Day 57, 30 August 2012, Tour of Southern Cappadocia (the "Green Tour") - Ignoring our strangely grumbly tums we decided to tough it out and headed off on a full day tour of Southern Cappadocia. We began with a panoramic view over Pidgeon Valley - the fairy chimneys and caves cut into the rocks looks so different than from the air in a balloon. Our next stop was one of the largest underground cities in the Cappadocia region - Derinkuyu. It's hard to describe until you are actually bent double at the waist venturing down through tunnels used thousands of years ago. In fact it's hard to believe populations of several thousand, plus livestock, would descend into the caves during times of threat and stay there for up to two months at a stretch. Our guide briefed the group thoroughly before we arrived - please don't carry bags, the tunnels are narrow, dark and tight and you shouldn't enter if you suffer from asthma or claustrophobia - etc etc. Tourists however always know better and we saw several struggling with back packs and hand bags as we crept mole-like through tiny tunnels. Every once in a while there is a major incident - the last was an overly large American man who couldn't be told and ended up stuck in a tunnel - they actually had to chip the stone away around him in order to release him! The guide had advised prior to entry that the first two levels were the easiest and since we weren't feeling well we could stay there while the rest descended to level 8 at the 60 metre mark. Then he didn't say anything else until we were on level 5 - so we saddled up and went the rest of the way quite happily. When we reached the bottom of the accessible levels (it actually goes 13 levels down) we could see the sky 60 m above us through one of the main vertical ventilation shafts - it must have been very reassuring to the early Christians to still see the sky - though everything else was provided for underground - including a baptism pool, a well and even a place to store bodies until it was safe enough to return to the surface and bury them properly. Once we ascended, feeling pretty pleased with ourselves, we drove to the Ihlara Valley and descended 400 stairs to reach the Agaculti church with some colourful frescoes. As you can see it was a day of ups and downs! When we reached the valley floor we had a gentle 3 km hike alongside a babbling stream to take us to our lunch spot - actually dining areas built on stilts in the stream itself. We wouldn't usually buy seafood anywhere other than the coast, but trout freshly caught from the stream was too good to pass up and it sizzled very satisfactorily when it was served up. Whilst we were quite sick puppies by this stage, we battled on (there were a few people staying in the bus by this stage with various issues - sore feet, twisted ankle, general stuffedness - but not us!). Our next stop was the Sileme Cathedral - one of the most unusual churches we could ever hope to explore. Cut out of a mountainside the view from this point actually inspired the home of the Sand People in George Lucas's first Star Wars movie. Due to politics and what-not back in the 1970s, he couldn't actually film here but took many photos and had the set built in another country. Between the underground city and the stairs and the hike through the gorge, we were starting to think Turkish tourism might want to put physical ratings on tours - but perhaps the 50 m hike up a fairly sheer rock face using water channels as foot holds seemed worse than it was because we were a bit sick. It was very challenging but also quite short and once at the level of kitchens, church and cathedral there was plenty to see. Hardly anyone dies at this site - the last was a German woman who just had to climb to the top of one of the tunnels and didn't end up needing to climb down. The site was closed for quite a while but reopened once the dust settled. The Cathedral itself (pictured) was well worth the effort and the smoke blackened columns were very eerie. We made it back to the bus in one piece and continued on to view Pidgeon Valley from the other side, close to the town of Uchisar (tip top castle - obviously due to the stone castle carved on top). Whilst more of a hobby these days, the pidgeons used to be vital for fertiliser and also the whites of the eggs were used to create paints for the early churches. We were both dragging the chain by the last stop of the day - tastings of dried fruits, nuts and sweets at a local store. We particularly enjoyed the sun dried apricots - all a dark unappetising colour but they tasted fabulous - completely unlike the chemically treated juicy orange ones we're used to at home. Finally back to our cave to collapse on a pile of soft quilts and feel sorry for ourselves. Seriously reconsidering the trip to Fethiye on the coast tomorrow night - 14-15 hours on a bus? Probably not, at this stage. We might just have to stay in fairyland a little longer. Darn!