Cappadocia: A Playground of Fairy Chimneys & Hot Air Balloons

Shortly after our arrival in Goreme

So far on our travels we have taken many modes of transportation.  The list has included the classics (planes, trains, and rental cars), in addition to taxis, buses and ferries.  From Istanbul to Cappadocia we elaborated on the bus category – our first overnight bus experience.  There are multiple companies that traverse Turkey (a country that is just so much vaster than I initially gave it credit for).  Given that we were still in the tail end of the high season, we ended up taking the only one available on that particular night in order to stay on schedule. 

 

Out on our first walk after the obligatory post-night-bus-nap

As far as buses go, these ones were pretty nice.  The bus station, however, was more like intermittently controlled chaos.  We arrived a bit early and found really nothing in particular to do, so we carved out a piece of floor/wall space and settled in.  After double checking at the counter that we were in the right place at the right time (thankfully, we were), we began people-watching, always an interesting cultural experience.  About 10 minutes before our evening bus was scheduled to depart, there was still no sign of it in the ridiculously crammed queue "system."  After literally having to push and shove our way through the crowd of people, luggage, and hawkers, we found it parked in a different place (a last minute change I guess.)  We dropped our bags underneath and found our seats for the next – gasp – 13 hours.  The next surprise was that there was no bathroom.  I was told about this, but for some reason I just couldn’t believe it, but it was true indeed.  However, the seats did have little movie screens, and we did get ice cream at midnight, so I guess you just have to take what you can get.

 

Fairy chimneys on the way to Red Valley

After a confusing 1 hour stop at another Istanbul bus station, we were on our way.  We did stop a couple of times at travel-station-like places for refreshments and restrooms, so it wasn’t all that bad.  Sleep was tough, but we managed to get a few hours in.  I’m sure we missed some scenery during the night, but what we saw as we began to close in on our destination, Cappadocia, was awesome.  

Inside our "cave" =)

The only downside was that we quite literally stopped at every possible little bus stand before finally finishing in Göreme, where we were staying. Grateful to be off the bus and for having booked a hotel close to the center and bus station, we made our way to our little "cave" hotel (the new "it" thing in the area.)  It wasn’t a real cave, but it had that feel to it, and the folks running it were really nice.  And it had the biggest, best bathroom that I had seen in months.  I’m talking complete shower stall, lights that worked, and a jacuzzi tub.  I decided that this must be what cave heaven is all about.

 

Carvings along the Red Valley

First things first, we were famished.  We made our way to a happy sounding little place called Nazar Borek and had lemonade and böregi, a type of amazingly delicious stuffed pastry.  It was then back to the bat cave to shower and take a nap.  The weather was fantastic, so after a couple of hours or legitimate sleep, we were ready to go explore the valleys and the fairy chimneys.  We began by heading out of town toward what we hoped was the trailhead for the Red Valley.  

Rare signage in Cappadocia

Like Albania, signage wasn’t a strong suite of Cappadocia.  Just before the Göreme Open Air Museum (more on that later) we veered left into the fairy chimneys.  We were lucky and the weather was superb; warm, but not too hot and mostly clear skies.  It was perfect for an afternoon hike.  We found some semblance of trail and noted the presence of other humans, so we were hopeful that we were heading the right way (we were, sort of.)  After an hour or so of meandering in this fantastical place, we came to a dirt road with a little store.  After much gesturing (between the no English and our sub-par map, it was tough), we turned into one of the valleys, and thankfully after another kilometer or so, we did indeed find the Red Valley. 

 

Great sunset light overlooking the Red Valley

From there it was a lovely walk up toward the sunset viewpoint, which we reached just in time for Matt to get the camera set up for some great shots.  We sat and enjoyed, and then braced ourselves for the hour-long walk in the dark along the road we hoped was just around the corner to lead us back to Göreme when, to our surprise (and my relief, really), two very nice tourists equipped with a rental car – one from England and one from Brazil – paused at the side of the road to offer us a ride back into town.  Without hesitation, we seized the serendipitous moment and hopped in.  We finished the night with a local specialty, clay pot chicken, on a balcony overlooking the lights of Göreme with fairy chimneys in the background.

