preface. I thought I’d be able to charge my camera with a mini usb. wrong. so I’m stealing Calvin’s photos until we can get back to Istanbul and find a camera store with the proper charger for my camera battery.

While riding atv’s, here are a few things I noticed.

There are some beautiful flowers in bloom. Wallflowers, poppies, and a purple one that I can’t remember the name of. [no picture. sorry!]

The sandstone in the distance reminds me of Utah.

 

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There are layers of red and white sedimentary rock interspersed with green vegetation.

I’m really glad I went on those geology field trips with Wendy Van Norden because I managed to identify the caves of Cappadocia as being made out of tuft, or volcanic ash.

 

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The holes in the rocks? Naturally born out of the gases trapped when the ashes first settled. The valley of love has its weird phallic formations?

 

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This is the result of the underlying sandstone eroding faster than the volcanic ash. Where the volcano is that made this ash though is something that my 12 year old tour guide Odstep couldnt’ tell me.

Early christians dug out these caves and even turned some of them into churches, with beautiful paintings. I can only imagine how much they missed their Roman homes as they painted fake brick patterns on the ceilings of these caves and carved columns around arches.

 

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Urdurp’s Castle is particularly awesome. I would’ve loved to be the rock climber who got to scale these formations to make new homes.

 

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— steph

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