We crossed the Soḡanli River and hiked to the Church with the Hat (Dome) and the Hidden Church.  I don’t know if this is all looking pretty much the same to you but when you’re there, if you love it, you can’t get enough.  I love the semi-arid landscape so this is just wondrous to me.

“From the Yılanlı Kilise, paths head off in two different directions, but if you walk straight ahead and cross the small stream you will soon be heading uphill towards the 14th-century Kubbeli Kilise (Church with a Dome) that makes Soğanlı stand out from the rest of Cappadocia. Here, uniquely, the top of a natural rock formation has been shaped into a dome — perhaps in imitation of an Armenian church. Inside the two-storied building you will find more frescoes as well as the rock-cut altars and columns typical of the area.” http://www.todayszaman.com/

The trail up from the river or maybe just a stream and what I thought was the Soḡanli River wasn’t the river at all.  I just don’t know.  It was pretty easy to step across at one point.

The Church with the Dome

This is the photo I have next after the Dome Church but I’m not sure if it’s the Hidden Church or not or it might be the view from the Hidden Church.  I guess it was really well hidden though I did go inside. 

…………The Church of Hidden……….

The basement small domed church is named as The Church of Hidden.

There are other rocky settlements nearby The Church of Hidden. However they are not as valuable as the others. You can enter the church from its north door. It has there adjacent rooms in its south.

A narrow and long corridor was built in the narthex part. This corridor has four halls and a window looking to the west. The adjacent room is a large one. There are four big niches and graves in its walls.

Faces were scratched out at different times for different reasons.

Iconoclasm was one reason.  But I also read that sometime the eyes were taken as good luck when the religious were forced from the area. 

Not sure if I read/heard that these were some type of burial chamber.  I definitely need a well-stocked local library.

Heading back down to the river past an abandoned village.

I don’t know why they were abandoned…fear of earthquakes, more modern options, former home of Greeks….

Very picturesque

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=316725 is a lovely review of this small pension and some wonderful photos of the area by a couple mountain-biking their way through Cappadocia this past March.  This blog also shows a photo of the caves used as cold storage for potatoes.  Being on a bus rather than a bicycle we didn’t have the road space to stop and take a photo.  I am jealous that I’m nowhere in any shape to have done that ride.  But once upon a time…..

Ladies selling traditional dolls that I regret not buying, but whose to buy?

I like the long skirts and vests which actually look quite comfortable in the chilly weather but would be really too hot in the warm weather. 

Lunch time where we had choices of omlette, chicken or beef along with meze and a variety of desserts.

Can’t beat the setting!

Lots of folks chose Ayran to drink.  I prefer my yogurt straight. 

http://ayran.com/  explains this yogurt derivative drink.

Plain Ayran

1 1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 1/2 cup water

1 tsp salt

This is very straight-forward but tastes great: Put all of the above in a blender. Mix for about 35-40 seconds. Pour into glasses. Also after blending, at the top, you will see bubbles and that’s the best part. Makes 4 portions. The drink shouldn’t be

My favorite are the ladies and their local fashions.  They look comfortable while half of us were complaining that our jeans were feeling snug from the meals we’d been eating. 

My fashion statement!

I think the blue bead needs to go.  I actually wore my hat/scarf today under my rain jacket and it really does the trick.  Everyone on our trip said it “looked like me” and I’m not sure exactly what that means.  I did get lots of compliments from the Turkish locals. 

Turkish painted desert.

All too soon it was time to get back onto the bus and head back towards Avanos.  We still had to stop at the Carpet Showroom for “yet another carpet lesson.”   We really don’t mind that at all especially Randal who really is quite interested in carpets.   I’ll leave that for last as I’ve written about carpets before.   So next email will be the evening’s Turkish Night.