1 - 4 August 2013
Day 1: Arrival
I took a shuttle from the airport because Goreme is about an hour from the airport and I wasn't feeling like there'd be any other option to get out there. The landscape is the main attraction with all the houses built into the rocks and it really makes a good first impression as you come into the town. I checked into my dorm room, that was naturally in a cave, and then headed out to find dinner. I settled on a restaurant that was on the first floor, so it gave good views, and had beanbags for chairs. I ordered the menemen (a type of omelette) because it was recommended to me and it was ok but kind of bland. I could also watch as the weather turned to crap and a storm rolled in.
Day 2: Green tour
There are 3 different tours you can do and the green one is the big one that gives you a bit of everything. The first stop is just outside Goreme on a hill so we could look out over the town. We were also told some cool stories like Cappadocia means the land of well bred horses, Goreme means invisible city (because it's all built into the rock) and the rock formations are known as fairy chimneys because of an old myth. The myth says that fairies and humans lived together for a while and at one point, a human wanted to marry a fairy but the fairies didn't like this so they all turned into pigeons. The humans then worshiped the pigeons and made houses for them in the rocks and apparently if you caught a pigeon and kissed it, it would turn into a fairy. True story.
Valley walk
We went for a walk through a valley that had houses (for people) carved into the rock and apparently a community of people lived there to escape religious persecution some hundreds of years ago. The walk was great because the scenery was nice but I spent too much time talking rubbish with everyone and forgot to look around as much as I should, whoops.
Lunch
We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant in the valley and I had the spicy beef kebab and apart from not being spicy at all, it was quite nice. The problem was the bunch of wasps that decided to be friends with us. They really liked the fish so anyone with fish had an extremely hard time trying not to eat wasps.
Underground city
The next stop was an underground city. It was an underground series of tunnels and rooms that again was used by an old community to escape some threat. It certainly wasn't a place for claustrophobic people because I was walking in a complete crouch with my head still touching the roof in a few spots. When you're in the lowest point, 8 levels underground, in a tunnel that's too narrow to turn around you could be forgiven for having a brief flash of panic. It wasn't that hard to imagine people living there but when you start to think that they rarely went to the surface and imagine how it would've smelt, it really doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore.
Jewellery shop
We stopped at a girly girl's candy store (a jewellery factory) but for the rest of us, there wasn't that much to see. We did get a demonstration about how they work the onyx on a lathe and polisher and then a question was asked; what does Cappadocia mean? The person who answered it scored the piece of onyx from the demo and guess who wrote the answer down because they thought it'd be cool for their blog :D
Turkish delight store
The final stop was actually a candy store or more specifically a Turkish delight shop. After pillaging the free samples tray and sampling the delicious pomegranate tea we decided that we couldn't leave without a box of chocolate apricot squares so three of us split that. Double pistachio Turkish delight was also a favourite but I exercised some self control.
Dinner
We went for pide (Turkish pizza) at a place called Firin Express and although it was nice, it could've used more toppings. I was eyeing off a sizzling chicken and rice dish, that comes out served over a flame, that one of the others had and after giving it a try, I knew what I was having for dinner the next night.
Day 3: Walking
The plan today was to go walking through the many valleys around Goreme and my partner in crime was my new Norwegian friend. We started off going through Pigeon Valley, named so because of all the pigeon homes carved in the rock, and ended up at Uchisar castle. This is a castle built into the rock and it lives up to its name as it towers over everything and can be easily seen from a long way away. I suggested we climb the castle and the Norwegian called me a peak seeker, a term I quite liked and decided to steal for the blog. Anyway, we did climb the castle and enjoy the great views out over the surrounding valleys before heading off to Honey Valley (no idea why it's called that).
To get into Honey Valley we had to be a little inventive and this meant sliding down the side of the valley in between two hills and trying not to go face first. My Norwegian friend made it look easy whereas I was a little less elegant but still made it in one piece. The walk through Honey Valley and then Love Valley (also not sure about the name) was a bit harder going because there wasn't always a well-defined path but we pressed on and made it out the other end. We were lucky (or maybe he saw my Norwegian friend's long, tanned legs) enough to catch a ride back to town with a nice guy in an old, yellow Jeep.
