An entry from the daily journal I keep

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!