Selahattin, Reyhan, Suzanne, and Randal

There was a wonderful bean/wheat stew Keṣkek or something that sounded like that.  It was topped with a buttery pepper sauce that would make any foodie swoon.  And the spicy red lentil balls and the cinnamon rolls and bread and apple cake …  and gallons of Turkish tea.

Reyhan and me.

Reyhan is a wonderful cook and everything tasted great!  There was enough food for 50 and only 5 of us to eat it.  Suzanne and we were sent home with bags of food!

  From their lives in Istanbul.  Don’t they look like TV News Anchors?

Their lovely condo with a photo of Turkish hero Ataturk.

From their 3^rd floor balcony is a lovely view of the mountains.

Suzanne had to return to work so Selahattin and I resorted to our dictionaries.

Sultanhani, Aksaray  http://www.anatoliantappeti.com/

http://www.anatoliantappeti.com/ is their page that shows before, during and after photos of restored carpets.

The man working at the table seemed to be in charge and he knew a bit of English so between us we could have a few sentences worth of communications.

Women weave carpets and men repair them…

No camels but a horse-drawn cart.

Our next stop after  Aksaray  was a giant sink hole.

http://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs13146-011-0044-7#

Obruk Han Gölü, doline (sinkhole) behind the old caravansary

30 meters deep

“75 km to the east of Konya a street turns near the village Kizören to the north away from the D 300 towards the village named Obruk. After about 3.5 kilometers one reaches a big 145 meters wide, oval doline with a cross section dimension from 200 – 230 meters. The doline is situated a few meters away from the street hidden behind the big historical Seljukic caravansery Obruk Han from the year 1320, so that one sees the doline first if one stands close the brim.” http://www.geocaching.com/

The Seljuk  caravanwery near just near the sink hole…being reinforced.

Since it was like forever, or at least an hour or so since our comfort stop, we had a stop for lunch.

More Ayran, notice the foam in the tub being bubbled up by the flowing Ayran.

The Ayran is topped with scooped up foam…kind of like beer but Not though it does have a slightly fermented sour taste. 

This order of Pide was just for Randal and me!  Mary and Rick had their own.  Of course there were lots of left-overs which Taṣ collected for stray dogs we met at each stop.  Sometimes when we order we just have no clue.

After lunch we were driving along and passed some blue industrial buildings.  Randal and I had passed the same buildings on our motorbike in 2011.  It was quite amazing to recognize them in what was seemingly the middle of nowhere.  But they are located on the outskirts of Seydisehir which is just 25 kilometers from the Tinaztepe Cave, our planned stop on the way to Antalya.

http://www.mydoramac.com/wordpress/?p=7574 is the story of our stay in Seydisehir which was very restful and where people were very kind.  We’d gone there planning to visit the Tinaztepe Cave but were just too tired to drive there, spend hours at the cave and then drive back to Seydisehir. 

Tinaztepe Cave

Going through the cave can take an hour or two so some of us just hiked up to the entrance.  It was very cold and blustery with snow covered mountains nearby.  This stop really was just for “comfort” and coffee at the small restaurant near the parking lot. It was still a long way to Antalya so only a short “stretch your legs” stop at the cave was possible.

Tınaztepe Cave System

Location: Konya, Seydişehir District

The Tınaztepe Cave System is at the Keçili Village locality which is at 35 km. southwest of Seydişehir. The cave is at 5km west of Mortaş Aluminum bed. The Seydişehir-Manavgat highway passes close to the cave.

Properties: This cave system has developed inside the Creates limestone and is formed by three layers one on other. The upper layer having 100 meters length is completely fossilized. The intermediate layer has 1015 meters of total length and is semi active. Water flows Inside this layer at precipitant seasons and it ends with a siphon. The lower layer is a branch developed on a big fault and is active displaying sinkhole cave characteristics. In precipitant seasons, the surface waters of a wide area flows here. These waters flow inside the Susuz Güvercinlik Cave which is at southeast and come out from the springs near Suğla Lake. The explored length of this active cave until now is 527 meters. But the total length of this cave had not been completely determined. The deep but narrow lakes and siphons inside this cave makes the explorations difficult.

http://turkiyeninilleri.tr.gg/Konya.htm

I looked up lots of sites to check the length of the Tinaztepe Cave.  Most give the same numbers but most only use the letter m rather than the word meters or miles.  Mi is the abbreviation for miles and M is the abbreviation for meters.  And most sites mention other lengths in kilometers so I’m thinking that m stands for meters.  However, the info brochure from the cave says  Tinaztepe Cave is the 3^rd longest in the world as does the following website. 

