Reminiscence from Anatolia- Part Fourteen: A Turkish Folkloric Night.
The route to Goreme is very scenic… beg, borrow, or steal a window seat… it passes through gentle hills, plains with golden colored grass… as if you are traveling on a path of gold…
When you are nearing Aksaray… faraway, you can see Mount Hassan… the extinct volcano, which gave birth to Cappadocia. The sight is ethereal… the day was cloudy and one could see sun-rays falling over the Mount… I thought I have missed a beautiful photo-op… but didn’t know that I would get to see it again, more closely and from more uninhibited confines.
Aksaray is called Detroit of Turkey… it has a Mercedes Benz plant, and a couple of other automobile plants… the bus stopped at Aksaray Otogar for almost half hour… I saw a marriage procession… people dancing with the groom… and then boarding a bus to go towards the marriage destination- quite like India.
The journey from Aksaray to Goreme goes downhill… it was dusk… and therefore I couldn’t get to see good panoramic views of Goreme… but I am told that when the bus goes downhill- the views are mesmerizing…
I alighted at Goreme Otogar at around 6 pm…. All around, I could see the famed Cappadocia caves- some turned into hotels, some into offices, some into houses and some into cattle sheds… it was already dark and they were lightened… the scene was surreal.
A day ago- I had called up Shoestring Pension in Goreme… and booked a dorm bed for myself… he asked me when I would be coming… I told him that I would arrive there in the evening time… he asked me to come before 7 pm, so that I can get to see Turkish Carnival Night at Nevshehir. He said that it is delightful.
I rushed to Shoestring Pension… and checked into the place… and asked the owner about the Turkish Carnival… he offered me a place in the carnival for 50 Turkish Lira… including to and fro transport, sumptuous dinner with lots of local beer/wine. I wasn’t sure whether I should be spending such a big amount… but then a sumptuous dinner was a tempting offer… for last few days, I had been surviving on Doner sandwich and needed something different for my taste buds.
I also booked an excursion trip for the next day… I planned to leave Cappadocia next day evening for Kahta or Karadut. And a well-planned excursion would have allowed me to see the snapshot of Cappadocia… as the Pension owner told me… Cappadocia is huge- full of trails and treks and therefore, even months together may not be enough to cover entire Cappadocia… the tour, according to him, offered a trek, an Underground City a Rock-Cut monastery, and beautiful vantages- including sumptuous lunch.
I took a quick shower and got ready for the Turkish Carnival Night… I checked out my dormitory room… my room-mates were a Swiss cyclist group, who were not present… I caught up with them later in the night… and what an eye-opening meeting it was for me.
Nevshehir is situated at the banks of Red River… known as Kizilirmak in the local language… it is much better managed, well-planned town that Goreme. Most of the upscale tourists stay in Nevshehir and not in Goreme… facilities in Nevshehir are better.
At the Turkish Night, I met an Indian couple- who was working in Oman… an American guy… but the majority of tourists were Japanese, part of some tourist group.
The performance venue was a circular underground gave… and I realized that for 50 Turkish Lira, I had got a seat in the dress circle… so far away that I am not able to see much… same was the predicament of the Indian couple and the American guy… though they had purchased their tickets for 70 Liras each… we went and argued with the manager over their… and finally got our seats changed… my words did a wonder- brother, we are coming all the way from India to see Turkey… is this the way you treat us! His heart melted… and suddenly we found ourselves in the first row…
The Turkish folkloric night was least Turkish… and was pretty generic… the same whirling dervish, belly dance and few folkloric dance that I had already seen in Egypt… in fact some of the items bore an uncanny resemblance to the Egyptian Folkloric night that I saw in Cairo, two years ago... for a new person, it could have made a lot of sense… but I felt rather bored by the program… the only saving grace was when I was invited over the star belly dancer to dance along with her… and had a wonderful time trying to copy some steps with her- surrounded by bunch of laughing Japanese. The belly dancer, though, wasn’t Turk… she was a Ukrainian.
The food was good… and I relished it thoroughly… last few days of surviving on Doner sandwiches, had made me very hungry… and I ate like there was no tomorrow… All in all, it was a good decision to come to the Folkloric night…
After the program, I took a short walk by the Red River… while waiting for others to come… it was refreshing… I looked around, the Cappadocia and its valley with thousands of twinkling light invited me… I was eagerly waiting for the next day when I would be able to explore all of them…
Back to the hotel… where I met the Swiss cyclist for the first time… we sat in the garden and talked over a cup of coffee that he offered me… he was impressed with my plans to go over to east… he was headed south.
He told me a few quick pointers to make the best of my Cappadocia trip… told me to wake up early and go for a walk- north… he said in the early morning time… there is not a soul and I can relish the beauty of the place all by myself… and the taking a deep breath, cautioned me… beware of Turkish dogs… they are ferocious…
And then he slided over his chair and told me about his travels… and it was my turn to get impressed with him.
