Wed July 10. [10 July 1907] The priest came to see me and he having told me yesterday how poor he was I tipped him 2 mejs. Sent Aziz away and took on Umar Ali. He, Haidar and I got off at 6.30, UA riding a mare which caused us endless trouble, and rode S over the lovely oak clad foothills. We passed a small kale on a steep rocky oaky point[?] - nothing of note and so up and so to Sarigul, a lovely yaila on an open bit of ground under Kuchuk HD. We had passed a few old ruins on the way up to it. Here UA left the mare fortunately and we rode on to the little lake to the S where we found a church. Most delicious place immediately under Kuchuk Hassan Dagh. A great washing of girls was going on. We got there about 9 and I planned and photographed the church. No arches, but 2 double columns in the narthex. Some traces of ruined buildings to the N. in what looked like a small cistern attached to the N. side of the church near the porch. The nave vault horseshoed, the apse apparently only stilted. We left about 10.30. A great boulder has fallen into the apse and the stone falls from the hillside have no doubt covered the buildings to the N. Rode back to the yaila and then down to a small cup of grass in which there were euren - Kapuja, and saw a big cistern but no church. At the further side the oaks began with delicious openings of grassy bottoms, heavenly yailas but no water. So down to Yenipunar. There is a castle on the rock above it, Kastel Kale and a few old ruins of some sort below - houses perhaps. Got there at about 11.30 and lunched under some trees by the cheshme. There had been a church here but it was entirely destroyed. I saw a double column near the mosque. Off at 12.30 out into the open and across rolling ground to Ikhrala - K [Kiepert] calls it Irkhala and is probably right. It lies in a deep cup. At the S end of it the river flows under a great natural arch. There are here old baths - I cd not go in because there were people inside - and in the rock 2 churches, one with a row of columns down it, one double column to the E, they said it was a church but it had no apse, just a square chamber divided by the arcade, now a mosque. The other is also a mosque. It had certainly been a church for the roof was partly cut into low panels in each of which was a cross. No apse but a wide niche, shallow, with a series of shallow arches over[?] it, in the W wall. The village is entirely Turkman. Below this village begins a most singular deep narrow valley with high perpendicular walls of rock on either side. Caves and rock cut things in them. UA said it went all the way to Akserai [Aksaray]. I was told there were lots of rock cut churches in it. They call it Irkhala Dere. Over rolling ground, corn to Gelvere [Gelveri]. At the entrance of the valley leading up to it a church and monastery perched on a rock and below it a small ruined church not unlike Daile 6. The monastery and church above have been entirely rebuilt (below near the ruined church is a great rock cut chamber with 2 rows of rock cut columns and a raised divan at the end, a man said there was a well in it) but the foundations and indeed the greater part of the church walls are rock cut and said to be the original. The apse is square and very deep - the walls entirely rock cut. They have roofed it with a dome, I do not know if this was how it was originally, in spite of its depth - it is square - it might have carried a semidome. No aisles. The monastery consists of a long passage with some half dozen cells opening out of it. All the foundations rock cut. The very monosyllabic Greek who showed us round said no one remembered the original dome of the church and that there were two or 3 monks, now away. So up a stream to our tents which are pitched in a delightful poplar grove with a fine view of the N. side of Hassan D [Hasan Dagi]. Got in about 5 pretty tired. I. To whom does this garden belong? F. To a priest sitti. I. Does he mind our camping here. F. He didn't say anything. After an interval: That priest is dead. The village is partly Greek and partly Turk, no Turkmans.