Some incredible caves along Pigeon Valley

Cappadocia is an area of incredible natural rock formations.  Through various forms of erosion, the land has become shaped like fairy chimneys.  It is also an area where early Christians found refuge before the religion became more widely accepted.  There are countless little houses and churches carved into these fairy chimney structures, and it really was something else to walk among them.

 

A lovely Turkish breakfast

The next day we were up early to refuel with the lovely Turkish breakfast that was included with our cave stay.  Turkish breakfasts became one of my favorite meals; they are large and include meat, eggs, cucumbers, tomatoes, fruit (it was usually watermelon for us) bread, jam, and OLIVES.  Any country that serves olives for breakfast is a friend of mine.  =)  It was then off to catch a local (short duration, thank goodness) bus to a neighboring village to hook up with the trailhead of Pigeon Valley.  

Pigeon Valley (pigeons not pictured)  =)

We were once again fortunate with the weather and the blue sky stretched out before us.  After about 1.5 hours of walking, we reached a part of what seemed like trail that good sense prevented us from following (if our footing had slipped, down a crevice we would have gone.)  Instead, we headed uphill and circled back around on a fin toward the town.  Once the trail was relocated, we came across the famous Hasan’s Tea Shop (really just a quaint little shack with lots of cushions and plank boards for seats).  

Matt enjoying some of Hasan's apple tea

I had read briefly about Hasan online, and by all accounts, he was an interesting character.  We were ready for a break and Hasan was there, so we sat down to a couple of apple teas.  Hasan quizzed us about our knowledge of the area, awarding us with little prizes if we got the questions right.  We joked and laughed and learned a bit about Hasan’s very interesting life.  He was a wonderful soul with a great smile and twinkling eyes.  I was given a traditional turban-like hat in return for our good humor, which I proudly donned as the wind was indeed picking up.  It was well worth the stop, and I would recommend Hasan’s to anyone in the area.  He is a force with whom to be reckoned, and we were the better for our brief time in his presence.

 

The remainder of the day was spent relaxing and doing a little reconnaissance regarding places to watch the sunrise and one of Cappadocia’s other famous attractions – hot air balloons.  Neither one of us was incredibly excited about the prospect of paying up to Euro 150 each to go up in one of the balloons, so Matt talked me into watching them rise from the ground instead.  

Imitating the balloons (what can I say...it was early...)  =)

The catch, of course, was that we would have to get up around 0430 to hike up into the fairy chimneys for a sunrise view.  We went to bed early in our fantastic cave-like nest, and left the next morning on foot in the dark.  It was a peaceful walk as dawn approached, and soon we could hear the lighting of the balloons periodically in the distance.  

We found a great little spot and started watching.  The balloons looked like fireflies in the distance as their operators fired up the furnaces.  One by one they took to the sky, up and over our location.  It was perfect as the sun appeared from behind the hills.  I daresay that we had the better view.

 

Goofing around underground =)

After a well-deserved breakfast, we packed our things and headed back out to see the Göreme Open Air Museum, an area of nicely preserved fairy tower churches.  We then hopped another bus to explore one of the area’s famous underground cities, Derinkuyu.  There are several underground cities in the area, but Derinkuyu is known as one of the largest.  Thousands of people used to inhabit these incredible towns, complete with sanitation, air shafts, dining halls, and churches.  Years ago, they were widely used to escape religious persecution.  You can hire a guide, but we were able to get everywhere easily enough on our own.  It was fascinating (and a little claustrophobic) to squeeze through the narrow passageways while trying to imagine what it must have been like to live down there.  The public is allowed to go about 60 meters underground, but the passageways and levels go even deeper. 

 

A view from the Goreme Open Air Museum

Back above ground, the weather was still lovely, and we headed back to Göreme to await overnight bus experience number two.  At least we knew what to expect this time.  Our bus pulled up shortly after sunset, and we climbed aboard and settled in for our ride to Pamukkale.  As the fairy chimneys faded into the remaining light, the rocking of the bus lulled us to sleep with thoughts of hot air balloons racing away in the sky and hidden underground villages bustling below the surface.  Cappadocia was a whole different world indeed.
 
Click below for more on our adventures in Cappadocia!