Wednesday we hiked the Rose valley, named for its rose colored rock. Rose valley is very close to Pigeon valley, yet it seemed like we had traveled to a different country. We still hiked though the occasional cave and scampered up rock formations, but the plants, birds and rocks were strikingly different. Rose valley also has some ancient cave churches and we were able to pop into one, Hacli Church, or Church with the Cross.
It almost felt like we discovered it ourselves. The frescos on the walls date from the 9th century. There is something sacred about these small, intimate churches perched up in the caves. The frescos have been defaced, almost all the faces have been scratched out, but you can get a sense of their former glory.
It almost felt like we discovered it ourselves. The frescos on the walls date from the 9th century. There is something sacred about these small, intimate churches perched up in the caves. The frescos have been defaced, almost all the faces have been scratched out, but you can get a sense of their former glory.
The hike included some steep inclines and some rock formations that were just begging to be climbed on. It was scamper-tastic.
We had lunch in the town of Cavusin. We were pretty beat and haggard by the time we made it to Cavusin and I was HUNGRY. As we were dragging ourselves into town I got worried, what if all the restaurants were closed because it is low season? What if we had to do the whole walk back without lunch? We stopped to admire a cemetery and listen to the call to prayer. When I am out hiking and hear the call to prayer I often find myself thinking, “ok, I can take a minute to be reverent right now, thanks for the reminder.“ A man on the side of the road recommended a lunch place to Andrew. We walked to it. It looked pretty darn closed. We walked in anyway. The proprietor was in the kitchen when we came in and looked concerned when he saw us. With some sign language we determined that no, the restaurant was not really open, but he was making soup and if we wanted soup and rice we could have it, but we were going to have to wait for it. We gave him the thumbs up and took a seat. About 10 minutes later he brought out the best chicken soup I have every eaten. It was perfectly spicy and hearty and warm.
I ate all of it and then mopped the bowl with bread. While we were eating a long table full of workman came in for lunch. They had been building nearby and about 8 of them sat at once and also wolfed down the soup. Then they (and this part is important) went outside and had a smoke with tea. Then they played with this extremely large cute dog. I decided that I am still in doggy-fear rehabilitation, so I should go meet the dog and make a friend. The men playing with the dog kept telling me 4, 4 this dog, 4. I thought OK, so this dog is 4 years old, ok. Then they said, baby baby.
That is when it hit me, this dog was 4 months old. At this point Andrew needed to come out and meet this baby.
I ate all of it and then mopped the bowl with bread. While we were eating a long table full of workman came in for lunch. They had been building nearby and about 8 of them sat at once and also wolfed down the soup. Then they (and this part is important) went outside and had a smoke with tea. Then they played with this extremely large cute dog. I decided that I am still in doggy-fear rehabilitation, so I should go meet the dog and make a friend. The men playing with the dog kept telling me 4, 4 this dog, 4. I thought OK, so this dog is 4 years old, ok. Then they said, baby baby.
That is when it hit me, this dog was 4 months old. At this point Andrew needed to come out and meet this baby.Even though lunch was delicious and somewhat restorative, I made us walk the direct non-hilly route back to the hotel. We fell over when we finally made it to our rooms and took long and much needed showers.
This is the fireplace in our cave room. Excellent for relaxing after a long hike.
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