Cappadocia is definitely a destination where you get out and do things - the landscape is so intriguing that you are inspired to discover it all. We spent a few days touring but there was plenty more to see when we left - and many people would want to schedule in an extra day to chill out and do nothing.
The Museum Hotel it is very much a retreat where guests are cocooned away in their caves on their shag pile rugs or sitting by the pool.
For those inclined to read more when they visit a new place, the HISTORY books are full of amazing stories about this part of the world Archeologists that have traced stone gadgets all the way back to the Paleolithic era,and it’s incredible that the topography still has a stoneage look.
This is one of the first places in the world where human groups replaced hunting with agriculture, and settled into villages or started thinking about gods and goddesses. Even if you are unaware of all the human drama that unfolded here, it is easy to see that the ROCK FORMATIONS of Cappadocia are out of this world. After the ice age the ash, sandstone, clay, basalt, tufa and other minerals that form volcanic layers became eroded over time. Over millennia Mother Nature has formed rippled canyons, the tepee-shaped tufa cones of Uchisar and ‘fairy chimneys’ that jut crookedly from the ground. Humans have added their creativity. Around the valleys and high rocky hills the soft rock has been easy to sculpt into village dwellings that are entirely made from the unusual formations that already existed. There are no metal frames, shutters, doors or roofs - just internal stairways and carved out windows like little eyes.
If you have ever wanted to try life out in the open from a bird’s eye view, with the romance of gliding along in a giant, colourful balloon, then the Cappadocian valleys is a great place to do it. I knew that ballooning amongst this desert topography was a must-do activity! It was well worth the pre-dawn start no matter how cranky we’d feel at that time of the morning.
Because flights are dependent on the winds the company, CAPPADOCIA BALLOONS can only confirm at short notice wether flight are on or not.
After four days in a row of canceled flights we were lucky to get the green light!. Their homebase is at NEVSEHIR; after registering and getting to the launch spot we all crossed our fingers we would fly that morning. We were told by co-owners, Kylie and Lars, they would not launch the ballons if it was considered unsafe.
What a thrill when we got the go ahead and the balloons started to inflate. Finally, and then slowly rise from the ground. We were in the basket with a lovely couple from the hotel whom we had befriended, Dylan and Elisa from Brooklyn. You can fit 4-5 people each into the four compartments on the basket. Although it was a first for us there was a sensation of total calm once we were floating upwards. I loved the feeling of ballooning without engines and windows - and of course the sights below as well.
We passed by the hillsides of CAVUSIN where square dwellings are etched out and tiered on top of each other. The vista kept changing, from the hilly ridges and ranges of the RED VALLEY that form a constantly repeated geometric pattern from the air, to the jaw dropping sight of PASABAG, where a sea of mushroom shaped pinnacles jut out of the earth like reverse icicles. These ‘fairy chimneys’ look a lot sharper when you are looking down. Our balloon flew over Nevşehir - Ürgüp, or the ribbon-like curves that lead to the ORTAHISAR village and the huge citadel.
The sight of other balloons drifting along, appearing through clouds, was mystical in itself. It was a great sensation to be suspended up there in the open air, across changing landscapes. The kids loved it and after an hour we started to drift lower, pleased at the prospect of feet on the ground again. What Sheira didn’t expect was to land in the middle of a paddock with elbow-deep mud. You land wherever you land - it’s unpredictable. We had to trek from the basket to a truck 15 minutes away, plodding our shoes through mud as wet and grey as cement.
Do bring hiking boots - or even flip flops that you can hose down afterwards. Sheira was wearing her all time favourite gold sneakers from Rio.
Back down on earth, this is a region that is fantastic to drive and walk through as well, where you can lean against the cool, cave rocks or stand at the foot of a tufa column as it twists towards the sky. Our experience was enriched by our wonderful private guide, ALI KARATAS. We hit it off with this worldly, nomadic, guy instantly.Ali speaks very good English and took great care of us.
Whether it’s a great place for lunch or a passion for the historical backdrop, Ali really added to our Cappadocia experience.
Ali also manages a travel agency, matiana.com.tr which would be worth researching beyond his personal services. I briefed Ali over coffee in the relaxed environment of the Museum Hotel’s breakfast room, the way I always like to launch into a day with a private guide,and to get the most out of it.
I explained that we were in our third week of travel, the kids were tired but we were all excited by our amazing surroundings and wanted to see the highlights and lunch authentically (see BIZEM EV in WHERE TO EAT).
We decided on Ali's "tour 1" - how is that foe keeping things simple ? It's the favourite outdoor sights of Cappadocia. I invited our new friends, Elisa and Dylan along as we had our own air-conditioned bus and it was nice to share our experiences on land, as we had done already done ballooning with them earlier.
