And a shaggy dog followed us home...

Cappadocia is the result of volcanic activity unlike anywhere else in the world as the rock formed as a result of ash, rather than lava. It is apparently some of the most barren soil in the world, but with the addition of pigeon droppings, it has become incredibly fertile.

We hiked from Zelve to Goreme today through some of the valleys, all of which are ringed by some fascinating and very colourful rock formations. The colour seems to depend on the other elements in the rock - red if there is iron, yellow with sulphur and white with calcium. The huge and oddly shaped rocks were lived in until about fifty years ago, when there was concern that the extent of erosion would become too dangerous to support dwellings. Despite no longer living up in the rocks, people still continue to farm the valleys. We passed by a number of people tending their crops of grapes, sunflower seeds, pumpkins and melons using quite traditional methods, and using carts pulled by a horse or a small tractor to haul their loads in and out.

The evidence of residential life still remains today - with houses, churches and pigeon homes carved into the rock. Often, especially with the pigeon houses, these were a very long way up a sheer rock face. A couple of times a year, some poor sod would have to make the vertiginous climb up the rock face to collect the droppings to fertilise the soil. Our walk took us up a few of these ridges today, no where near as high as the pigeon houses, but well and truly high enough to make me feel very uncomfortable on what is very slippery and crumbly rock.

The valleys aren't very well signed and, after reaching a few dead ends and realising we were going to have to cross a fairly precarious ridge, we decided to walk back out the way we came. Turned out to be a great decision, as we got a lift back to the next town on a horse and cart driven by an old Turkish man in a suit brandishing a stick with a fluorescent green and pink pom pom on the end as a whip!

From there, it was a short walk back to town accompanied by a dog that J inadvertently woke. After an 17.5km walk, my feet are a little sore, but I'm well and truly impressed with my new shoes and lack of blisters. Now off for a well-deserved beer!