Look! Pictures!

Alright everybody. It's a picture update, and it's hugely exciting. Buckle up or something.

I'm going to go ahead and start with the most amazing picture of them all.



That's right - Sawyer is taking a break from badassing his way around a mystical island to sell a credit card. This isn't just any old credit card - it's a credit card with the logo of some kind of chocolate / candy / ice cream company. You thought your REI card was cool? Move to Turkey.

I have a ton of pictures, and unfortunately it's hard for me to tell which, if any, are good. I'm working with an old monitor that has a bunch of glare, so these are kind of a shot in the dark.

I mentioned Mt. Nemrud in a previous blog post, I think. This is the same King Nimrod who built the Tower of Babel. He was a little vain. He ruled over a small empire in southeastern Turkey, and is buried at the top of this mountain, or something. The mountain is covered with tombs and with some amazing rock sculptures, mostly Greek gods. Here's a couple of them.


It was a pretty amazing place. A group of us went up for sunrise, and it was quite spectacular. It actually made waking up at 2:30AM to get up there worth it. We also saw a 6th century Roman bridge:



From there I've moved on to Goreme, in central Turkey, where I've been for the last eight days or so. I mentioned earlier that the landscape here is very weird. The entire area was populated with Christians, with some churches dating back to the 2nd or 3rd centuries. Many of the caves in this area (there are tons...holes in the mountains wherever you look, and 25% of the local population still lives in caves) were turned into churches or monasteries. The cave below is one such church. The picture of the cross beside it was carved into the ceiling.



That's just one...I've been to maybe 10 different churches so far, maybe more. Around the 11th century, Italian artists came through and added frescoes to a lot of the churches. The one below was one of the better preserved ones, although in one church I saw some that looked brand new. They deteriorate with harsh light, and the collapse of caves in many places has exposed the frescoes.



You might notice that some of the eyes or faces are scratched out. This one was better off than many, but I've seen a lot of places where every eye in the church has been destroyed. When the Christians were booted out by Muslim populations, they were afraid that looking at the frescoes would cause people to lose their faith or convert. That, combined with the fact that Islam prohibits images of people or animals, means that a lot of these frescoes have been damaged over the years.

The place I'm staying is beautiful. I got up a couple of mornings to see the sunrise and to watch the hot air balloons take off. A lot of places around here offer morning tours in hot air balloons, though the price is a little steep for me. About $200 for an hour. After watching the balloons, I think I have a pretty good idea of what I would see anyway, so I don't feel like I'm missing out. Here's a picture from one of the sunrises:



Staying here has been great. The staff at the hostel I'm at are terrific. There's a guy from New Zealand working here while he's waiting for a replacement passport. His was stolen on a bus. They've been really helpful in finding things to do around town, make a great breakfast, and have been a lot of fun to hang out with. I'm a little sad to be leaving...it makes such a difference to have great company and to be in a place with things to go out and do.

I'm leaving for Olympos tonight via a night bus, where I'll be for a couple of days before a four day boat trip to Fethiye. Olympus is supposed to be beautiful - lots of beaches and such, so it'll be a mini vacation. Hope you all are doing well.