The last place I'm going to visit in Cappadocia is the Goreme Open Air Museum, which ironically enough, was supposed to be the first place I was to visit. It's just 1km out of town, and I'm there early enough to avoid the crowds. Still, I did have to wait at one point for a flock of German tourists to exit a small cave church. They must have numbered 50, and watching them continuously emerge over a course of 15 minutes was pretty entertaining. I liken it to watching clowns emerge from miniature cars in the circus. So yes, the Goreme Open Air Museum is a worthwhile visit, having many well-preserved frescoes in the six or so Byzantine cave churches. It's an expensive affair though, probably due to its popularity and ease of access, and I actually pass up the Dark Church as it costs too much to see. It's just another church with a small window yielding little light - hence the name "Dark" - but the lack of light has resulted in excellent frescoe preservation. Well, it's finally time to leave Cappadocia. Today my journey will take me to Kayseri, the nearest major city to Cappadocia, where I will be at crossroads in my journey. I haven't really determined where I want to go next. I did play with the idea of heading to Egypt earlier, but the flight was too expensive. All I know is that I will spend the day at Kayseri, and take a night bus out to somewhere. Arriving in Kayseri, I come upon one of the worst experiences I have in Turkey (it's not that bad). Getting off the bus, I'm immediately surrounded by touts and I'm asked if I want to go to Malatya and several common connecting cities almost 20 times by several people. However, it's really bad in the bus station. Being a foreign traveller looking lost and scoping all the bus companies in the station makes me a total target for touts. I'm literally followed around by 10 men absolutely pestering me, trying to make conversation by asking the hideously annoying "Where are you from?", and badgering me about where I want to go. One guy grabs my sunglasses and wears them around the station, while some others grab my arm and pull me around to the bus companies they represent. This is too much - I snap my arm back and sharply tell them to leave me alone, with little luck. The competition is fierce and the touts lie about the schedules and quality of rival companies. Eventually, I name a destination which only one bus company serves, and they leave me alone. However, it's obvious I'm not going there yet, as I don't buy a ticket and I sit down in a designated "no tout" area to contemplate where I really want to go. For now, I'm thinking of two places. The first is Mt. Nemrut, an isolated archeological site considered to be the 8th wonder of the world. It consist of a 50m artificial mountain (once 75m) with incredibly large toppled statues on the site. There's also the possibility of a tomb lying beneeath the rubble. The second is Sanliurfa, a very old historical city in southeast Turkey (uh-oh!) that's heavily populated with Kurds. It pretty much comes down to a choice between places and people, and I decide to choose people. I buy my ticket, drop off my pack with the bus company, and I'm off into Kayseri. Arriving in the downtown core, besides seeing the usual chaotic traffic, I'm pleasantly surprised to see people crowding into seemingly popular stores to buy fresh bread, pastries, spices, and meat for most likely their Ramazan dinners. The crowding is extremely attractive to me, and I join in the melee to make some purchases. Side note: Kayseri is the capital of pastirma, or Turkish pastrami, which I may have mentioned it before. It looks nothing like pastrami and is not even made of grounded meats. It's pretty expensive compared to other Turkish foods, but given the lengthy process of making and aging it, as well as the incredible flavour, I think it's worth it. I receive a lot of curious stares as I wander around downtown Kayseri, partly because I'm the only tourist, and probably also because I'm so interested in photographing aspects of their day-to-day lives. I don't really have much of an itinerary here, and I take a stroll through a very pleasant park of the nearby university. It's here that I come upon the world's first medical university, built in the early 13th century and which is a museum now. Unfortunately, it's closed, but to my luck, as I sit outside the museum getting my bearings, a curator arrives and allows me to wander the museum alone for 20 minutes. Needless to say, it's a really interesting experience. Besides the displays of medieval medical instruments (which look more like torture devices), there are numerous operating rooms, all of which have small windows designed to focus sunlight onto the operating tables. Back on the streets again, I head over to the covered bazaar, which is partially built in huge medieval fortress, to scope out carpets. Okay, I'm not going to buy a carpet, but Kayeri is known as the cheapest place to purchase one, and I'm curious to see how much the price differs from Istanbul. Oddly enough, after avoiding carpet stores and annoying carpet sellers for the past while, I actually can't find any carpet stores now that I'm looking for one. Scouring the bazaar for a short time, some students approach me and ask me if I need any help. They don't know where the carpet stores are either, and after a short, futile search, they invite me to their campus to have dinner and look around. At first I'm hesistant, mostly because I want to relax in an old Turkish bath in the city as well as try out some of the best iskender kebap in the country at a famous local restaurant. Then I think how unique an experience it might be to be a visiting student, and take them up on their offer. We take a 10 minute bus ride out of downtown to the campus where we head to a very busy cafeteria. Kayseri is considered to be a conservative town, and it seems that all the students on campus are fasting during Ramazan. There are long lines of hungry students waiting to get their trays of food, while others are seated with their rapdily cooling trays waiting for the call to prayer to eat. It's crowded and hectic in the waiting areas, but I love it, and there's less staring here. My new friends decide to eat outside on the grass, where I'm introduced to more students. The call to prayer finally sounds, and we dig in. The meal may not be the famous iskender kebap I wanted, but it's pretty decent considering it was cooked in mass quantities - lentil soup, fries, rice, a chicken skewer, vegetable stew, and chocolate pudding. After a filling meal and good conversation, my friends invite me for prayer in the university mosque. Again, I'm hesistant here because I don't feel it's my place, but they tell me it's okay, and so I welcome the experience. We head down to the basement of the mosque, where we have to wash ourselves before entering the mosque. It's a simple ritual of washing one's hands, feet, face, and neck; my only qualms are the cold water (weather's pretty cold already) and the absence of towels to dry oneself with, meaning we all put our shoes back on with wet feet. The mosque, like all other mosques I've seen so far, is pretty simple. It always amazes me how ornate the outside may be, but the inside is always just a gaping space with tons of carpets laid out. I'm given a quick primer on how to conduct a Muslim prayer, and I try out a "reduced" version. Well, the day's not over. It's time to go to class. I don't have to go, but I choose to. My friends study mathematics, a language I understand well. Needless to say, I'm the center of attention for the class, but I do pseudo-actively participate, surprising some students at times as I voice out parts of the solutions to problems in Turkish. Another interesting fact - the mathematics class has an equal number of males to females, something I definitely never expected, coming from engineering and all. Finally, the day is over. We walk arm-in-arm off the campus, something a bit new to me. Culture factoid: Turkish boys/guys like to walk with their arms around each other, linked, etc. It's a friendly culture, though I'll draw the line at holding hands. The day's turned out to be drastically different from what I expected, but definitely a one-of-a-kind experience. My friends bring me back downtown and direct me to the bus station. We exchange our information, say our goodbyes, and I'm off for crazy adventures in southeast Turkey.