Open Air Museum
Our legs weren't totally dead yet so we wandered over to the Open Air Museum where you can see various old churches that were carved into the rocks from many hundreds of years ago. Some of them were in impressively good condition and the whole museum had a cool look about it.
Dinner
We went back to the same restaurant as I was at the previous night but this time I ordered that fantastic looking sizzling plate but with beef and it tasted even better than it looked.
Day 4: Leaving
It was an early start to catch the shuttle to the airport but it wasn't all bad because I got to see the 50 or so hot air balloons lifting off and cruising over Goreme. The shuttle ride got a little interesting when two of the passengers realised that they were on the wrong shuttle (headed to the wrong airport) so we dropped them in the middle of nowhere and apparently they were going to be picked up and taken to the right one. Not sure if they made it but it would've been a decent achievement if they did.
Flying and related things
The airport security at Kayseri were surprisingly anal considering they're a small country airport in the middle of nowhere. I got to see the safety video with the kids again and at the end of the flight, just after the plane touched down, everyone clapped. This is something I don't get because it was a mundane flight, the pilots shouldn't be rewarded for just doing their job.
Pegasus took a while to unload bags in Istanbul, which I was stressing about because I had to catch a connecting flight to Berlin. It all worked out in the end and the flight was easy going with some great views but immigration in Berlin took forever and Pegasus took even longer to unload bags this time *sigh*.
Thoughts about Cappadocia
Day 1: Arrival
I took a shuttle from the airport because Goreme is about an hour from the airport and I wasn't feeling like there'd be any other option to get out there. The landscape is the main attraction with all the houses built into the rocks and it really makes a good first impression as you come into the town. I checked into my dorm room, that was naturally in a cave, and then headed out to find dinner. I settled on a restaurant that was on the first floor, so it gave good views, and had beanbags for chairs. I ordered the menemen (a type of omelette) because it was recommended to me and it was ok but kind of bland. I could also watch as the weather turned to crap and a storm rolled in.
Day 2: Green tour
There are 3 different tours you can do and the green one is the big one that gives you a bit of everything. The first stop is just outside Goreme on a hill so we could look out over the town. We were also told some cool stories like Cappadocia means the land of well bred horses, Goreme means invisible city (because it's all built into the rock) and the rock formations are known as fairy chimneys because of an old myth. The myth says that fairies and humans lived together for a while and at one point, a human wanted to marry a fairy but the fairies didn't like this so they all turned into pigeons. The humans then worshiped the pigeons and made houses for them in the rocks and apparently if you caught a pigeon and kissed it, it would turn into a fairy. True story.
Valley walk
We went for a walk through a valley that had houses (for people) carved into the rock and apparently a community of people lived there to escape religious persecution some hundreds of years ago. The walk was great because the scenery was nice but I spent too much time talking rubbish with everyone and forgot to look around as much as I should, whoops.
Lunch
We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant in the valley and I had the spicy beef kebab and apart from not being spicy at all, it was quite nice. The problem was the bunch of wasps that decided to be friends with us. They really liked the fish so anyone with fish had an extremely hard time trying not to eat wasps.
Underground city
The next stop was an underground city. It was an underground series of tunnels and rooms that again was used by an old community to escape some threat. It certainly wasn't a place for claustrophobic people because I was walking in a complete crouch with my head still touching the roof in a few spots. When you're in the lowest point, 8 levels underground, in a tunnel that's too narrow to turn around you could be forgiven for having a brief flash of panic. It wasn't that hard to imagine people living there but when you start to think that they rarely went to the surface and imagine how it would've smelt, it really doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore.
Jewellery shop
We stopped at a girly girl's candy store (a jewellery factory) but for the rest of us, there wasn't that much to see. We did get a demonstration about how they work the onyx on a lathe and polisher and then a question was asked; what does Cappadocia mean? The person who answered it scored the piece of onyx from the demo and guess who wrote the answer down because they thought it'd be cool for their blog :D
Turkish delight store
The final stop was actually a candy store or more specifically a Turkish delight shop. After pillaging the free samples tray and sampling the delicious pomegranate tea we decided that we couldn't leave without a box of chocolate apricot squares so three of us split that. Double pistachio Turkish delight was also a favourite but I exercised some self control.
