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| Exiting Göreme, Turkey. |
The best baklavas I ate came from Oze Café. There was also a ton of brands of tea. And the owners were very nice.
Talking about tea, it is almost always free, after a meal, in small restaurants. It's not as true in the big expensive and elegant establishments.
That said, our second day in Cappadocia was so full. At the hostel, they recommended a touristic tour in a bus that would show us most of the attractions in the area. Smart as we are, we thought it would be easier to explore at our own rhythm by renting mopeds.
First statement : on dirt, mopeds are not stable. Second statement which would came way later : our map wasn't on scale.
Nevertheless, getting lost at our own rhythm was incomparable. At the very top of the hill we would climb to exit the village, we stopped to watch the view. To take some apricots from the trees too, like we can do everywhere around there. And to blend in the crowd of tourists in a small souvenir shop where they were trying to sell us crap at a high price.
On the uneven paving stones climbing all the way to the castle, we drove to Uçhisar. We were taking our time, since we were only leaving for Istanbul at 8 PM. We were still in the morning.
Some will say Pigeon Valley is a must. Even if there are a lot of birds there, we were not that impressed. It is more my friend's controlled loss of control we will remember. No injury here. Not even a scratch on the bike.
For at least 45 minutes after that, we rode in the back-country waiting for a place to eat. The small deserted roads, the fields, the impression to be alone in the middle of nowhere... and Turkish people looking at us weirdly like motorcycles don't get on these roads often.
In the end, we found food in Kaymakli. That small village was typically asian with its small shops all next to the others. It is apparently known for its underground city. Between the noise in the street and the calmness of the terrace where we ate, there was a complete different world. In the back of the court, old people were playing cards or chess. We were the odd ones in the landscape there.
We then left towards Derinkuyu to visit another underground city protected by the Unesco. There, with all those locals trying to talk to us in their language, we know some probably told us some bad things. But in Derinkuyu, they know what tourists want. On the road, they always point the direction of the underground city to us.
That is where stress came in. The next city on the map was Ihlara, about 50 km away. On a motorcycle... And time was flying.
We took the chance.
On our map, there was no city between Derinkuyu and Ihlara. That wasn't a mistake. While our tank was getting empty, fields kept on coming. More fields. Always fields. And mount Hasan on the horizon.
When we saw a gas station, we gladly stopped. A young boy got out of the building and screamed "No!", adding a sign with his head that left us no doubt. Our motorcycles were thirsty. The arrows were pointing towards the empty sign. Between "nowhere" and "nowhere", our best bet was to keep on driving forward. Too late to go back anyway.
When the engine started coughing, a gas station appeared like an oasis. My friend, usually very calm, just sighted of relief. No breakdown!
From there : no time to lose. At 60 km an hour, we were rushing towards Göreme.
After at least one hour on the highway, unpleasant hour I must say, hour in which my friend received a plastic bottle on his helmet, thanks to a car passenger passing him, we finally came back to our starting point.
We were one hour late from our anticipated return time. 30 minutes to get our luggage, eat, and hop on the bus that would bring us back to Istanbul. Yes, we were able to sleep after that.
Lessons here : 1) exploring by ourselves was more fun 2) mistakes and problems make better stories 3) always make sure the maps are on scale. And you should study the road you plan on taking to avoid highways on mopeds...
