Mediterranean Iconic Shores Ocean Cruise

Day 4: Sunday, November 02, 2025 - Cappadocia, Turkey

The day's statistics:
-  Weather: low 60s
-  Steps: 10,382 Linda; 11,187 Steve

At 3:00 in the morning we awoke for some reason - neither of us were sleeping well.
This morning, at 5:00, a number of travelers were departing to go on a sunrise balloon ride. We chose not to as one of us has a bit of an issue with heights. But it was serendipitous as we had slept so poorly that night that we might not have enjoyed the ride anyway.
After trying to sleep some more, it was time to rise and shine and start the day.
By 8:30 we were at the restaurant having a buffet breakfast. We walked through the front end of the dining area, and came up to the coffee station and a small buffet layout. Then a waiter motioned into another room and said there was more up there. Oh goody.
There were eggs, potatoes, sausage, salads, fruit, pastries, cheeses, and more.






This is a sampling of what my first plate looked like (I only had two).

After our meal, we headed back to our room to brush and gather what we needed for today's adventure.
Just before heading out, I took a picture of the courtyard below (our room was on the right - not visible).

After piling on the bus at 9:45, we headed to our first destination that was about an hour and twenty minutes away.
Not too far from the hotel we passed by the area where the hot air balloons were still in flight.



Our destination this morning was at a hand-made carpet facility called the Kilim Weaving Public.

When we entered the main room, a woman was sitting at a loom making a rug, hand tying knots, and we learned about the process and how the rugs are made.

A fellow traveler tied a couple knots himself.
There are primarily three types of carpet: wool, silk, and a blend.
We the learned about the how the silk is actually made, including that silk can't be dyed naturally but rather with synthetics, as well as that the silkworm coccoons are from worms of the white mulberry tree.

On the other side of the room was a woman working on a silk rug. The knot density on a silk rug is about 10-teims that of a wool rug. That requires more labor, and thus, a much higher price.
This is actually a small framed carpet, not a painting.


After the demo, we were brought into a large empty room.

At the onset, we were asked what beverage we wanted to drink: apple tea, coffee, or raki (a strong alcoholic drink).
Our host said, when describing the raki, "When you have your first sip, you say 'that was pretty strong.' When you have you second sip, you say 'Hey, I think I want to buy a carpet.' "
Various carpets of different sizes, content, and patterns were rolled out for us to view.

At one point we were told that we should walk on them with or without shoes, though we were encouraged to walk on them without shoes so we could feel the fabric and texture of the carpet.
When one of the silk carpets was rolled out, they turned it around to see that the color shifted a little due to the natural difference in the way the silk is knotted and the carpet is made.
Also, at one point, our host said "Do you know the story of Aladdin and the magic carpet? Carpets don't fly. But this is the closest thing to it." And with that, he took a carpet, and as he tossed it he spun it and it took a second to hit the floor as it briefly looked like it was flying.
Eventually our drinks arrived. We tried each other's tea and coffee, and also each sipped the raki.

When the carpet walking and demo was done, salesmen went to each perceived couple and individual. We had one too, who made small talk. After about five minutes and finishing our drinks, we headed out of he main "showroom". We entered the first room on the left where another salesman was talking with another couple about some of the carpets in that room. They seemed / looked like older carpets - either because they were, or that is how they were made.
Then I noticed over my should... the salesman. I said to myself "oh, you're still here..."
We continued to other rooms - plural - as the salesman tagged along. We marveled at some of the carpets - photography was prohibited (please don't ask how I got the couple shots above becuase... I just don't remember...).
There were some REALLY beautiful pieces - the carpets that look like paintings - including different "Last Supper", some animals, and a gorgeous gray-scale nativity (Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus). Even though there are no colors, the grey-scale ones are actually harder because it is more difficult to differentiate between the shades.
After a good half-hour of seeing carpets, we were finally able to escape. I mean, head out.
We gathered at the buses, and boarded - and headed to our next location.

Next up was Pigeon Valley.


Pigeon Valley is an area where - in a valley - thousands of pigeon holes were cut into the rock formations so that the local farmers could collect the droppings in order to use it as fertilizer.
We stopped at a view point for some [more] pictures. There happened to be a couple souvenir shops there too.





It was a brief ten minute stop and then we boarded the bus and headed out to the next stop.

After departing, we headed to the bottom of a hill for another perspective on the environment.


At this stop, there was a vendor providing camel rides, and some random someone (seriously, I don't know who they were) took a ride too.



It was a ten to fifteen minute stop, and then we boarded the bus again and headed to lunch.

We drove back up the hill to where the restaurant was located.
The restaurant was called Millocal.

Linda and I sat in the middle on a side of four of a table for eight. We generally spoke with our respective halves of the table with Barb and Eddie from Iowa City, and Randy, on my end; and Claude and Suzanna from FL, and Janice on Linda's end.
We were given an enjoyable - and filling - four course meal consisting of roasted eggplant, hummus, a salad with figs, meatballs on mashed potatoes (there were actually 5 each, but I forget to take a picture when they were delivered), and a pumpkin dessert (it was surprisingly good).




After the meal, and just before heading out, I went to the back of the restaurant for a video pan of the landscape view.

We were on the bus for merely about fifteen more minutes.

The next stop was at another cave related location - Göreme - and another UNESCO World Heritage site.
We parked in the lot, passed by some restaurants and shops - of course.



We had a rather lengthy walk up a rocky hillside to the top. At least there was a boardwalk style path that had little ramps on it so strollers and wheelchairs could make the trek too.
Near the beginning of the boardwalk was another vendor offering camel rides. The saddle blanket / cover that this camel had looks like it has the same pattern that the one we saw a couple hours earlier too.



After we entered the grounds, Evren led us to a display board showing the fresco highlights from some of the one-hundred various cave churches in the region.
After the area was described, and highlights pointed out, we were set free for our own viewing. We covered as much as we could and there may or may not have been some photos taken that we were or weren't actually supposed to take. I don't remember...





I was asked to take this fashion photo.

Our time was almost up. I got a shot of the landscape from this vantage point, just before we took a selfie.


Time to hit the road again. But not until we walked all the way back down to the parking lot.
We returned to the hotel. Some of the landscape actually resembled the features at Badlands NP.

We hung out at the hotel for about an hour and a half, before we headed out to dinner.
Our dinner was going to be at Harmandali.

Upon arrivals, the tables were adorned with appetizers of bread, hummus, mushrooms, and more.



The main course was stew cooked in the ceramic pot, or chicken. Either was served with rice. I had the stew, Linda the chicken.


Last up was some baklava.

In addition to the great food, we had more than an hour of entertainment including a musician, male and female dancers (performing together and separately), and two belly dancers. Even some of the Viking passengers got involved in the show, one of them may or may not have been me.


I set up the camera on a tabletop mini-tripod, and pretty much just let it record most of the time as I was also trying to enjoy my dinner too. And the performances.
The venue was gernally dark (which didn't help auto-focusing), and it was a public venue and people - mostly wait staff - passed by for one reason or another.
I got most of the performances, but sometimes the dancers would finish and leave, but then show up a few minutes later
The food and the performances were fantastic. After more than two hours, we had to return to our hotel.

We had to prep for the morning - which we did, though it didn't take too much as we tried to live out of our carry-on bags for the time we were in Cappadocia.
After prepping, we washed up and went to bed.

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