Dinner
We went for pide (Turkish pizza) at a place called Firin Express and although it was nice, it could've used more toppings. I was eyeing off a sizzling chicken and rice dish, that comes out served over a flame, that one of the others had and after giving it a try, I knew what I was having for dinner the next night.
Day 3: Walking
The plan today was to go walking through the many valleys around Goreme and my partner in crime was my new Norwegian friend. We started off going through Pigeon Valley, named so because of all the pigeon homes carved in the rock, and ended up at Uchisar castle. This is a castle built into the rock and it lives up to its name as it towers over everything and can be easily seen from a long way away. I suggested we climb the castle and the Norwegian called me a peak seeker, a term I quite liked and decided to steal for the blog. Anyway, we did climb the castle and enjoy the great views out over the surrounding valleys before heading off to Honey Valley (no idea why it's called that).
To get into Honey Valley we had to be a little inventive and this meant sliding down the side of the valley in between two hills and trying not to go face first. My Norwegian friend made it look easy whereas I was a little less elegant but still made it in one piece. The walk through Honey Valley and then Love Valley (also not sure about the name) was a bit harder going because there wasn't always a well-defined path but we pressed on and made it out the other end. We were lucky (or maybe he saw my Norwegian friend's long, tanned legs) enough to catch a ride back to town with a nice guy in an old, yellow Jeep.
Open Air Museum
Our legs weren't totally dead yet so we wandered over to the Open Air Museum where you can see various old churches that were carved into the rocks from many hundreds of years ago. Some of them were in impressively good condition and the whole museum had a cool look about it.
Dinner
We went back to the same restaurant as I was at the previous night but this time I ordered that fantastic looking sizzling plate but with beef and it tasted even better than it looked.
Day 4: Leaving
It was an early start to catch the shuttle to the airport but it wasn't all bad because I got to see the 50 or so hot air balloons lifting off and cruising over Goreme. The shuttle ride got a little interesting when two of the passengers realised that they were on the wrong shuttle (headed to the wrong airport) so we dropped them in the middle of nowhere and apparently they were going to be picked up and taken to the right one. Not sure if they made it but it would've been a decent achievement if they did.
Flying and related things
The airport security at Kayseri were surprisingly anal considering they're a small country airport in the middle of nowhere. I got to see the safety video with the kids again and at the end of the flight, just after the plane touched down, everyone clapped. This is something I don't get because it was a mundane flight, the pilots shouldn't be rewarded for just doing their job.
Pegasus took a while to unload bags in Istanbul, which I was stressing about because I had to catch a connecting flight to Berlin. It all worked out in the end and the flight was easy going with some great views but immigration in Berlin took forever and Pegasus took even longer to unload bags this time *sigh*.
Thoughts about Cappadocia
- The landscape is so impressive and different to anything I've seen before
- There's some great walking trails around the place
- The food is quite good
- It's cool to stay in a cave hostel
- I'm not sure it's a place I'd go back to but it's definitely worth going to once
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| Looking out over Pigeon Valley |
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| The valley we walked in on the green tour |
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| Atop the Uchisar Castle |
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| Looking cool on top of the Uchisar Castle |
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| Out at the "Star Wars" landscape area |
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| Timed selfy in a cave house |
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| There wasn't a lot of room in the underground city tunnels |
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| Uchisar Castle |
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| Looking back at Uchisar Castle with my Norwegian friend figuring out how to get into Honey Valley |
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| Designed as pigeon homes but now they're more like wasp homes |
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| The outstanding sizzling beef place. There was a fire going under |
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| Looking down at Goreme at sunset |
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| The Open Air Museum |
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| A storm rolling in over Goreme |
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| Balloons taking off at sunrise |
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| The "Star Wars" landscape. It wasn't the site used but it looks similar |
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