Baku - Azerbaijan

I was not to give these children a picture of themselves, the matron said.
Ok, I will not..... but maybe someone will know them and show them the pictures.
I understood all of them to be orphans.
They are right now in Baku.

More Pictures of Turkey !

Do they really listen to a different drummer than the rest of us ?


These could have been wine jars from a thousand years ago, at least the cart was somehow a bit older.

Uerguep is a sight to behold, so many nooks and crannies, so many hidden treasures that it is hard to take pictures of it all.

This is really Real Estate. One can buy a whole hill, which serves as a house. Inside the hill are bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, etc.

This area is amazing, people lived here for thousands of years already and not that much has changed.

What a vista, no matter from what point I looked at the landscape, there was always something new to see.

Yes, this is a house you can buy. It has a real front door, real windows, real electric lights and even plumbing.

Imagine, no painting to be done on your house, no roof to shingle, no lawn to cut. Just live inside those hills and enjoy. By the way, the houses are cool in the summer heat.

Apartments? I do not know about this hill but it looks like apartments to me.

This is the hotel we were in. Yes, build right into the cliff. We had showers, lights, plumbing, etc. All the modern conveniences.

Look at all these field, too. Look at all the natural living conditions. I thought it was great.

Of course they had some camels so that we could take pictures of the hills and the camel in the foreground. Except the camel did not want to be photographed. Always gave me the cold shoulder.

The right spelling of Uerguep is Ürgüp. The town itself is worth a visit but I bet you could not just stay there, you would have to experience the whole area.

A few pillows so you can take a nap when you feel like it. The shaded trees look inviting in the Turkish heat.

This is not fake, a guy lives here during the day. He makes his tea here, takes his nap and hangs out in the shade. Cozy, right ?

Chasing some hot air balloons with the bike I ended up here. A great view of it all.

This is our hotel in Uerguep.

This is the room I stayed in. I had tea outside on this table with some other riders. Very natural and relaxed conditions.

This is something I would have bought as a souvenir but it was not for sale. Dervishes left me in awe. I did not understand the swirling. I felt like they were from another planet.

A trance seems to be produced yet they always know where they are when they whirl. They never bump into each other.

It seemed they follow a certain pattern when they swirl all over the area. Like a dance with rules.

I did not have the best camera but still, these pictures give you some idea. Round and around and around they whirled.

It was like a prayer, very solemn and nothing to be laughed at. These guys take this very serious.

round, round, round, round, round, round, round......... etc.


I imagined doing this and I got dizzy just thinking about the whirling but these guys were not effected by the spinning. Or were they ? Something in their head has some effect otherwise they would not do it, right ?

Round, Round Round Round Round...........

I would have fallen and broken my head just like these broken pots.