Cave Homes and Wishing Trees, Goreme, Turkey

Local people occupied cave homes surrounding Goreme, Turkey up until 10 years ago.  Then the government stepped in and people who had the caves as their home, in some cases all their lives, had to leave.  Imagine living in such a place and having to haul your water in, living without indoor plumbing, but at least it was all yours?  And then being told to leave.  It must have been devastating for some of the elderly people.

I had a wonderful opportunity to travel around Goreme yesterday with my friend Judy and see some of the amazing structures created by the winds and rains over the centuries.

There are many shapes and sizes and colours and hues on the hillsides as well as in the center of town.  I did a double take in one section with the number of phallic symbols represented, all created by mother nature.  You'll have to visit the place yourself if you wish to photograph them but I'm sure they are the start of many interesting conversations!

Something interesting near Goreme is pigeon valley.  The area housed thousands of pigeons at one time and farmers would gather the pigeon droppings and mix it with the tufa soil to make extremely rich fertile soil for growing vegetables.They pigeons slowly disappeared but recently new pigeons have been introduced to the area so growers can once again harvest the droppings from the pigeon

The area offers a number of hiking trails or there are places to ride ATVs or horses.  So far I've preferred to go by foot or car but you never know.  A horse might be fun too.

We stopped at one of the sites and took an opportunity for a photo with one of the local wishing trees.  As the story goes, the nomad women would make a wish by tying a piece of rag on a tree that supposedly held the soul of a dede (respected, wise old grandfather).  The wishing tree was a spiritual symbol.

Now people can make a wish by tying an evil eye to the tree.

I finished my tour of the caves and fairy chimneys by taking a picture of the ridge people walk along to watch the sun setting over the valley.