The Turkish night is a staple in Turkish tourism. You go, you eat Turkish food, you drink, and you watch Turkish dancing. It’s all pretty clichéd but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. In Cappadoccia, the Turkish night is in what I imagine is a purpose built facility, or at least one that has been substantially modified for the purpose. You go through the corridor at the entrance into a huge amphitheatre, with stone tables and benches in the round, stepped up so everyone has a fabulous view of the festivities. There was wine flowing and a fabulous first course of assorted mezze. The main course though was a bit of a let down – I had the fish – It was really dry and because it was simply done, grilled with lemon, being dry made it actually unappetizing (which was a shame)

As we ate we watched a plethora of Turkish acts from a traditional wedding dance to the jumping over each other hi-jinks that you envision would occur in this part of the world (or at least in the mid 20^th century Hollywood version of it. Interestingly Turkey mainly seems o be portrayed as a haven for spies and terrorist in more modern imaginings – be it Bond or Spooks. In some parts, it looked a bit Riverdance (or maybe it’s because there are certain similarities to traditional folk dancing the world over). Of course there was a belly dancer. You probably couldn’t really have a Turkish night without a belly dancer. And somewhat predictably they got someone from try their hand as well. More drinking and some Turkish sweets and then it was back to our hotel to prepare for a day of driving. (Sweet Jane – Cowboy junkies – The original is one of Lou Reed’s greatest tunes. This is an exceptional cover which deserves its place on the Best Covers of All Time album it comes from. One of my fave driving albums.)