When you are nearing Aksaray… faraway, you can see Mount Hassan… the extinct volcano, which gave birth to Cappadocia. The sight is ethereal… the day was cloudy and one could see sun-rays falling over the Mount… I thought I have missed a beautiful photo-op… but didn’t know that I would get to see it again, more closely and from more uninhibited confines.
Aksaray is called Detroit of Turkey… it has a Mercedes Benz plant, and a couple of other automobile plants… the bus stopped at Aksaray Otogar for almost half hour… I saw a marriage procession… people dancing with the groom… and then boarding a bus to go towards the marriage destination- quite like India.
The journey from Aksaray to Goreme goes downhill… it was dusk… and therefore I couldn’t get to see good panoramic views of Goreme… but I am told that when the bus goes downhill- the views are mesmerizing…
I alighted at Goreme Otogar at around 6 pm…. All around, I could see the famed Cappadocia caves- some turned into hotels, some into offices, some into houses and some into cattle sheds… it was already dark and they were lightened… the scene was surreal.
A day ago- I had called up Shoestring Pension in Goreme… and booked a dorm bed for myself… he asked me when I would be coming… I told him that I would arrive there in the evening time… he asked me to come before 7 pm, so that I can get to see Turkish Carnival Night at Nevshehir. He said that it is delightful.
I rushed to Shoestring Pension… and checked into the place… and asked the owner about the Turkish Carnival… he offered me a place in the carnival for 50 Turkish Lira… including to and fro transport, sumptuous dinner with lots of local beer/wine. I wasn’t sure whether I should be spending such a big amount… but then a sumptuous dinner was a tempting offer… for last few days, I had been surviving on Doner sandwich and needed something different for my taste buds.
I also booked an excursion trip for the next day… I planned to leave Cappadocia next day evening for Kahta or Karadut. And a well-planned excursion would have allowed me to see the snapshot of Cappadocia… as the Pension owner told me… Cappadocia is huge- full of trails and treks and therefore, even months together may not be enough to cover entire Cappadocia… the tour, according to him, offered a trek, an Underground City a Rock-Cut monastery, and beautiful vantages- including sumptuous lunch.
I took a quick shower and got ready for the Turkish Carnival Night… I checked out my dormitory room… my room-mates were a Swiss cyclist group, who were not present… I caught up with them later in the night… and what an eye-opening meeting it was for me.
Nevshehir is situated at the banks of Red River… known as Kizilirmak in the local language… it is much better managed, well-planned town that Goreme. Most of the upscale tourists stay in Nevshehir and not in Goreme… facilities in Nevshehir are better.
At the Turkish Night, I met an Indian couple- who was working in Oman… an American guy… but the majority of tourists were Japanese, part of some tourist group.
The performance venue was a circular underground gave… and I realized that for 50 Turkish Lira, I had got a seat in the dress circle… so far away that I am not able to see much… same was the predicament of the Indian couple and the American guy… though they had purchased their tickets for 70 Liras each… we went and argued with the manager over their… and finally got our seats changed… my words did a wonder- brother, we are coming all the way from India to see Turkey… is this the way you treat us! His heart melted… and suddenly we found ourselves in the first row…
The Turkish folkloric night was least Turkish… and was pretty generic… the same whirling dervish, belly dance and few folkloric dance that I had already seen in Egypt… in fact some of the items bore an uncanny resemblance to the Egyptian Folkloric night that I saw in Cairo, two years ago... for a new person, it could have made a lot of sense… but I felt rather bored by the program… the only saving grace was when I was invited over the star belly dancer to dance along with her… and had a wonderful time trying to copy some steps with her- surrounded by bunch of laughing Japanese. The belly dancer, though, wasn’t Turk… she was a Ukrainian.
The food was good… and I relished it thoroughly… last few days of surviving on Doner sandwiches, had made me very hungry… and I ate like there was no tomorrow… All in all, it was a good decision to come to the Folkloric night…
After the program, I took a short walk by the Red River… while waiting for others to come… it was refreshing… I looked around, the Cappadocia and its valley with thousands of twinkling light invited me… I was eagerly waiting for the next day when I would be able to explore all of them…
Back to the hotel… where I met the Swiss cyclist for the first time… we sat in the garden and talked over a cup of coffee that he offered me… he was impressed with my plans to go over to east… he was headed south.
He told me a few quick pointers to make the best of my Cappadocia trip… told me to wake up early and go for a walk- north… he said in the early morning time… there is not a soul and I can relish the beauty of the place all by myself… and the taking a deep breath, cautioned me… beware of Turkish dogs… they are ferocious…
And then he slided over his chair and told me about his travels… and it was my turn to get impressed with him.
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