We had an interesting time visiting the unique valley of Cappadocia. Unfortunately, the winds did not co-operate, and our hot air balloon tour was rescheduled and then cancelled. Instead, we enjoyed a great tour of the local valleys. Visiting the Fairy Chimneys and Uchisar, a rock castle, at the highest point of Cappadocia gave us wonderful 360 views of the valleys and made up for not seeing it overhead. It was fun to explore the cave like passageways and hidden rooms of the naturally formed castle. We also explored “Pigeon Valley”, “Love Valley” (named for the phallic shaped rocks), “Devrent Valley” and “Monks Valley”. Each valley has unique rock formations, may with homes and churches carved into them, often with pigeon homes for an original mail system, and another rock formations looked like a camel. The unique geography has been formed by the eruption of multiple volcanos over thousands of years, leaving different layers of volcanic debris (Tufts) and volcanic rock. The Tuft has been molded by wind and water erosion and shifting tectonic plates to create these unique and famous rock structures.
While in Cappadocia we also had the unique experience of staying in a cave hotel. It was surprisingly warm and cozy, with all the light blocked it was easy to sleep in. The hotel manager, Osman, was character who was incredibly chatty and knowledgeable about the area, he was also very enthusiastic playing soccer with the boys. Caroline and I felt he could have had a career as a stand-up comedian when he shared his experience of working with tourist for the past 15 or 20 years, initially selling carpets before the family switched to the hotel business. He organized our local tour with his father Hussan, he had grown up in the valley and clearly enjoyed sharing his personal story, the local history and much about Turkey’s culture and traditions. He took joy and showing us some of the more “secret places”, including a rock church with no entrance fee, he informed us of the commission he would make visiting local shops and let us freely chose to skip the pottery and carpet workshop, so we did not have to experience the high-pressure sales. He repeatedly told us he was “trying to save us some money” despite being a businessman and running at lucrative carpet then hotel business himself, he was very transparent which we all appreciated. On our journey Olenka found some beautiful puppies that made it hard for her to leave the valley. The boys had a hard time leaving our lunch spot after finding some young local boys who wanted to play soccer with them.
Cappadocia is also famous for its underground cities, initially developed by the ancient Hittes in the 7th and 8th century to hide from invading Arab nations, they were later used by Christians to shelter from attacking invaders. We explored the underground city of Derinkuyu, the largest of the underground cities in the area. This amazing city descends 16 levels underground, joined by narrow stairs and tunnels. It had a large ventilation system and access to the water table. We visited the kitchen, school, and winery. We enjoyed dinner at a local cave restaurant where Ryan and Caroline had a pottery sealed local stew that is set on fire at the table, it was one of their favourite meals in Turkey.
On the second day, we enjoyed a horseback ride through Love Valley. Olenka, our most experienced rider, was disappointed that we were not allowed to trot or gallop. Ryan and Alistair elected not to go horseback riding and instead enjoyed hike through the interesting geography. We will miss our travel companions as we head on to Egypt.
Leave a Reply