pic left got lost in the underground city, but they eventually made it the 75 meters to the surface...without tears.

This page is dedicated to all those who struggle with their faith, and to those who sometimes do not have the courage or energy to stand up for what they truly believe. Hang in there, all will be well".