Arriving in Göreme, Our Base in Cappadocia
We arrived in Cappadocia at 10am after a short 1.5-hr morning flight from Istanbul to Kayseri airport. We took a public shuttle arranged by our hostel to Göreme, the main tourist town in Cappadocia. The public shuttle is much cheaper than a taxi, but it took almost 1.5-hr to just get to our hostel because we had to wait for all of the shuttle guests to arrive and wait for our turn to be dropped off. But I think it was still worth the savings.
Göreme itself is a gorgeous town nestled within the famous fairy chimney rock formations you have probably seen online. There are many hotels built into the rocks creating an interesting blend of big pointy rocks and modern buildings. The town itself is very touristy – it is all hotels, restaurants, and shops for the sole purpose of catering to tourists. Nevertheless, just walking around the small town was a fun activity admiring the views and the unreal looking cave hotels and restaurants. It was so hot in Cappadocia in the afternoon and Nate was still not feeling well so we just stayed in Goreme our first day.
We were very disappointed when the hostel owner told us that hot air balloon rides had been canceled for the next morning as we had booked a ride for the next morning. He said that the weather was looking uncertain for the days after as well. Hot air balloons can only fly during calm wind conditions so they can be canceled last minute. Soon after hearing the news, I received a message from our flight operator that our trip had indeed been canceled and that they could not reschedule us they were fully booked for the following days. We could only hope that conditions would permit flight before we left and that we would be able to find a relatively affordable flight. Hot air balloon rides are perhaps the most dynamic, real-time market we have seen. Prices can and do change throughout the day at any moment depending on supply and demand. You can buy the same experience for $100 or $400 – all depending on when. It would all be up to luck and timing.
The Green Tour: Panoramic Views and Exploring an Underground City
With our hot air balloon plans canceled, we instead decided to go on a Green Tour. There are two popular standardized tours in Cappadocia – Red and Green. The Red Tour explores sites to the north of Goreme and the Green Tour visits sites to the south. The Green Tour attractions are more spread out and harder to do without a car, so we decided to go on a group Green Tour. We were picked up at 9:45 am and our first stop was at a panoramic overlook of Goreme. We could see of the all the fairy chimneys (what the vertical rock formations are called) and other interestingly shaped rocks amongst the town.
Our second stop was at a viewpoint of Pigeon Valley. Here, there are pigeon houses carved into the rocks. Pigeons were very in the area as pigeons served as messengers and pigeon dung was an important source of fertilizer for agriculture. There were many small windows carved into the rocks which are entry holes for pigeons.
Then we drove almost an hour to visit Nar Lake, a volcanic crater lake with briny water. We didn’t think that this stop was worth it. Aside from knowing it is a volcanic crater lake, it wasn’t particularly pretty. A fun fact though is that the water temperature is very hot and that people say that the water has therapeutic properties. However, it is not a lake you can swim in.
After the lake, we headed to Ihlara Valley. Ihlara Valley is where the early Christians, including Paul, settled and built up the church for 800-years. They needed a secluded place to live and Cappadocia was a perfect spot for this. They built many churches and homes into the rocks throughout the region. The Melendiz River also runs through Ihlara Valley creating a small, lush micro-ecosystem compared to the drier landscape. Knowing the history of the Valley made it feel special and impressive, but otherwise, we didn’t think that it was visually that pretty. At least the wherel area we stopped. We had lunch at a restaurant in the Valley which was quite good. We had salad, lentil soup, and an entrée – Nate ordered fish and I got the beef casserole.
Our favorite attraction came last. We visited Kaymakli Underground City. There are many underground cities in Cappadocia. These were built starting with the Hittites as early as 2,000 BC. The purpose of the underground cities was not as a permanent settlement, but a place to hide and live temporarily when enemies approached. It was also advantageous because it was cool underground during the summers and warm during winters. Various civilizations built underground cities and carved churches and dwellings into rocks because the rock in the area is very soft and easy to carve; yet once carved, the rock hardens and becomes very strong.
The extent of the underground cities is mind-blowing. The largest underground city, Derinkuyu, goes 12-floors deep! Kaymakli, which we visited, is the second largest and goes eight levels below ground. We were able to enter and go down four floors. The city is a vast, sprawling network of stables, kitchens, living quarters, storage, wineries, mortuaries, and more. Cities are also constructed with a ventilation system of vertical holes going all the way to aquifer to also serve as a water source and an elevator when digging to excavate the rubble. It was amazing to see such a large and elaborate city carved by hand thousands of years ago.
Many of the tunnels were quite small and narrow. We had to duck and crouch through many of them. As a slightly claustrophobic person, I definitely felt a bit anxious during multiple parts of the tour. The tunnels and rooms are dimly lit throughout, but I couldn’t help but wonder how people stayed underground for up to a couple months at a time back when they didn’t have electricity for consistent lights. Even with torches or lanterns, it would be so dark. I was glad I did not have to live in such conditions.
The underground city was the coolest part of the tour and I wish we could have stayed for much longer, taking time to explore all the nooks and crannies. Since we were on a group tour, we did have spend much time there and felt rushed out.
