The Phrygian Valley

The Phrygian Valley is full of rugged mountain scenery and wonderfully obscure monuments like this one, a rock-carved chamber tomb. Just don't trust the guy who wrote this chapter in Lonely Planet when he says there are Afyon-based tour companies willing to take you here. You're on your own! (We hired a taxi two days in a row, once from Eskişehir and then from Afyon--that seems to be the only feasible way to sightsee in this region.)We don't know a whole heck of a lot about the Phrygians, but we do know they were Thracian seafarers who ventured into Anatolia (between 1200 and 800 B.C.) and conquered the Hittites, who inhabited the region at the time. What's left of their stonecarving (see third photo here) is pretty darned amazing. (You might say they had a thing for lions, but then so did the Hittites.)The yazilikaya ("written rock") at Midas Sehri, associated with the king of legend. (The carvings date between the 8th and 6th centuries B.C.)Below, photos from the circular walking route at the same site.Next Turkey post: YARN 'N AMMO!