Cappadocia!

Day 4 - Travel to Cappadocia

Today will be a short entry. We finally slept in and walked to a historic menemen restaurant for breakfast. Menemen is an eggy concoction made with peppers, onions and tomatoes. I like adding cheese to mine. Naturally, it's served with Turkish tea. Turkish people drink more tea per capita than any other country.

We checked out of our hotel and backtracked to the airport using the metro. It was easy but time consuming.

Once at the airport, the security and check-in was smooth. The new, sleek airport was designed so well for masses of humanity!

Our flight was delayed for 40 minutes due to the worldwide Windows shut down. Once we boarded, the flight only lasted 50 minutes. They even served a small sandwich and a drink in that time! I love Turkish Airlines.

We arranged a shuttle to take us to our hotel which was about 40 minutes away. It already felt like a different world after busy Istanbul. The scenery was dramatic with its many rock formations. And camels crossing the street? What?

Our hotel, Ahiyan Pension, was perfect! The stone walls were very representative of the area and the beds so cozy. The view from the upstairs patio was wonderful looking over Uchisar Castle. It was about $75 per night including breakfast.

Nice view from the upstairs patio.

We walked around the small town taking in the scenery before settling on a dinner place. I grabbed some beverages and chips from the nearby store. Tonight was simple chicken salad and manti, Turkish ravioli. We watched the sunset grabbed some Turkish ice cream (dondurma) and called it a day.

Day 5 - Pigeon Valley Hike and Sunset on Uchisar Castle

We slept so well in our new digs. The beds were cozy and temperature was a good 10 degrees cooler than Istanbul. We sat outside on the top level terrace for our first Turkish breakfast. So many little plates and bowls! Lots of jams, honey, olives, veggies, breads, cheeses, eggs, and even these fun cheesy spring roll thingys. Honestly, it was a bit of a mish-mash but we were full.

We started off on a hike down to Pigeon Valley. The hiking in Cappadocia is legendary despite the lack of signage. Ater a few attempts, we finally found our way into the valley. There was shade, lots of wild plums and apricots growing, and more wild rock formations. It was a little strange because there was nearly no one hiking! It wasn't particularly hot and I knew this was one of the most popular hikes. So where was everyone? I don't think most tourists really enjoy hiking. I absolutely loved being out in nature away from people.

We ended our hike in the town of Goreme. We were thirsty and found a fresh fruit juice place. DD#2 had watermelon while I had pomegranate. The juicer guy used three giant pomegranates and squeezed them with a big press. It was so much sweeter than the juice we get at home. What a treat!

We took a short cheap bus back to our town for a little rest. I couldn't stay still for long and decided to hike to a scenic spot I randomly found on google maps. It was an amazing spot surrounded by "fairy chimneys". These tall rock structures had been hollowed-out and lived in. A few were still occupied. So cool to poke in and out of these caves.

The older man who lives in this one said he grew up in this home. There was even a car parked out front.

I grabbed the teenager and we headed up to Uchisar Castle which is the highest point in all of Cappadocia. We climbed the giant rock structure to the top in time for sunset. Actually, we killed nearly an hour just enjoying the views and watching people. It was a pretty epic spot for a sunset. We went a little nuts with the pictures.

We splurged on a restaurant with a view for dinner. Most of our meals have cost between $12 - 25 total, so quite affordable. This one came in just over $30 and I had the local specialty of stew cooked in a clay pot that is broken and served table-side. It was pretty good and tasted a bit like a casserole kind of thing I make at home.

We stopped for ice cream again on the way home and called it a day.

Day 6 - Sunrise to Sunset. One Very Full Day.

I set the alarm for 5am and peeked out of the window for balloons. The famous hot air balloons had not been able to fly the last two days. The weather conditions have to be perfect in order for them to fly. I saw one in the distance and figured if there's one, there are probably more. DD#2 couldn't get herself up so I went myself and had quite the zen moment. Oh my goodness! I counted over 100 balloons filling the sky. It was so quiet and peaceful. I don't think there is anything like this in the world.

