Konya,
Turkey -> Cappadocia, Turkey
Still
sick. But hope of a recovery in some not
so distant future? Yes. We mobilized,
showered, packed, and booked it to the tram, not sure at all if we were going
to make it in time for the 11am bus to Goreme, but we did! Maybe even with 5 minutes to spare ;) We waived farewell to Konya sadly without
seeing a single whirling dervish whirl.
Maybe in Istanbul.
The bus was
quite comfortable, as is the standard here.
Nice coaches. The attendant was
noteworthy of mention as well: he didn’t
speak English, but he LOVED us (or loved making fun of us.. not sure). He would make the most ridiculous gestures at
us. For example, Nick pointed out a
mosque, to which he grinned broadly and held up his hands like donkey ears
sprouting out from under his neck! At
one point we are pretty sure he tried to scam us, as he asked to take our
tickets somewhere and bring them back in a minute, but a friend I will tell you
about next talked to him in Turkish (a scolding?) and he did not take them.
The friend
we made was a 17 year old girl in the seat in front of us. We attempted communication through the seat
crack between us. It was difficult, but
we did connect with her. She was trying
so hard to communicate! She is in high school. As we were about to arrive at our stop, She
gave me a BEAUTIFUL necklace from around her neck (at least I’m assuming she
doesn’t carry extra as party favors). It
was such a sweet gesture, and something I will treasure. I gave her a shell
Nick found for me in Rhodes- not as special, but still something. She understood it was from Greece.
We decided
to stay at the first place we looked at in Goreme, the town most people stay in
in Cappadocia: Kose Pension. We are up
on the roof in a dorm with mattresses on the floor, and a balcony all
around. It is wooden and very nice! Right now we are the only ones in it, though
it could house up to 24 people! I hope
no one else comes. It only costs 12 tyl
per person, which is good (about $12 total)!
The shared bathrooms aren’t bad either. Also, the owner has an itty bitty baby so
that’s fun.
I crashed
for a bit upon arrival, and then we went looking at renting a car or moto and
found some Tavuk Doner (Cheap common street food). This town is expensive! Doner was 4 tyl each, and car rentals are
like 80 tyl/day. (Divide in half to get an estimate of $US)
Nick brought
me back to the hotel after our venturing and now I am resting and journaling and
cough cough coughing while he goes for a run.
I’ll enter
the rest of the day later!
We ended up having
a quiet evening: Nick went out and bought us some Tavuk Doner, and we ate it
while we finished watching Casablanca.
Now time to
sleep, and hopefully wake up feeling all better!