Located in the Konya district of Seydisehir, Tinaztepe Cave is the longest cave in Turkey and the third longest in the world.  The cave is 22 km/13.7 miles long. Best time to visit is in Turkey when the water level decreases and the gallery can be explored by foot.   http://www.turkeylogue.com/caves

I have no local library so I can’t look up the real answer. 

We arrived just at dark in Antalya where everyone gets lost at least once upon arriving.  Randal and I missed the city entirely in 2011 on our motorbike trip..  Rick, Mary and their son Robert along with Dale and Joanne had gotten lost the weekend they’d gone to Antalya.  So even with Taṣ using Google maps we got slightly lost trying to find our hotel.  Our driver was amazing as he backed up narrow streets and then into the tiny hotel parking lot.  We had a late dinner and then an early bedtime.

The next day we visited Upper Duden Waterfalls and old town Antalya before making the long drive back to Marmaris.

Our first stop of the day was Upper Duden Waterfalls about 5 miles northeast of Antalya.

Randal and Taṣ.

The Upper Düden Waterfalls,are located 14 km northeast from the centre of Antalya. The waterfalls, formed by a karstic depression, are 20 metres high. The location of the waterfalls has the appearance of a botanical heaven thanks to the rich variety of plants. In the deep valley formed by the falling and flowing water of the waterfalls there are promenades and trout restaurants " http://www.turkishclass.com/turkey_pictures_gallery_85

Randal and me

Cave of Wishes:  I’m sure mine involved world peace and the Boston Red Sox

    To use the flash or not to use the flash….  We used the flash so you can see us but can’t see the water falling in back of us.

“By entering into Dilek Magarasi (Cave of Wishes), located underneath the waterfalls, it is possible to walk behind the rushing cascade or sit and admire the might and splendour of the waterfalls from inside the catacombs.”

Walking along the trail of the Upper Falls.

“After 8km the water from the falls forms a small creek, creating a magnificent spectacle as it cascades over the 40 metre high falez rock into the sea, as Lower Düden Waterfalls on the way from Antalya to Lara Beach.”

From the Falls we drove to Old Town Antalya

The dog image encourages folks to clean up after their pets… though cats usually clean up after themselves.

Taṣ pointing out the jams the Antalya region is famous for.  We skipped it as we buy our fruit spread from Selahattin ὕnver, our friend at the Sunday Market whose home we visited this past Tuesday.

Antalya ruins

Modern moderns.

http://www.ottomanscent.com/fruits_soaps-ottoman_scent.html  explains the history of these lovely soaps shaped as fruit.  This gentleman made the soaps for sale in this tourist shop we’d peeked into.

Spice art similar to sand art. 

A snack to tide us over until lunch: pomegranate cake and coffee.

We all gathered back at the bus to continue our journey home.  These two insane boys were doing stunts on the high way, rearing up on the rear wheel.  Not sure if they are still alive or this is the last photos of them ever.

Half way home we stopped again at the House of Mushrooms for lunch.  Instead of soup many of us ordered mushroom caseroles.  Some came with meat.  Some with chicken.  My choice was just mushroom with cheese. 

Sales have dropped in the US so Coca Cola is invading Turkey.

My steaming hot sizzling mushroom casserole.

The End

The lights were dimmed and the belly dancer appeared……

She was quite impressive…the wine bottle enjoyed the performance from their front row seat.

Victoria’s Secret

I actually can almost do this…..

After a bit, the fun started with the “audience participation.”

Irina’s turn and she was really pretty good!

Almost..

The next contestant was almost as cute!

He certainly had lots of fun and it was fun for those of us watching.

She actually did the same thing to Irina!

Not a prayer.

The third contestant…wasn’t as sparkly as Irina or a little cute old guy so she didn’t have a prayer in the applause-o-meter. 

There was one final act that involved the all the cast and a huge Turkish flag and then it was time to go.

Even though it was only 5 minutes back to the hotel there was no way Randal was going to drive our bus.  Our driver had the keys.  But Randal had fun sitting there and surprising a few folks.

The food at Turkish night was Okay…not the star of the show.  There was plenty of cheap wine and Raki to insure everyone had a good time.  I’d overdone the wine in Eḡirdir so kept mine to the minimum.  I enjoyed sharing the good time with good friends; but my heart was back in Soḡanli.