We had our large Turkish breakfast once again and I do think it contributed a bit to my "Turkish tummy" situation I haven't yet mentioned. Nothing serious, just a little off, if you know what I mean. Today we were off to explore Zelve Open Air Museum. We bused back to Goreme and hired a taxi to take us 15 minutes to the site. Can you believe it was a Tesla taxi? Now I've seen everything. This was not your typical museum. It was an old town that had lived in the rock caves and we were lucky enough to walk around the old settlement. There was a church, a mosque, town square, and countless caves you could freely enter. More views of crazy geological scenery.

One of the highlights had nothing to do with the museum. There was a little outdoor cafe just outside the entrance where we bought a beverage and took a break. It wasn't long before the cutest kitten in the world came out to play. It was quite seriously the cutest kitten we had ever seen!

The ticket included another site down the road known as mushroom valley. We walked just over 20 minutes to see some crazy rocks that kind of looked like mushrooms, I guess.

We taxied back to our town for a little snack. We tried pide (Turkish pizza) and lahmacun (flat bread with meat and spices). Both were tasty and was just what we needed. This was a little $12 snack.

The highlight today was the ATV sunset tour we booked! We were picked up from our hotel and taken to a site with a ton of ATVs. It was only $35 for both of us to ride so why not? I didn't know it would take over three hours! We rode in a line with a bunch of other tourists and DD#2 and I took turns driving. They were loud and obnoxious and there were several companies running this same tour. We stopped at various viewpoints. It was a different experience than the quiet hiking we'd done. Still, everyone was out having a good time and it was another epic sunset. There were tourists from every part of the globe on ATVs, horses, camels, old-timer cars, etc... Such a weird mix. I feel like a space with this much natural beauty would be regulated slightly differently in the US. Ha!

Somehow after this, we were hungry again and ended up at the friendliest restaurant in town. We had simple pasta and a chicken wrap. Neither of us could finish! What a long and wonderful day in Cappadocia.

Day 7 - It's True. A Down Day!

I woke up and went for a short run through town and couldn't figure out why I felt so winded. Turns out we are at around 4,000 ft elevation. Kind of silly that I didn't know that! After cooling down and taking our time, we had another Turkish breakfast. Turns out these really aren't our favorite. At least not this particular one. The service is nice and it looks so impressive but just isn't what I crave first thing in the morning.

We took our time checking out of the hotel and rode the bus just 10 minutes to the nearby town of Goreme. We were switching up locations for the next two nights. We hiked up to what felt like the top of the town and found our new digs. The room is in a cave and has an amazing rooftop! It is going to be a great place to view the balloons! This one also ran about $70 per night.

I found what looks like half a Smart Car!

Speaking of balloons, I was resigned to the fact that riding in one was out of our price range. I had heard that $250-300 per person was normal. Yikes. However, the hotel reached out and said the price is good tomorrow (closer to $120 per person) and would we be interested? It is still so expensive but I bit the bullet and said yes! So we will be picked up at 4am for a balloon ride tomorrow. DD#2 is so excited and I can hardly believe it!

After checking in, we walked around the town a bit and bought a few souvenirs. I even found a couple of IPAs to try! (I will have a little post about beer/wine in Turkey at some point. I'm still gathering data.) We found a cute cafe to try some desserts for lunch. I'm learning what kind of baklava is my favorite. There are so many kinds!

Today was especially hot so we relocated to the room to rest and cool down. I made a reservation to eat in a cave restaurant. Topdeck Cave Restaurant was our favorite meal of the trip so far! We had to take off our shoes and sit on pillows on the floor. Such a great atmosphere with Turkish music playing. We both loved what we ordered and the prices were affordable. We had hoped to return the next day but it was closed on Tuesday.

Finally, it had cooled down so we spent the last bits of daylight on the rooftop terrace. We had the whole place to ourselves! Such a great way to end the night looking over this one of a kind town.

Day 8 - Best Day Yet! Balloon Ride and Love Valley

We still couldn't believe we were really taking a hot air balloon flight. Our alarm went off at 3:30am and we were picked up around 4:15. Craziness! As we approached the area with balloons, they were all filling up with air and laying sideways. They were enormous! So much bigger than I expected. The balloons were all so close to each other with fire being blasted into all of them. What a commotion and operation they have going!

We finally climbed over the edge of the basket and found our spots. We learned a few safely tips from the pilot. He seemed like he knew what he was doing!

