Cappadocia needs no
introduction as one of top tourist spots in the world. Our trip to this unique
place helped us understand why. Volcanic eruptions created this surreal
moonscape: the lava flows formed tuff rock, which wind and rain sculpted into
sinuous valleys with curvy cliff faces and pointy fairy chimneys
It was our first stop
in our trip to Turkey and was a great curtain raiser to our 3 week trip to
Turkey and Greece.
We
travelled to Cappadocia through a connecting flight from Istanbul. The closest
airport is 41 km from airport to Goreme , a town in Cappadocia. Once you
outside the airport you are surprised by the lack of stereotypical buzz you
associate with an airport, especially of a famous tourist destination. We struggled to understand the options
available to us to reach Goereme. Taxi drivers approach you with an offer and
there are buses that run from the airport too. We opted for a taxi and were
poorer by 200 Turkish liras. Negotiate harder than we did and I am sure you can
get a better deal. Arming yourself with the info on options available at the
airport will help you further. There is death of info offices, information
leaflets etc. on the airport.
You are likely to
enjoy your ride from airport to Goreme. The roads are good for most of the
journey and flanked by some sprawling plains with mountains in the background;
painting a pretty picture.The quintessential
chimneys showed themselves us as we approached Goreme.
Stay in a Cave Hotel- Its not surprising that this
makes up for a good spot for hotels to set themselves us because the rooms are
literally carved out from solid stones. Cave hotels, as they are called, are
famous in this part of the world. We stayed at Divan Cave House. The hotel does
offer a unique experience because as oppose to artificially created thematic
rooms this one is authentic to the core.
ATV tours- Our first activity of the trip was
ATV tour of the chimneys and boy did we enjoy it. There are many tour operators
in the main market and offer around the same packages.
Word of advice : your
ATV ride will take you through dusty tracks and you want to make sure that you
have something to cover your nose and eyes with - handkerchief and shades
respectively. It seemed our clothes got heavier from the amount of the dust it accumulated
:)
We were fortunate to
see a spectacular sunset against a unique landscape.
Try A Pottery Kebab-After the tour, late evening was spent
strolling the markets and feasting on an authentic Turkish dinner.
Goreme Open Air Museum.-
A World Heritage site, has the best collection of chapels and living quarters,
most dating to around the11th century.
The quintessential nazar trinklets ( Evil
eye pendants) are everywhere to be found in Turkey. And here is a tree that had
these for leaves and fruits. It is almost a tradition to visit this tree if you
are in town. Hope our visit to his place will ward off the evil.
Take a Green Tour-The beautiful Ihlara Canyon,
also known as the "Valley of the Sky", which lies about 100km distant
is the main destination of this tour.
Special
thanks to our driver and guide, Ilmaz, who made this half day trip so memorable
for us. We hired his taxi for 300 Lira for a trip to and back from Ilhara
Valley. Hardly did we know we are getting such a colorful personality to join
us on this trip. What is most surprising is that he could not speak our language but
his spirit lifted ours too. He made multiple
stops on the way, we handpicked strawberries and apples made random stops to
take pictures- all in all money and time worth spending.
There are one day
tours by bus,taxi will cost you more but if you believe journey is more fun
than the destination, then hire a cab. Try looking for Ilmaz in the taxi stand
in the central market of the Goreme :)
smile emoticon
We
strongly recommend having a meal in restaurant in the picture below
purely for its unique setting. We liked what we ate and the price was
reasonable too.
Underground City
Entry fee of 20 Lira per person will take you to this
famous tourist attraction. No offense to the place but we went in and came out
within 10 minutes. We were offered a guided tour for 60 Turkish Liras which we
refused. I guess without the tour you will not make much sense of the place. If
you are into such things, i suggest that you take the tour.
Good
start to the trip so far. Looking forward to the hot air balloon ride next
morning- should be fun :).
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