Today we spent walking the valleys; the Rose Valley and the Red Valley. So called due to the colour of the rocks in them. One of the wild dogs set out with us, showing us all the view points but when a group of friendly ladies came along he abandoned us for them. They looked a much softer touch, for a free lunch!
We wandered around the cave houses and churches, with much greater knowledge since our experience at Mazi. The so called fairy chimneys made sense; the pigeon holes we understood. Thousands of pigeons were kept, not only for there eggs but also for their droppings which was used a fertiliser in this otherwise barren landscape. Later the pigeons were also used for messaging. Above us towered the "mushrooms." What a unique landscape, Cappodocia has a beauty all of its own.
Whilst stopped for our picnic lunch, we gain a different dog. This one walks with us all the way back to the campsite. We arrive back at Kaya Camping in time to have a shower before going to the Dervish Ceremony, we had booked yesterday. There is a message for us from the balloon people. Would we like to take an evening flight, now!! Evening flights only run when the companies are playing "catch up." The problem is, we may or may not be back in time for the dervishes and we have already paid for that. We decline the offer and take a gamble on tomorrow morning being fine. As it turns out, in the end no balloons went up for the sunset flight. We are told to be at the gate for 4.30am, this is even earlier than before? No, the clocks had changed and we didn't know!!!
The whirling dervish Ceremony was something quite different. It is a religious ceremony, whose roots are in the Sufi sect of Islam. As such I was glad that we hadn't seen them as part of an entertainment programme as seen in many hotels and restaurants. The place we went, was a proper Dervish Lodge, the full ceremony was conducted in an underground cave so very atmospheric. It did feel strange though, as it was rather like paying to watch someone say their prayers?
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