TURKEY Part 16 -- Days 7 & 8

After visiting the "Fairy Towers" we went to the "Valley of the Birds". It is called this because of all the pigeons that nest there. There are nest holes all over this hilly area for the pigeons. They are actually farmed here.
The farmers have build these homes with pigeon holes on top for their nests.
The birds live in the upper part and their droppings fall below. The farmers then use a door in the bottom to harvest the droppings for fertilizer.
As you can see in this picture there are hundreds of holes for these birds to live.
Also at this stop was this little stand selling various dried fruits like figs, apricots, etc. I found it interesting that the sign said what it did and a lot of the men from our group were shopping there.This is mike looking out over the valley. The landscape was simply beautiful all over Turkey.
On the 8th day we flew back to Istanbul. We then lunched in a nice restaurant over the Spice Bazaar. This is one of the oldest bazaars in the area. It sells most spices hence the name but there are some stalls selling other things. This is a picture looking down at the bazaar from the restaurant. It was one long hallway with shops on both sides.After leaving the bazaar we walked up the streets to the Grand Bazaar. The street was packed with people shopping.That evening we went to the Galata Tower to watch the sunset. This tower is in the old part of Istanbul. We had to ride the tram to get there. It was quite a fun experience. The trams were very crowded.
Here is a view from the balcony on the tower.
The sunset was absolutely beautiful. I took hundreds of pictures here are only a couple.

The next day in the afternoon we went to the airport for the return flight to Saudi Arabia. But in the morning we went back to the Grand Bazaar. This place is simply hugh. There are hundreds of shops inside with many side streets off the main one. It wasn't as crowded in the morning. Here is one of the entrances to the Bazaar.
This is the main street as we entered.
You could spend hours and probably never see the whole thing. They seem to have just about anything you can imagine. They had leather, pottery, spices, jewelry, fabric, linens, and the list goes on and on. We did make a few purchases here to bring back.

We really enjoyed 0ur trip to Turkey. We gained a real appreciation for the country. The people are hard-working and hospitable. There is so much yet to be seen we could go back again.

TURKEY Part 15 -- Day 7

After the pottery factory we went to the "churches in the rocks". These are small caves that have been carved in the hills and anciently they made them into churches. Many had beautiful frescoes painted on the walls and decorations. But with time and exposure to elements they have weathered away mostly. The beautiful carvings still remain.

As we approached the site we were to visit we was this hill full of holes that were entrances to different caves. Some were open to visitors but most were not.
Here is what the front of some of the churches might have looked like. they would carve these details into the rock faces.
Again the side of the hill with many openings.
This was looking out over the valley. This area was covered with holes in the rocks that had been used as houses, storage, shelter, or churches anciently.
Again the beautiful carving of the rock faces.
Some of the detail painting on the exterior.
It was really crowded with tourists and most of the churches were very small. One church we were supposed to visit had a long line and could only hold about 10 people at a time. Our guide decided to take us to another one called "The Dark Church". It was so named because it had been sheltered from exposure to the light and elements and the paintings inside had been well preserved. Because there was an additional cost to see this place most people did not visit it. We were not allowed to take pictures with flash as that would damage the frescoes. But here are a few pictures I managed to get with my camera and no flash.

These frescoes had been painted in the 12th century and were simply beautiful. It was well worth going to see.

TURKEY Part 14 -- Day 7

After leaving the underground city we drove to a carpet factory. Here we got to watch them making the "Turkish double knot" carpets. These are all really hand made and very beautiful. These carpets are made of two basic materials. First there are cotton base with cotton knots. They also make silk knots on the cotton base and of course silk knots on silk base. The silk on silk is the most intricate as the thread is finer. They are also the softest. This picture shows how they work with the pattern on top and tie each string with the proper color knotted thread.
This is a close up of the girl tying the knot. These ladies were amazingly fast at their work. The blade in her hand is used to quickly cut the thread after tying the knot. They do that with just a quick simple flick of the wrist.
After they tie the row of knots they tamp them down with this comb type tool. This is to keep them very tightly woven.
After tamping the weave tightly they take these scissor type tools and trim the threads. It was amazing to watch these ladies work. The detail was so fine. We learned that the men learn to make pottery and the women weave. These two skills make for good husbands and wives.
After watching the ladies for a bit we were taken to another room where we saw how they get the silk for the carpets. This is where they take the cocoons spun by the worms and wash them.

Then to unwind the cocoons they use a brush and just tamp up and down in the water where the cocoons are to get them to start unraveling.
From there they unwind the cocoons and then spin them into threads and put into the dyes. Following this we were treated to a private showing of some of the carpets and taught a bit about what to look for when buying carpets. We ended up buying a carpet for a wall hanging that is silk on silk.

After leaving there we drove back to the pottery factory to finish our tour. We were taking to a back room where we saw them making the white or more porcelain type pots and plates. Here is a guy making one of the dishes.
They then hand paint the designs on these pots.
After the design is hand drawn they then color them in with these fine brushes.
This is a finished play showing the Tree of Life that was a very popular design.
Here is another platter of course all hand painted.
This is a wine carafe that was used anciently. It is placed over the shoulder then you can pour easily. I wanted to get one but at this place they were very expensive. We never did find one that I was happy with anywhere else. Guess I will have to save that for another trip.

TURKEY Part 13 -- Day 7

This morning we woke to cool, crisp mountain air. We went for a walk outside, it reminded us very much of a Utah morning; except for the minarets and apartment buildings instead of houses and LDS steeples.

We drove to Kaymakli Underground City. This began as storage caves under the villages. But later became underground city hideouts during the early Christian persecution times.
The hills were covered with caves that had been used for one reason or another.
The underground city we visited was one of the largest. It consisted of 8 levels down. We only went down 4 levels, as that is all they have set for tourist to visit. The rooms weren't very large.
Surprisingly it wasn't as cool as I expected with being underground. These chambers were used for individual families. They also had rooms for livestock and storage of food goods.
Many of the passages were low and narrow. There were even a couple that we had to stoop down in a crouch to get through.
This was just another chamber, most like sleeping area. The niches on the wall may have been beds.
This large round stone was used as a door. It could be rolled in place to cover the entrances when they feared invasion.
This chamber was a community area. I am not sure what it was used for.

This is one of the sets of stairs we had to traverse in the caves. They were very narrow and steep. Also small steps.Another example of the small rooms and passages between them.