Leaving Istanbul behind for now, I'll tell you about our three day tour.  
We arrived at Kayseri airport at 8am. We had been awake since 4:20am & and were a little exhausted!! It was just after 10:00 when a frantic man approached us with my name printed on the sweaty paper he was holding. Sure enough it was our driver but we didn't get a seat on the bus. It appears they overbooked so we were promptly seated in a smoky smaller vehicle with another elderly gentleman they were sure we would get along with..... We did, by the way! Our chain smoking driver (seems that's a prerequisite for all drivers here) smoothed his comb over and took off at lightening speed! Doesn't matter what side of the road you are on (the centre line is preferred), anything is fair game when you're in a race! And the race was on!
 First stop was a 13th century caravan pit stop for the Silk Road travellers, Karatayan. The place was closed for renovations, however it was in a typical village which was interesting. The place won't be spoiled until the renovations are finished I guess. According to our guide Turkish tradition stipulates that guests can stay for free for three days, camels and all! Apparently that tradition no longer exists except in remote areas...too bad.
The drive east from Kayseri takes you up to the Tekir plateau. This area was probably forested at one time but now it is the biggest pile of rocks I've seen since the Sinai Peninsula! There are also more rock processing plants (crush, cut, make in to concrete etc.) than I have ever seen. The good news is that it appears the government is trying hard to reforest and/or plant orchards in an effort to reclaim the area.
Then there's the ice cream!! Our guide tried to tell us the city of Kahramanmaras (whew!) was built entirely on the profits from goat milk ice cream but I saw all the cement factories there. The ice cream was in fact delicious. Very thick and sweet ... Oh do they love sweet over here.  
Then to bed and sleep.....the next morning we had a 2:20am wake up call (you read that right!).
No coffee ... Just up and on our way to see the sun rise over the rock heads at Mt. Nemrut. Sooooo cold and windy we were happy to have warm jackets. With the sunrise we were warmed by the light and by the story of poor Antiochus, the reason for the tumbled rock heads. Antiochus saw himself as a propagation of happiness and salvation.....tough job to keep up. When he died, 38BC, he decided to have his remains placed at the top of the highest mountain in the area and to have images carved out of rock to mark the spot. These huge images were of himself, a couple of eagles and lions as well as a few gods. Really quite spectacular though an earthquake toppled the heads off their perch.  
One of the most amazing things for me was looking out over the countryside and realize that we were overlooking ancient Mesopotamia and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.... The birthplace of civilization.
This long day was just beginning. On the way to Sunliurfa (and a delicious spicy lunch) we stopped at Gobekli Tepe. This ancient site is over 12,000 years old! The oldest place of organized worship ever discovered. The carvings were crisp and the organization of the temple was very advanced. For hundreds of years (perhaps more) women from the village have come to a tree near the area to pray for a good pregnancy or to become pregnant. When excavation of the site reached the tree they discovered a carved rock with the picture of a woman giving birth. Strange that the people felt such power and there was absolutely no knowledge of the site until 1995. I have to say that the same feeling came over me here as at the stone circles in Ireland, Machu Pichu and Easter Island. Strange! 
Our journey took us to a Roman bridge (Cendere) built by Emperor Severus and marred by his son when Dad died.... The son had his brother killed and then had his brother's pillar removed from the bridge, the final insult.
We also passed the ruins of Arsemia, the summer capital for our friend Antiochus. Here you will find a carving of King Mithradates shaking hands with Hercules (carved in 50BC).
Driving within 5 kilometres of the Syrian border we came to Harran, a village with beehive houses and a few hungry looking camels. The Arabic influence is very strong here. The houses are similar to ones we saw in southern Italy, cool and practical in the hot weather.  
From Harran we went to the pools of Abraham as well as the cave where he was born. The story is that Abraham would not agree that Nimrod was a god so the king threw him and his poor wife in to a fire which turned in to a pool of water full of sacred fish. The king's men had pretty strong arms because that pool is a long way from the castle walls!
Finally we got to our hotel...dinner at 8pm then trying to sleep with the sounds of celebration (wedding or circumcision feast...no one was sure which) ringing loudly in the air.
The third day of our tour we slept in till 7am....yeahhh! First stop was a Greenpeace funded sanctuary for the rare black balding ibis....who has more fun? We also had a bonus stop at a Mosaic museum. I have never seen such well preserved mosaics before....huge floors of ancient history.
So tthere you have our three day tour. The highlight for me was Golbelki Tepe ...everything else was a bonus. Now we are in Cappadocia...more about that later.