Last stop of the tour was the obligatory tourist shop stop. We stopped at a Turkish sweets and snacks tour and were able to sample a large assortment of Turkish delights, nuts, and a few different drinks. Although I usually don’t like these stops intended to make us buy things, I liked this one because I got to try many treats and the shop also did not pressure us to buy anything. We finally returned to Goreme around 6pm.
Before returning to the hostel, we decided to check on the hot air balloon availability and pricing for the next day (Friday) with a few tour operators. Our hostel had told us that due to high demand from yesterday’s cancellation and the forecast that flights would be canceled on Saturday and Sunday day as well, that the Friday flight price was now 250 euro. The price had increased by 50 euros since earlier in the morning! As much as we wanted to do the hot air balloon, 250 euro seemed too much. Luckily, we we found another operator offering flights for 200 euro. Perhaps we could have found a better deal, but with the constant price fluctuation, we decided to lock that in and call it a day. Based on our experience, if you are going to Cappadocia and want to do a hot air balloon ride, reserve early online if you find a good price. But if you cannot find a decent price ahead of time, or your flight gets canceled like ours, there are so many operators in town that it’s probably worth walking around and asking multiple providers to find a better or similar deal.
We were both still pretty full from a big lunch so I got a cheap crepe like mushroom wrap for dinner and Nate, still not feeling 100%, got bread from a bakery for a simple dinner. We went to bed early as we would be having a very early morning for the hot air balloon ride.
Magical Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride
We woke up very early for our 4:40am pickup. We went to a field outside Göreme where dozens of hot air balloons were getting ready for flight. It was so cool to watch crews inflating the balloons, and balloons starting to take off one by one. The balloons are massive – much bigger than I imagined even after seeing pictures online. Our balloon was one of the later ones to take off so we technically missed sunrise. But it was still cool to see the sun rise on the ground and the many balloons in the sky.
We finally boarded our balloon and were off! And it was actually magical… I had tempered my expectations regarding the balloon ride because I thought that it would not be as amazing as it is hyped up to be. And although I was genuinely excited for it, a large part of why I was doing it was purely because it seemed to be the thing to do in Cappadocia. However, this was not an overrated experience. The hundreds of balloons against the dawn sky and the unique landscape were breathtaking. We were in flight for nearly an hour, but it felt much shorter because I was mesmerized. Sadly, we landed and had a celebratory champagne (non-alcoholic) toast and received flight diplomas which we thought were a funny gimmick.
We were back at our hostel by 7am. Nate, still not feeling good, and exhausted from the balloon ride, slept the rest of the morning. I too, was starting to feel bad. I think I got food poisoning from last night’s dinner. However, with this being our last full day in Cappadocia, I couldn’t bring myself to just stay in. So, I decided to be stubborn and took Imodium and headed out to tackle the Rose and Red Valley hike by myself. It is supposed to be one of the best hikes in Cappadocia with many caves and churches along the trail. It was a bad decision because it was already very hot, and my stomach cramps were intensifying. I had to turn back before I even reached the trailhead and resign myself to resting as well.
Göreme Open Air Museum
In the afternoon, after we had both rested and felt a bit more stable, we decided to visit the Göreme Open Air Museum outside of town. This is one of the main attractions in Göreme with multiple cave churches and monasteries. Normally, we would have walked, but considering our conditions, we took a taxi. It was so hot and neither of us had eaten much all day so we were so exhausted exploring the museum. But it was still worth it. It feels like a different world and the churches and structures were so cool to explore.
Unfortunately, almost half of the attractions in the museum were closed off, including the monastery. Considering the 20 euro entry fee, I thought it was unfair that we were only able to see half of the museum, but what can we do? We were sadly unable to take pictures in the most interesting churches as there were staff inside monitoring to ensure that no one takes pictures.
After the museum, Nate went back to the hostel to rest while I went to eat a very late lunch as I was starving. I ordered what I thought the waitress said was a meatball dish with bulgar wheat as it sounded like the plainest entree. But it turned out to be just meatballs with tomato sauce. It was a more flavorful dish than I was intending, but I was so hungry I just ate it and hoped for the best. I would rate this dish as just okay — it was not a flavor profile I like.
In the evening, we went to a patio restaurant showing the Euro Cup games to get some fresh air as it was getting stuffy in our room. We caught the second half of the Germany-Spain game and Nate ate a salad and French fries. Aside from buying plain bread, it’s hard to find upset stomach foods in Turkey. Before we knew it, it was our final night in Cappadocia.
A Bittersweet Goodbye
I had an ambitious plan to wake up early on our final day to do the Rose Valley hike that I so wanted to do. Of course, it was unrealistic, and it did not happen. Instead, I spent the morning getting more white bread, probiotics, and bananas (surprisingly hard to find in town) for us and then we were on our way to the airport. It was a bittersweet goodbye because although we still did a fair amount of things, I didn’t get to do the hikes which I was most excited about. On the flip side, that leaves us new things to do when we come back! And I would say that Turkey, including Cappadocia, easily makes the “return” list for us. After seeing just Istanbul and Cappadocia, we would love to come back and explore more of this country.
See you next in Kyrgyzstan!
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