PS  Note our waiter opening the wine bottles at the end of the table…you will see the bottles in almost all of my photos.  That was not the plan but I didn’t notice it until going through my photos afterwards.  (Sort of like the Diet Coke can in my Florence, Italy photo.)

Folk costumes and wine bottle

Red costume and wine bottles

Blue costume, wine bottle cropped out:  same red haired dancer from previous photos.

The next set of photos seemed to be the reenactment of a wedding complete with the groom being tidied up, some audience dancing with our pals involved, and then a competition for the bride.  One of our group took on the role of the “foreign competitor.” 

The groom.

The Bride

The man in the blue sweater was on our tour; he was competing for the bride.

Push-ups

Who’s stronger?

Irina in black and Leslie in pink had taken part in the dancing

Randal took part in the wine, but he wasn’t driving us home…or was he?  Cindy in the stripes watches the show.

Mary and Rick    It really was this dark around the tables

Rick and our friend Cindy’s niece Vicky look like they are having a drink in Casablanca.

Then came the lady in the hoola-hoop skirt…which was pretty spectacular

Taking a final bow…with the wine bottle.

Our ever cheerful guide Taṣ

Next email: Irina and the belly dancer!

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.

The view from the restaurant!

Yediburunlar means seven noses.  There are seven headlands and bays along this part of the coast, hence the name.  “The Yediburunlar Lighthouse is located in the mountains, at an altitude of 570m, overlooking the sea on Turkey’s South West coast halfway between Fethiye and Kalkan.” From their website.  570 meters is about 1800 feet.  Not sure where or if there really is a light house.  We didn’t see one.

The view from one of the free standing guest houses.

Looking back towards the restaurant from the pool area.

This room was in the main building and was really inviting…had we been overnight guests.

The lighthouse is owned and run by Leon, a South African, and Semra, a Turk. They met on holiday near Antalya and found the site together, building it painstakingly by hand using traditional materials and methods. "We didn’t have any choice," says Leon. "There was nothing here – no water, no electricity, just stones."

They’ve done an amazing job. It’s enough to bring one over all Kevin McCloudy, saying things about how the organic use of materials almost moulds the building to its landscape. And inside it is, if anything, even lovelier: all polished boards, old kilims and embroidered linens.

There’s a generator now, for electricity, but still no water, so every couple of days Leon drives his truck 20 miles to a petrol station, fills it with water and drives back. Meanwhile, Semra cooks delicious, multi-course vegetarian feasts for their 12 guests. It’s as full-on a job as any could be. Their living space is in the room we eat in – which is presumably why they only eat with guests one night a week. I can’t say I blame them, but it makes me fear the communal dining experience all the more.

In the end, though, it’s all quite jolly. I couldn’t do it for a week, and it’s not how I’d spend a romantic break à deux, but the food is delicious, everyone’s friendly and it gives me and my mum a break from bickering at each other.

In the morning, Yediburunlar seems even wilder and more remote. The lush vegetation of Kabak and Faralya is a distant memory. It’s so much starker up here. Water is scarce and the land is rocky, every inch of it terraced and planted with olive trees, and flung here and there are bits of ancient detritus. We spot a vast Lycian sarcophagus in an olive grove and, sitting on the terrace for breakfast, I glance down beyond Leon’s latest piece of handiwork, a swimming pool perched on a ledge beneath the house, and notice rock tombs carved out of the cliff-face below.

"Oh yes," says Leon, casually. "We have our own tombs."

He has also mapped the surrounding paths so you can wander off by yourselves, which we do one day. On another, we join a Leon-led group on a walk up to the ancient site of Sidyma, a great unenclosed jumble of tombs and masonry, simply lying about the place. http://www.guardian.co.uk

It was a bit breezy when we arrived so we did sit inside but you still had that spectacular view

Outdoor dining would have been great earlier in the day.

Starting to set out lunch for our group

I believe this woman is the sister of the owner who was away in Istanbul

Joan, who will be 88 soon prepares a plate for Bill who was sort of trapped behind the table.

Ginny and Colin enjoying a cold beer with lunch

I loved it all, even the spicy green beans though the cauliflower cheese dish was everyone’s favorite.

We pretty much ate it all!  I think there were about 14 of us plus Taṣ and our driver.

Taṣ and our bus driver eating in peace

Stairway from the main building down to the pool and to the guest houses.

