Because I don't do well on steep slopes, and we were told it was 200 plus steps up to the monastery site, I decided to stay behind. Seeing this picture I am glad I did so, but many people using canes made it up and back, to my shame. However, one of our group had to be carried out after falling on the roots.
It wasn't much of a sitting area. An old man was playing some type of a string instrument and along came a middle aged Turkish man who immediately upon hearing the music, handed off his bags to his wife and began to dance. He had a grand time, garnering applause from those of us sitting there and on the path. Aside from the obviously European and American tourists on group tours, the vast majority of people taking the path were Turkish and Muslim. It is interesting that an overcrowded Orthodox Monastery site was crowded with Muslim sight seers.
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