We began our tour with a visit to the GOREME OPEN AIR MUSEUM is not only a Unesco World Heritage Sight but is considered a sacred destination in this area: this outdoor complex of cave churches was carved by medieval monks. Each church has its own charm and distinctive shape. The caves look so organic from the outside that it is hard to believe that the interiors are covered in such richly coloured, exquisite frescos. The Byzantines covered the naves, walls and apses with characters and scenes from the Bible’s New Testament.
Some had naves shaped like Greek crosses, others a dome.
In the Çarikli Kilise (Sandal Church) all the saints line the altar; the Dark Church has a perfect, intact portrait of Christ on the ceiling in warm reds and blues gazing back down. The frescoes here are so beautifully preserved because they were covered in pigeon poo until the 1950s.
Whereas St Barbara’s Chapel has comparatively simple graphic scribbles that almost look like medieval graffiti. The Apple Church has figures and beautiful Byzantine graphic patterns painted all along the arches
Ali was able to take us through, explaining what certain scenes meant in the story of Christ - or showing us where a subsequent culture had defaced an image and why. It was quite moving to see such artistic expression and faith amongst such stark isolation.
In some of the cave dwellings we saw where the monks had lived; we could even see the evidence of meals long forgotten because the ceiling was black from their cooking.
Ali stopped us at the top of Goreme village so that we could look down the sweep of the valley at the lumpen forms of the churches, monastery and nunnery - which looked prehistoric, with giant, horizontal slabs of rock. Inside there are many floors of hidden stairwells, cells and tunnels. It was the same view that astonished European explorers of the 18th century and inspired them to sketch or paint it. It hasn’t changed a bit since then - which is almost a holy miracle in itself!
We then drove 30 min to the old Greek Orthodox village of MUSTAFA PASA. The village was emptied out in the 1920s when the Greeks repatriated and did a cultural exchange with Turks living in Greece. Ali told us that this town is lesser known and off the tourist trail, very much the ‘real life’ kind of place that hasn’t had its lifestyle eroded away over the last few decades. I loved the look: two-story stone, tiled houses with arched windows and quite elaborate carving on the heavy wooden doors and upper balconies. People were still incredibly shy about foreigners - even aggressive and hostile when we took photos of some amazing older ladies with criss-crossed wrinkles on their faces. I was sorry to be insensitive, but loving the sign that they were still untouched by the commercialism of tourism.
One of the most charming sights in the area has to be the almost comical FAIRY CHIMNEYS in the valley of Uchisar that we saw at PASA BAG. Throughout millennia, the wind and waters have whipped away at the tufa layer of the valley slopes. These cones eventually formed, with mushroom like ‘caps’ of denser rock plopped on top, by a geological twist of fate. Some are straight columns, others pointed, lopsided or whittled away to almost nothing in the middle. But they all look unreal - in every sense of the world - and magical.
We loved our visit to the village of AVANOS, where locals have always made beautiful earthenware pottery from the red silt of the Kızılırmak River.
The town has lovely old cobbled streets to walk through and beautiful scenic views over the river. The owner and family member of this pottery factory, Ibram Turan, took us to see a potter with a lumpen piece of clay start effortlessly doing what his ancestors had also mastered through the ages, spinning the wheel with his right foot while his hand instantly transformed and sculpted the clay into any shape he wanted. There are ceramic plates, jugs and bowls everywhere on the wall. Shiera and the kids, had a ball having a go on the wheel. It’s a lot of fun and certainly part of the culture here.
We had a very full experience, visiting distinctly different villages in the Cappadocian countryside - and we certainly didn’t exhaust the places on offer.
There is a whole, fascinating UNDERGROUND CITY within the KAYMAKLI CITADEL that penetrates down several levels. Many of the local houses are actually linked to it.
There is also a beautiful valley gorge to trek at ILHARA VALLEY. We will save that for next time!
The minute I ran out of the hotel I went straight into Uchisar’s village landscape, jogging though the jumble of hillside dwellings - building blocks stacked and tiered one on top of the other. It was really different to be running past unusual architecture that was like a destination in itself only minutes after being in my room. Soft rock caves that look slightly ‘melted’ intermingle with cliffside cube houses, which I was fascinated to look at. There were also beautiful views down to the villages in clusters below.
One thing I do remember is the feeling of being the only western face on many of the back streets that I ran down, away from the pottery shops that may attract the odd hotel guest. In a way, one of the fun things about travel is not just seeing the exotic, but becoming exotic yourself! I must have been quite a sight whizzing by housewives sweeping their porch or old men carrying parcels turned back to have a second look at this crazy foreigner sucking whatever mountain oxygen he could!
I did not want to book a restaurant each night in case ..
Read Story
The township is full of the kind of trinkets, little bracelets, necklaces, ..
Read Story