A peek into one of the small guest buildings, they have small fireplaces too.

Markers to show the way to Yediburunlar.

It was just a beautiful location.

We then loaded back onto our minibus and headed for home, a couple of hours away.

Atakὄy  Our last “comfort stop” had a lovely “ladies” with Turkish pottery sinks.

Driving to Sidyma on the squiggly line that is the road.

Not such a bad road….especially compared to driving around the mountains of Colorado.

Sidyma mosque

The friendly lady next door…who Gwen just loves! invited us for tea.

Preparing tea

Tea and lovely spinach gὄzleme which was a wonderful snack as lunch wasn’t for another hour and it was already a good deal past noon.

Randal wearing his red leather Kapadokya hat

“Those living in Sidyma (Dodurga) are still very friendly, kind, gentle people (only about 80 people) and they would love to see more visitors.  Some of the young people that we met speak some English. The village is along the Lycian Way walk and the muhtar (village headman) who is also the imam, has told us that anyone may camp in the courtyard of the mosque if they wish.  In case of bad weather, seek him out for permission to sleep in the mosque – he speaks a little English and is a very kind man.  There isn’t a shop in Sidyma, but water can be found at the mosque.  Some of the people of the villagers sell carved wooden spoons of sandalwood (we bought some, they are inexpensive and very nice) and kilim articles woven in the village.  But don’t worry, they aren’t pushy.

Some of my friends recently returned from a camping trip to Sidyma and said that the people there were just wonderful, so friendly and helpful, and that they are the friendliest villagers they have met on their many camping/walking trips in the Turkish mountains (and most villagers in Turkey are very friendly).  The villagers brought them some food and invited them over for tea and the imam had them park their motorcycle at the mosque. My friends found an area near the necropolis to be an ideal camping spot and walked to the top of the hill behind the mosque where the views were spectacular.”

http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/sidyma.htm

Walking the stone path to see the tombs….and just to go for a walk!

We headed back on a smoother road but soon Taṣ realized that it was the “long way’round.”

(Not sure if this was part of the Lycian Way or our stone path, but the “Way” takes you from Fethiye to Antalya about 510 kilometers or 356 miles.) 

So we crossed back over a dry stream bed.

Walked the path through the tall grass and returned to the village where most of our fellow travelers were waiting for us.  Only 4 of us had gone with Taṣ while the others took photos in the village and drank more tea.  Both were lovely choices.

Back on the road to Yediburunlar Lighthouse…which is not a lighthouse at all.

   “The history of Xanthos is quite a violent – the Xanthosians twice demonstrated the fierce independence of the Lycian people when they chose to commit mass suicide rather than submit to invading forces.  The Xanthosian men set fire to their women, children, slaves and treasure upon the acropolis before making their final doomed attack upon the invading Persians.  Xanthos was later repopulated but the same gruesome story repeated itself in 42 BC when Brutus attacked the city during the Roman civil wars in order to recruit troops and raise money.  Brutus was shocked by the Lycians’ suicide and offered his soldiers a reward for each Xanthosian saved. Only 150 citizens were rescued.

We made our houses graves

And our graves are homes to us

Our houses burned down

And our graves were looted

We climbed to the summits

We went deep into the earth

We were drenched in water

They came and got us

They burned and destroyed us

They plundered us

And we,

For the sake of our mothers,

Our women,

And for the sake of our dead,

And we,

In the name of our honor,

And our freedom,

We, the people of this land,

Who sought mass suicide

We left a fire behind us,

Never to die out…

Poem found on a tablet in the Xanthos excavations, translated by Azra Erhat

Xanthos became the seat of an archbishopric in the 8th century, but was deserted during the first wave of Arab raids in the 7th century.

http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/xanthos.htm

Inscribed Pillar

Pillar Tomb

A completely unique tomb in Lycia, actually two-tombs-in-one – a normal Lycian sarcophagus stands upon a shorter-than-usual pillar tomb.  It is quite tall, only slightly shorter than the Harpy Tomb.  The date of this tomb is disputed, some sources say 4th century BC, other 3rd.  http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/xanthos.htm

Clay copy of a relief on the Harpy Monument

Harpy Tomb"; it was previously believed that the winged women figures in the freize were harpies (monsters from Greek mythology with the head of a woman and the body of a bird).  It is now thought that these figures may depict sirens carrying off the souls of the dead.

http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/xanthos.htm

Amphitheatre

“Probably dates from the 2nd century AD and is thought to have been built in the same site as the earlier Hellenistic one.  Only the upper rows of the auditorium are missing, having been used as construction material for the northern wall of the acropolis.  The stage building is still partially standing and was once of two stories and decorated with columns. “ http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/xanthos.htm

Goats and tiny baby goat (center bottom stair) sunning themselves in the amphitheater.

