"there existed a civilization whereby the people were skilled in carving rock sites to be their homes. I hear that in parts of Turkey too, you can find such homes even to this day. Fancy that!"
You can indeed find such dwellings in Capadoccia, Turkey.
"The Castle", honeycombed with rooms, Capadoccia, Turkey
Homes carved into the rock, CapadocciaIn fact you can even lodge in some of them, as I did for a few days once because some of those homes have been turned into hotels. It's quite an experience to live in such a cave dwelling, although I don't think the original carvers had planned on their caves becoming 4-star hotel rooms.
The facade of my cave hotel, Capadoccia
A guest room at the hotel. The entire room was carved into the rock and the closets and niches in the photo were carved into the rock face.
8 comments:
That is a very interesting housing concept, Louis. Are the room temperatures any warmer or cooler inside the caves?
Turkey sounds like a fascinating country to visit. I haven't been but David spent two weeks there and wants to return. He loves everything about it - people, culture, food, sights.
BTW, I enjoyed your account of the salmon ladder much more than the illustrations at the Locks. I always feel creepy reading in that underground walkway. Do you eat a lot of salmon? I like them fresh in sushi/sashimi or smoked. The latter usually comes from angler friends.
I hope you didn't get sunburned today. :)
Louis,
Must be cool inside the rooms compared to the outside temperature (during summer) I wonder how the sewerage is in such homes.
Hi Louis
Wow, this is one of the things that I haven't done when travelling, staying in a "cave"!
I'm sure it's cooling during the summer but how cold does it get in the winter months in Turkey?
My "cave" room was very comfortable in the summer heat, without airconditioning. I don't know what it would be like in winter. Winter is not a tourist season in most of Turkey and some sites just shut down. However, my room had all modern conveniences, including a huge bathroom- part of the "cave", so I am sure there would be heating if used in the winter.
I agree with David re Turkey.
I love smoked salmon: you are very fortunate to have such a supply of freshly smoked salmon. On the cruise there's always smoked salmon (lox) on the breakfast menu and I often order it.
I am a bit leery of raw fish though, given all the pollutants reported, but I do like grilled or poached salmon.
Hello Zawi,
My room was cool, and the plumbing thoroughly modern and efficient.
Many of these cave hotels are quite upscale in fact.
Well, Fauziah, it is fun to be able to state on my resume I have lived in a cave, even if it was a four star one and I didn't have to wield a club to hunt my breakfast :)
I think you'd like experiencing Capadoccia. There's even a whole underground "village" where many people were able to sustain life for long periods at a time while hiding from their enemies.
It gets cold enough to snow in Capadoccia and other parts of Turkey in the winter, and many tourist sites just shut down for the winter.
Along with the caves you might come across some colorful characters, such as the owner of my cave hotel. On seeing me waiting for a taxi to go into the town for dinner (I had been told that dinner wasn't being offered that evening because there were so few guests at the time), he said: "There will be dinner!" He then went off and soon some staff were on bicycles pedalling into town to buy groceries to make dinner just for me :)
P.S. Rita,
Do you think Nature, or the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, were retaliating for your Seattle sunblock cartoon by sending us these past hot, sunny days :)?
Haha! Louis ... I think it was the baseball gods taking pity on the Seattle Mariners, to no avail. Those guys just can't pitch or hit, hot or cold.
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