The Lazy Cherub Enigma: Into the Wild

We have reached another overland milestone – truck breakdown in crappy weather. Did I not say we would end up in the mountains stranded somewhere? All things considered, we have done very well as far as mechanics go so it was only a matter of time before another initiation took place. This one was on the way to Goreme. Somewhere in a mountain pass in the cold pouring rain our truck decided it had had enough and needed some vehicular TLC. The gods must have been on our side that day because the break down occurred in a small mountain village that had a hotel. I have no idea the town’s name. It was pretty surreal actually. Cobblestone roads and mist. It was like a movie set for Basil Rathborne’s Sherlock Holmes meet’s Christopher Lee’s Dracula. There was a plethora of shops selling honey – as in pretty much every shop. The hotel we stayed in had a view of the mountains which was nice. In the evening when I was trying to access Internet I noticed a lot of local guys coming in pairs into hotel rooms. One had a briefcase. They would go in a room and then about 20 minutes later one of the guys would come out and leave – no briefcase. Black market pollen perhaps? Ken used the delay to his advantage and got his hair cut by the two hottest Turkish barbers on the planet. I watched really bad 70’s Turkish movies and ate an entire tube of Pringles. I figured I earned a junk food binge after all the stress and weight loss on the trip and it’s not like this town had a Starbucks…

The mechanical delay meant a very early start the next day to push on to Goreme. Another long drive this time in the cold and wet. Everyone was wrapped up in sleeping bags in the back. The days of sweltering heat in the desert were now officially over.

Goreme!!! So good to be back! The land of fairy chimneys, penis rocks, and actually lattes made by real baristas!! Probably the biggest joy was the fact that what was suppose to be 3 days of camping turned into 3 days staying in a cave hotel. Pure Bliss. The camping would have been brutal. Not so much about the people but the weather – at night it was getting down to 3 Celsius. (My water boiling skills would have REALLY become an issue with those morning lows!) As soon as we all checked in everyone went out on a mission to find gloves! Or, in my case, gloves and a latte J

Wow. It’s only been a year and a half since we were here and it is amazing at how much the place is changing. It is definitely becoming a “tourist town” which is really kind of sad. I think very soon this place will no longer be a realistic back packers destination. Prices were shocking. Even a cheap eats establishment will set you back around 10 to 15 dollars Canadian per person for a meal. You don’t want to know what I paid for a latte but it was enough that I considered pimping Ken out to support my habit. Balloon rides are now so popular that they do two outings a day – the sunrise one and sunset. Seems to be that over the last few years Asian tourists (Japanese, Korean and Chinese) have started to discovered this place.

We had 3 days here to unwind. One of the days was a full day tour of the sites. We were going to do it but the night before I had a major panic attack at having to be with group and I asked Ken if we could do a hike instead. (We had seen everything before on our last trip so both of us felt the stress wasn’t worth it.) We happened to be at café where the owner knows the area very well and he gave us a trail map and told us how to do the “Red Cliffs” route. This would take us through a number of valleys and rises with striated cliffs, carved out old churches and general over all epic scenery. The hike would end in a small town where we could catch a local bus back to Goreme. Ken asked “What would it cost for a taxi?” The café owner replied, “Why you want to pay for a taxi? It’s only 2 lira for the bus!! What are you? Crazy? Why spend more money for a taxi. Come back here and spend money on a good dinner after the hike!”

So the next morning off we went. Out for a hike that was supposed to be around 4 km and should have us in a small town for a late lunch with time to get back and revisit the open air museum and Pigeon Point. Maybe even consider an evening balloon ride. Yeah right. 15 km later… Holy Crap! Not only did we totally screw up on where we were suppose to turn off but we also ended up on this ridge that was maybe a foot wide with a dead drop down the other side. Fortunately we were heading “to” the town so any climbing was up and by climbing I mean almost vertical rock face. We acquired a stray dog at one point who early on I gave half our trail mix too. (Soooo regretted that later on…) We had no water. All I had was a tin of “Freudian Mints” I kept in my purse from The Strand in NYC. Those were going to get us far… There were no people anywhere (which is not good sign if you are doing a “highly rated trail.”) Eventually we came across this lone artist from New York. He was carrying a sketch book and bore an eerie resemblance to Christopher McCandless of “Into the Wild” fame. He had no idea where he is on the trail (“Yeah I’ve just been walking and sketching.”) I asked him how long he had been out. “Oh about 2 months now,” he replies wistfully. Not looking good… Ken asks how the trail was from his end. “Oh its ok. Some steep slopes but you should be good.” He was right about the steep slopes. Vibrams and climbing gear would have been helpful. As would more trail mix. Don’t look at me like that skinny dog…