Cappadocia - Thousands of years ago the Melendiz river formed the Ihlara Gorge...

(Photos by Tavarua)

This is the the deepest gorge of Anatolia and about 14 kilometers long.

Its canyon reaches a depth of approximately 300 feet and is located close to the Cappadocian volcanoes Mount Hasan and Mount Melendiz.

You can hike the gorge from Ihlara village and end it at Selime village.

 One of the hundred Cave Churches - You can find them carved out from the rock walls along the gorge...

 

The Cave Churches dates back from the Byzatine period...

Hidden beauty of the valley...

I was told that almost eight thousand people once lived here in Ihlara Valley..

A taste of Cappadocia...

"Tavarua"

If you have not been here yet...it would definitely be worth it...

(All Photos by Tavarua)

Here is where I stayed...

Cave rooms...

Outside the room is two small areas...

as well as a few other comfortable areas to sit and relax...and enjoy a glass of Çay.  This is the national drink which is brewed from the tea leaves grown in eastern Turkey by the coast of the Black sea.

My view from the street where I stayed...

Pidgon Valley...

The Monasteries ...

Art as Flirtation and Surrender

In your light I learn how to love.

In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,

where no one sees you,

but sometimes I do,

and that sight becomes this art.

- Rumi

A Travellers Life...

On my way again...Destination - the ancient region of Anatolia...

(Photos by Tavarua)

Passport, Journal and Travel jacket....arrival sometime tonight...Cappadocia...here I will "explore" fairy chimneys,  rock cut churches with their Byzatine art , monasteries (since the 8th and 9th Century - the earliest date back to the 4th Century) and the underground cities of Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı. 

A few canvas and leather travel bags...for this trip...

and now ...on my way...Where will I stay?  Somewhere like this...

Finally...

(Photos by Tavarua)

 Well, it took me sometime to finish it-  but here it is

 #1 - "Autumn Leaf and the running Rhino"

Dear Reader,

A simple rhino photo, a simple autumn leaf photo, some simple paint and there it is...Not really...First you look for that special rhino (you travel to the African continent to find him), next step ...in the process... you wait until autumn (take another trip ...we can always justify why we never stop traveling... to Europe, here you will search and find... one great leaf),you need some paint (that you can find in one of the travel bags from the "Travelers Nest")...now you wait for inspiration to create...and few months goes by and one sunny day it all comes together...

I need the sun...and a smile...I smile a lot -  try it...life is great...so if you read this? what do you think?... This is a bad unhappy rhino - he should have been smiling...

 I know you have some oriental rugs piled up.....pick out one rug - nail it to the wall and then center the picture...

There is no path...

(Photos by Tavarua)

“A traveller without observation is a bird without wings” 

- Muslih-uddin Sadi