You can see in this view of Goreme, that people have integrated the caves and rocks into their dwellings, not forced the earth to conform!
On the minibus ride from the airport I got a blurred glimpse of some strange rocks through the foggy windows. When we arrived to the city of Goreme, located in a small valley we took the rest of the afternoon to wander around town. It was already nicer than Istanbul, with no one forcing you to look at their menu or to come into their shop. Most of the establishments in the town of Goreme, and in the surrounding areas of Cappadocia are at least in part in caves with the rest being made out of bricks from the local sand. It means that it is all the same colour. We saw a look-out at the top of a hill in the distance, but it looked very far away. We decided to save that destination for another time, but as we got walking up and up we realized we were almost there. Ok, so fine we will make the extra 300 metre climb to get there. The view was fantastic and well worth the walk to introduce us to the area. We could see in one direction the town of Goreme which we had come from, with lots of rocks called "fairy chimnies" sticking up above the town. In another direction we could see Rose Valley, dramatic cliffs with a strip of red and pink running through the middle. And in another direction we could see the town of Uchisar dominated by a large castle carved out of the rock from a hill.
Here's my understanding of the area. Ancient volcanic activity has created layers of different type of rock, in addition to veins upward with different types of rock as well. Many of the layers are made out of sandstone, which is quite soft. Weather, water and wind has created a moonscape, or Tatooine-scape with rock pinnacles jutting up from the land, hershey kissed shaped domes, and even person shaped rocks with hats. Additionally thousands of years of people, the Hittites, the silk road traders, Christians in the 9th century, to name a few, have carved up the landscape, widened caves and tunnels for various purposes. All of this resulting in one of the craziest landscapes I have ever seen.
The next day we decided to follow suit with seemingly every other tourist who comes to the area, bite the bullet, and take a hot air balloon ride. We have never done that before, so it seemed like a good time to try it out. We called it the celebration for me landing a permanent job. The unpleasant part was that it was a 4am pick up from the hotel to make it out and up before sunrise. Ultimately it was worth it, but we were pretty sleepy. We saw amazing AMAZING views of this crazy landscape, hundreds of other balloons in the air, local dwellings carved out of the rock side, some dogs etc. It was nerve wracking being up so high in just a little basket, but once I put the fragility of our situation out of my mind I rather enjoyed the experience. Landing was fun, you see the ground approaching, not that slowly, and the trucks to pick you up chasing you down the road, then you have to squat down and hold on. I did not like the pictures in the initial instruction card (with no English) showing what to if the basket tipped over, but that didn't happen, the basket just bumped along and eventually we were caught by the guys on the ground. Then the pilot of the balloon actually maneuvered the propane and propellers just right in order to land on the back of a trailer. Then you are served champagne while the guys deflate and fold up the balloon. We returned to our hotel before breakfast started being served at 8am.
The view
The rest of the day was pretty mellow as we spent time in town, and the hills around exploring and relaxing at the hotel doing the Turkish thing of sitting around talking and drinking tea. The owner of the hotel is fantastic, full of stories of his interesting life, his family and all of the crazy people who have stayed at his hotel. Just to sit and listen to him talk provides hours of entertainment. He and his staff were attentive, very knowledgeable and full of that Turkish hospitality you hear so much about. I can not recommend enough, the Caravanserai hotel if you ever find yourself in Goreme.
All that rest charged us up for the next day where we went all out. We walked from Goreme to the Open Air Museum, really it's only about a km away, but in 35+ degree heat, walking up a mountain, it was challenging enough. At the Open Air Museum, which is basically a fenced in, cleaned up area of rock, we got to see many many churches, I think 30 in all, in addition to other dwellings and livestock holding areas, carved out of the rock side and into caves. All the churches were dating from the 9th-11th century. The area was populated by Christians escaping persecution from (someone, i forget who) who wanted to settle down and have a peaceful life. After the heat and crowds of the museum we went for a walk up a hill across the road from the museum, and found so many more dwellings and a few more churches that have not yet been incorporated into the museum. It was neat to feel like we were discovering them. Following that we went on another hiking trail to get an up close look at the "fairy chimneys". It was a long hot day.
We chose a direction and went off exploring on our own
For the last full day that we were in Cappadocia we decided, begrudgingly to take a bus tour to some of the farther out places, so that we could get them all in. Highlights of that included visiting an underground city built so extensively that everything they needed could be underground, as far down as 8 stories. Upon being threatened by invaders the people there, again Christians from the 9th-11th centuries could retreat, shut a round stone door and live happily for a while, while the invaders didn't know where they went, everything was so hidden.
We took a shortened hike of the Ilhara Valley, which is a comparatively lush place with a river running though it. Because of the river, it has cut a deep valley into the soft stone.
Later that day we visited a monastery carved out of a cliff side. It was neat because there were so many different levels to go up and just keep going up, we enjoyed discovering what was around the next corner and through the next tunnel. We didn't quite make it to the "Star Wars Movie Place", as Tatoine is set in this area, but everything gives you the idea that a sand person could be around the next corner.
Other places we visited included included "pigeon valley". Though there are lots of pigeon coops everywhere, this area was the most densely populated with thousands of holes carved into the rock for them to nest. For the first couple of days it was a mystery to me, why the world would need more pigeons. I couldn't imagine that they were good meat, and the coops were so high off the ground that eggs couldn't be easily accessable. Any guesses? It turns out that it is their poop! Apparently it is an excellent fertilizer for the area's vineyards. Speaking of, we did stop at a winery and taste the Cappadocian wine. It was very dry. Maybe a product of this arid landscape! Haha!
And now it is time for more pictures, just because I like them! Why? Because you have read this far, what's a couple more
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