Balloons all around us were glowing in the dark and beginning to ascend. It was well before sunset but the light was just perfect for our first pictures.

It was such a feeling of wonder and disbelief and we took in not just the hundred balloons around us but also the stunning scenery below.

After floating high in the sky, the pilot brought the balloon down into Love Valley We were so close to the valley floor and it almost seemed like we could collide with trees and rocks.

We ascended higher again in time to catch the sunrise. Just wow. Both DD#2 and I were going crazy taking pictures! It is still hard to choose our favorites.

The flight lasted almost one hour. We had to duck and brace ourselves upon landing. The basket scooted across the grassy meadow a bit before finally stopping. They brought a truck with a flatbed trailer to lift the basket onto the trailer. So interesting! It was quite a process deflating the balloon. They pilots were met by 3-4 helpers on the ground to manage the wind direction and use ropes to pull the balloon on its side. During all this, we finally climbed out of the basket and were given champagne (non-alcoholic) to toast our once in a lifetime experience. I can't believe we almost did not do this. I'm so grateful and thankful that we made this work! Wow!

We were shuttled back to our hotel before 7am. I'm actually surprised at how easy it was to fall back asleep for a couple of hours. We experienced a different Turkish breakfast and felt terrible with all the food we wasted. I just can't eat so much in the morning! The hotel had a cappuccino machine so I was happy.

Love Valley Hike

DD#2 was ready to be a screenager and chill out a bit while I took on the Love Valley hike. After getting lost on the last hike and seeing the lack of signage, I downloaded AllTrails on my phone. Best app ever, by the way! I'd still be out wandering Love Valley without it. I took a bus about 10 minutes back to Uchisar and followed the little path on my phone to find the trailhead. This is the kind of signage I was dealing with.

Once on the path, I was surprised at how steep and slippery the rocks were as I descended into the valley. Yikes! Unfortunately, it was in the low 90s and there was little shade. The valley was pretty but I'd honestly seen so many rock formations by this point.

However, things got interesting as I got into the famous part of Love Valley. I think you can guess how it got its name. Ha ha!

Thankfully, there was a cafe in the middle of the valley where I bought a cold drink and nearly finished all the liquids I had brought. I admit I was feeling a little rough. The direct sun was taking a toll. I rested for a while, played with the cafe kitten, and persevered. The last part was the toughest as the scenery was less dramatic and it was a slog back into town. But I made it! Six miles later. Whew!

I drank a ridiculous amount of liquid, took a shower and reset. Whew! Now I see why this area is kind of a ghost town in the afternoons. People hibernate inside during the intense heat.

DD#2 and I played a game out on the balcony before taking our hot selves to a pizza place for dinner. Pizza was average but it was nice having something familiar. We had a quick ice cream and walk around town before heading back to our terrace to watch the sunset. What a nice last evening in Cappadocia.

Day 9 - Last Chill Day in Cappadocia. Travel to Antalya.

We awoke at 5am eager to see the balloons one last time from our balcony. We got dressed, stepped outside, and it was raining! Totally unpredicted. The weather has to be perfect for the balloons to fly so there was not a one. Back to bed. We slept in, had our last breakfast before packing our things and checking out.

Our airport shuttle wouldn't be picking us up until 3:20pm so we had time to kill. I didn't have it in me to hike again so we found a produce market, bought cherries, and hunkered down at a nearby coffee shop to work on this blog.

Random things about Turkey:
Every hotel has these fun disposable slippers.

Many restaurants do not serve alcohol. And if they do, it's pretty expensive. At least in Cappadocia! I've been buying beer in alcohol stores. I found a couple of IPAs that were pretty good! The Efes lager is the most popular and is basic but good when it's hot.

Pro-tip: If you're staying pretty much anywhere during a hot European summer, you're probably given a big duvet filled with a hot comforter. No top sheet. Dump out the hot comforter and the duvet cover is pretty much like a top sheet.

That'll do it for our time in Cappadocia. I feel like we saw the highlights and had the full experience. This town reminds me a lot of Santorini, Greece or Carcassonne, France or Sapa, Vietnam in that it is primarily built for tourism. It's not a bad thing but can get annoying after a while. I'm eager to move on to Antalya which should have more of a local as well as tourist vibe.