We left Sivas at 10:30 after a walk around the town to see the sights first thing in the morning. It was a fabulous time when were fresh for the day as we have so often walked late after a long drive.As lead for the day Ian chose a scenic backroad  for the first hour. This was lovely as it took us through farmland and rolling hills.

We stopped at a picturesque lake for lunch. This had been chosen as a pretty place using Google Maps/earth. On arrival we found it was a picnic ground in a beautiful setting and there were many local families there enjoying the Ramadan holiday.

Arrived in our Cave hotel in Cappodoccia at 4:15pm and were able to explore the town and have dinner watching the world go by. We have a second day in Cappodoccia it is an early start tomorrow for our balloon ride.

Have been unable to upload photos since Bukhara. They are what make the blogs more interesting. You will see when I can post that we have been to some beautiful and interesting places!

The day started at 8am as usual but instead of getting in the cars and heading out,  we decided to walk around the town and visit some of the old sights. This was interesting….a madrassah, mosque and the citadel on the hill.

We left the town at 10.30 and drove through beautiful hilly landscape to a luncheon spot in the shade of some trees.

12 kms from our destination we were stopped at a police checkpoint. We had seen several already in Turkey but were waved through. This time however, the police were more serious and 2 of the cars were searched. I am sure they were looking for weapons as the Kurdish unrest is not that far away. The police were pleasant and after doing the sample two car search and checking passports we were sent on our way.
Dinner at the hotel and an enjoyable walk around the old part of the town after dinner.

This was a day of farewells and crossing out of Iran into Turkey. The Iranian process took longer to get out of than Turkey did to enter. On crossing the border, the guards suggested we could remove our head scarfs!  After a week of wearing them, the head felt bare but I still hadn’t mastered how to keep it on unless I wore it as  turban.

As we left the border (and  a little before) we could see the snow of Mt Ararat, the highest mountain in Turkey. (and the legendary resting place of Noah’s ark) The earlier views changed as the peaks became covered in cloud.

A lovely drive in Turkey visiting an old palace…The way the palace, sitting on the top of a hill was restored was fascinating. The restorers had placed a clear roof over the top of the palace so that light penetrated and it didn’t detract from the palace renovation. Very well done. The views of and from this site were spectacular. A fabulous introduction to Turkey.

At the end of the day we reflected that this was our first day of driving without a guide this trip!