Acropolis No. 1

On the southwest corner, above the amphitheatre, probably constructed in the 4th century BC.  Ruins of a temple thought to be dedicated to Artemis are found here, as well as the foundations of a large structure consisting of many rooms, probably a palace that was destroyed by the Persian general Harpagus.  From here you get a great view of the entire valley and the Eşen River.

Necropolis 

Lies to the east of the second acropolis, many tombs and sarcophagi with interesting reliefs and lids

http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/xanthos.htm

Taṣ with friend.

I walked up the road past the ruins to see what I could see

Esen River flowing by the hundreds of greenhouses.

It was a beautiful time to visit Xanthos with all of the wildflowers blooming.

The white circles painted around the openings in the rock are the dovecotes mentioned above.

An alien version of  Edvard Munch’s The Scream

Karabaş Kilisesi (Black Head Church )

The Karabas Kilise is the first church that you reach after entering the Upper Soğanlı Valley. We assume that it got its nickname, the Black Head Church, due to the dark skin colors used in its frescoes, which are still mostly intact, but with definite signs of wear and some vandalism. In addition to the church, you can explore the adjacent caves where the monks and priests lived and worked.  http://www.virtualtourist.com/

Climbing up to the church

Black hat or halo for sure

“The Karabaṣi (Black Hat) …. Is covered in paintings showing the life of Christ, with Gabriel and various saints. A pigeon in the fresco reflects the importance of pigeons to the monks…”  lonely planet Turkey

Our guide Taṣ made a point of the “black faces” to indicate the acceptance of those with dark skins.  Fodor’s translates Karabaṣi as black hat but my dictionary translates bas as head.    I once read that some paints turn black with time so who knows if the color was even supposed to be black…

“The blackened faces of the images are a result of the oxidation of the natural elements in the paint material that was used. It was these “blackened heads” that led the church to being named Karabaṣ, “Black Head.”  It bears the inscription of 1060 as being the date of its construction.”

http://www.quiteguide.com/   is the site of a Turkish Tour Guide but I still don’t know the correct answer.

One could study a great deal about one little bit of one small place. 

More recent additions of graffiti.

View from the church door to what must be the monks’ refectory.

Just outside the church looking across to the other side of the valley.

Baby rhino related to Randal Rhino?   Cappadocia is a great place to let your imagination run wild.

The Soḡanli River separating the sides of the valley was narrow enough at one place for us to cross.

Taṣ said it was a tradition for families to plant poplar trees at the birth of a son. 

Our guide Taṣ leading us through the caves.

I thought it would bother me going underground in a country with active earthquakes,  but you really don’t think about it.

Taṣ showing us the layout of the caves.

Most of the time there was headroom and often there were rooms large enough for small groups as this was a functioning underground city complete with stables for their animals.

This was about how bright it was and I can’t imagine living there for days.

This is with a flash

A stairway between levels

The stairways were tiny to prevent combat if invaders were coming in.  I had to walk bent over up and down these stairs.

Huge round slabs could be rolled into place to prevent enemies from entering as somehow because of the narrowness of the passage they couldn’t be rolled back. 

For those without guides there were blue arrows to follow so you could find your way out. 

Randal walking along one of the wider passageways

This was a well and there were air shafts everywhere.  In the beginning of the History Channel they talk about the amazing engineering feat this was to allow enough air for more than 1,000 people and to leave enough stone to prevent collapse.  I think I remember Taṣ saying that water had to be carried in which would make sense so the enemy couldn’t just poison your well from above.

A dining room for the monks with student “cells” off to the sides.

This is also with a flash; it was mostly pretty dark in the caves.

When we emerged from the caves everyone opted for some fresh squeezed orange juice!

Driving to our next stop, Soḡanli Valley we passed the Taurus Mountain Peak in the distance.  Not sure if it’s Mount Hasan or Mount Ereiyes (ancient Mount Argaeus, 12,852 feet [3,917 metres]). 

I’m stopping here because I took dozens of photos at our next stop which just might be my favorite; Soḡanli Valley