Today we stayed closer to home base, checking out nearby Honey Valley (aka Love Valley) with its distinctive “mushroom”-topped rocks (as they are most euphemistically called).  The weather is still a bit chilly with occasional drizzle; we have yet to experience those picture-postcard-perfect vistas of these odd rock formations against a bright blue sky.  Uncertain weather is one of the prices we pay for traveling in the off-season and while it works well for keeping the crowds down, you do miss a few things (Craig has plaintively mentioned several times how he wanted to go swimming somewhere besides Zanzibar on this trip).  Then we cruised around downtown Goreme for a bit looking for a couple of tacky souvenirs and a large Turkish rug for our dining room at home.  We had intended to keep an eye out in Turkey for a rug for our dining room, but had been so put off by the hard sell in Istanbul that we had pretty much given up on the idea.

Nonetheless we had asked Mehmet for a rug shop recommendation, which he was reluctant to give, but we finally determined that he actually owns a rug shop in addition to running the hotel.  (Not sure why we were surprised, everyone here owns a rug shop or has a “cousin” who does.)  We took his reluctance to push his shop as a good sign, and when we found it, his partner was so much more pleasant to deal with than the touts in Istanbul.  We had to contact our house sitter in Anchorage for room dimensions, and given the 10-hour time difference with Alaska, we agreed to return to the shop in the evening to continue the discussion.

Lunch was a great doner wrap in the shop next door recommended by the rug guy, after which we were off to the Open-Air Museum which is a cluster of numerous Byzantine rock- cut churches, chapels and monasteries in a valley just outside town.  It is a favorite of tour groups and we tried to time our visit to the usual tour lunch break hour, which was successful to a certain extent (our first hour was relatively peaceful but then the hordes descended).  The churches and surviving frescoes are quite impressive, although we still thought the rock-hewn church we found out on the isolated trail was the most interesting, mainly because it was so completely unexpected.  Phyllis spent some time talking with the guard at the biggest church, who knew enough about Alaska to mention snow and sled dogs (“huskies”, he said).  He showed her some beautiful photos of Cappadocia with snow, but his colleague said that there was not much snow this year, not at all like usual.  Again, we marvel at how much you can convey and learn with a few common words and sign language (and, as it turns out, smart phone pictures).

It was time to flee the crowds so we returned to the hotel where we had been moved again, for our last night, to a cave in a separate building.  This was not poor treatment; we had arrived without a reservation and Mehmet was kind enough to take us in after disclosing that he would have to move us around a bit due to prior reservations.  (Somewhat oddly the hotel does its reservations by specific room, rather than just a room, or type of room within the hotel.)  Easter is coming up, which is apparently a very busy time in Goreme as a center of early Christianity, and he is booked solid for the weekend.  No longer the great view out over the valley, but being newer, it had consistently strong internet and accessible plugs for our chargers, which more than made up for the view.  And once again they moved our luggage for us, so we were more than satisfied.

Rather than another big dinner, we found a coffee shop with a real mocha for Phyllis, a very rich hot chocolate for Craig, and delicious baklava for both of us.  Thus fortified, we returned to the rug shop, called Helen the Housesitter on the shop’s phone, arranged for the necessary measurements, and finalized our rug choice pending receipt of Helen’s work with a tape measure.  Given the hour, that meant the final deal would have to be struck tomorrow morning as we leave town.  We should have thought of this a little sooner!