The morning started sedately with a 0930 pick up from the hotel to take our intimate group of 9 for a botany, geography and history tour of the Rose Valley.Rose Valley is a large valley situated between Goreme and Cavusin villages, is divided into many smaller valleys, and gets its name from the rose-colored rock that varies in hue and intensity depending on time of day, season and weather conditions.It is famous for its amazing and unique landscape, cave dwellings and Fairy Chimneys, also known as Hoodoos.Fairy Chimneys are mushroom/toadstool shaped rock formations, that typically comprise a thick layer of tuff (consolidated volcanic ash), covered by a thin layer of basalt that is more resistant to erosion than the underlying tuff.Over time, cracks in the basalt allow the much softer tuff to be eroded and washed away. Fairy chimneys are thus formed where a small cap or boulder of the original basalt remains, and protects a cone of tuff beneath it from erosion. But eventually the tuff is undercut to the extent that the cap falls off and the remaining cone is then quickly eroded.Then it looks nothing like a mushroom but resembles instead the mushroom stalk!Rose Valley had some great examples of the fully eroded stalks but was not so great for viewing the mushrooms.It was a beautiful day and the trail was an easy hour's walk in a loop that took in hills, ancient cave dwellings, cave churches and a canyon.We had a wonderful morning getting to know our travelling companions, 5 of whom were American and the remaining two were Turkish.

We had a tea stop at the 'Flintstone Cafe'; Barney Rubble may have been more appropriate!Wilma was nowhere in sight so refreshments were provided by a nice chap from whom we also bought an evil eye trinket as our small gizzet from Turkey.The cafe is strategically placed next to the Hacli Kilise (Hacli Church), getting into which involved a little climb up some steepish steps and a ladder.The church has a single nave and apse and is gloriously decorated in a colourful fresco.On the way back in the canyon Ahdem, our guide, offered to buy us all ice-cream if we correctly identified a tree; guesses at fig, hawthorn, chestnut, etc etc all proved hopelessly inadequate and my stab at pineapple didn't seem to amuse; there was no way on earth anyone would know that we were looking at a quince tree which is a shame as ice-cream would have been perfect on such a wonderfully warm day.

I guess we took things a little too leisurely as Ahdem said we needed to pick up the pace as we were running late.But, in all honesty, we were having such an enjoyable morning that we didn't really want to rush to our next destination, Urgup, and the finest examples of the Fairy Chimneys that still exist in Turkey.

Urgup was somewhat busier than Rose Valley as it turns out that it was national children's holiday in Turkey so every Turkish child and their dog, brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle and camel, happens to be in town (instead of the French) - just our luck!Despite the increased frenetic nature of the site the Chimneys were impressive and well worth the visit but we only had 20 minutes to run around, grab a few pics and make the ceramic factory before lunch.What a choice, fairy chimneys, ceramic factory, fairy chimneys, ceramic factory...at least it's not a leather fashion show!!

Despite the palpable sigh from our fellow passengers when the ceramic visit was mentioned, the detour was quite informative.The usual spiel about this product being the best in the world was followed by a view of the 'factory', which is operated in the caves as the cool temperature makes the red clay, sourced locally, more workable because it does not dry out too quickly.We saw the craftsmen at work, hand painting plates, dishes, jugs etc and their work really was exquisite and the level of detail incredible.The tour de force, though, was the demonstration of the potters' wheel, the traditional kick wheel, where we first watched a young lad produce a rather impressive vase, and then watched Grant, one of our party, produce a not-so impressive 'ashtray'.Well doesn't everyone who attempts pottery start with an ashtray, whether they intended to or not?Grant was a good laugh and made a fairly decent attempt at his 'thing', in spite of the fact that he was wearing protective comedy clown pants.

Finally to the shop, of course, where we saw the most fantastic ceramic crockery.We particularly liked those objects decorated using the 'Hittite' design, which is very Egyptian looking, and we saw some amazing plates that were beautifully hand painted in the most vivid colour using a pointillist style.Our favourite plates were even fashioned into table tops, with the wooden base containing matching tiles to really set it off; we think we'll be coming back when we the house built.Prices ranged from a few TL to 45,000 TL (£22,000), but the special, one time only, once in a lifetime discount of 20% was available to special guests.Oh, our guide was a pleasant, but funny little man who looked like he'd just come off the set of the Wizard of Oz to take us down his own particular 'Red Clay Road'.

After lunch, which was actually pretty good for a set menu, we went off to explore Kaymakli Underground City.Apparently, the cave-cities were excavated as early as Hittite times (c2000 C) but have been expanded over the centuries as various marauding armies traversed Central Anatolia in search of captives and plunder.Of the 36 underground cities in Cappadocia, the widest one is Kaymakli, but at a mere 30 metres below ground, it is not the deepest.

The city is built under the hill known as the Citadel of Kaymakli and was opened to visitors in 1964 but even today the local inhabitants of the region still use the most convenient places in the tunnels as cellars, storage areas and stables.The Underground City consists of lots of low, narrow and sloping passages and 'experts' believe that it consists of 8 floors below ground although only 4 of them are open to the public.The first floor underground is the stable while the passage leading off to the church contains a rather impressive millstone door.The church on the 2nd floor has a single nave and two apses, in front of which is an altar, and the third floor contains numerous storage places, wineriesandthe kitchen. The city inhabitants, who only lived in the caves to hide from invaders, were spared asphyxiation by smoke inhalation because the rock surface actually absorbed smells and cooking smoke, which is why the ceilings are black and literally soot covered.There was also a good ventilation network with the main vertical shaft passing all 4 flours with a depth of 80 meters in total.

We were informed how life underground worked and shown the various storage chambers, mill wheels, ventilation shafts and massive circular stone doors that were used to block entrances in the event of invasion.The city is navigated via a one-way system in and out and witnesses some pretty narrow and low corridors.Our remarkable bionic companion, Bob, who is 68 years of age and has had knee replacement surgery, nearly got stuck in a particularly small tunnel as he physically could not lift his legs.Fortunately, our Medical Doctor colleague was able to push him forward from his heels and keep the procession of never ending tourists moving.This element of the trip was extremely fascinating and no amount of photos will give a true sense of what it must have been like to live, even temporarily, in a cave.It is estimated that the city could sustain 2000 people for 2 months should it come under attack.

A brief stop to sample some genuine Turkish wine, which was a bit ropey to be honest, was followed by a photo opportunity across the road at the Pigeon Valley gorge, then another quick stop at Uchisar 'cave castle' before heading back to the hotel.

We continued the evening envious of the people sitting in the comfy area on the raised platform above us so as soon as they left we bagged those cushioned seats and spent a couple of hours being jealously eyed-up whilst catching up with our new found American friends.We had a thoroughly enjoyable time watching the evening dawn and feeling the temperature drop.We were accompanied even later by a newlywed Brit couple who were on Honeymoon, and rather rat-faced, and we again spent an hour or so just chilling, chatting and relaxing.They were totally mad but fun and she's even an archaeologist - small world.All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable day!