02/08/2025

We took full advantage of the overnight stop and exercised, showered and did van services.

We parked at the top of Guzelyurt as unsure about the roads. Bonus walk down a little used track full of rock houses. Some had multiple rooms and fine carvings. I just love the idea of carving out a shelf or cupboard every time you need one. New baby. No problem create another room at the back or underneath. Or even over.

The only problem with our path is that the entry to the mosque was fenced off. A small detour to get around the front. J tripped on a loose stone, spraining his ankle, but pushed on.

Into one on the underground cities. Quite a few had internal staircases. People must have had lung problems, as cooking was done on the caves and spotted few chimneys. And risk of rock fall? Some of the dividing walls were quite thin.

From here we could get to St Gregory’s church. The info board said it was the start of Gregorian music. Fact checked – not according to Wikipedia. It had been Greek Christian until the population exchange in 1923. They put a minaret on top and shoved the iconostasis to one side. It’s now a mosque.

We elected to walk on to 2 rock churches; J’s ankle holding up well. Bit of a scramble to get down one from one. At least it is cool enough to walk about now … just. We were somewhat sticky by the time we got back up to the top of town. Lunch was another Pide and salad in the square.

5km to a park up with the most amazing views.