Cappadocia: Rocks & Balloons

We caught an early flight towards central Turkey and arrived at 8 a.m.
to a spectacular region called Cappadocia. I am so glad we chose to come
here as it is truly a magical place. The area is known for it's unique rock formations, Byzantine cave homes & churches and these formations from lava flow called fairy chimneys. It almost looks like another planet in some areas.
We stayed in a sleepy little town called Goreme which was a nice change
of pace from the hustle and bustle of Istanbul. The town is built
amongst cave dwellings from the past and a lot of the places to stay were actual authentic caves. The hotels are just built out of
stone and wood around the caves and each cave has become a suite for
guests to stay in. Our hotel was about a ten minute walk uphill from
town which gave us quite the advantage in views over the whole Goreme
area and the Red and Rose Valleys in the distance that were backdrops
for gorgeous pink sunsets.

our cave suite

caves=nice & cool temp.

olive oil planters

After a yummy breakfast of local grape molasses and soft cheese covered
with honeycomb atop some bread we headed out to the Open Air Museum. It was more like a huge outdoor area showcasing some
of the oldest and most elaborate cave dwellings and churches.

byzantine home

inside view

excited for cave homes

cave church

rocks make me excited

Took off on a hike through Red Valley where we were all alone and free
to climb all over and do some exploring. You could wander the area for
weeks and still not find all the little ancient homes and churches
hidden away in the rock. There were also random green orchards and crops
in the middle of this desertscape which we couldn't figure out how they
stayed alive with zero water in the area. It was so scorching hot in
Goreme and we learned that the hard way. We made it to Rose Valley which
is a huge pinkish wall of rock lining the area. Had to call off the
rest of the hike off as it was the heat of the day, we were miles from
home and we were low on water. We would have had to take cover in a cave
til sundown if we pressed on any further and I think I was pretty near
heatstroke.

several homes

outerspace views

lava flows

biggest dandelion ever

jumping for geology

fertile field in the desertscape

honeys

the 'weenie' rock

Took a dip in the freezing cold cliff top pool and passed the day
drinking Efes and playing our go to game of the trip, trivial pursuit in
the shade. That evening we had a god-awful dinner at some shitehole. We had
originally went to a restaurant that was supposed to specialize in this
Turkish dish of flatbread with minced lamb meat, parsley and lemon
called lomajan (?). Jimmy had been looking forward to this dish the entire
time and the damn place apparently didn't even make it anymore or sell beer
so we hightailed it outta there to the place next door where a woman
said she could make the dish...We should have known better as the menu was mainly pictures and that is
usually a no-no for us when traveling, but we were exhausted from the
long day of hikes and our judgement was clouded. We ordered three items
and all were freezing cold and inedible and Jimmy's dish he wanted so badly came out
with what appeared to be raw meat. We just got up and paid the bill
after a few minutes cause it made us sick to look at future food
poisoning. Moped up the hill to round out evening with some rooftop raki
and great night views of the lit up rock homes.

pool time

view from our room

goreme town

Got up at 4 the next morning for what will most likely be the highlight
of our trip... Sunrise HOT AIR BALLOONING!!! Cappadocia is now the
number 1 place in the world to do some ballooning and for good reason.
OMG, it was absolutely breathtaking. We floated over the entire region of
rock formations, lava remnants, fairy chimneys, valleys etc. as the sun
came up. Such an amazing sight just floating in the sky amongst 90
other balloons and it was really peaceful and quiet and such a special
moment for the both of us. The basket was gigantic and roomy and had 4
compartments with 4 people in each of them surrounding the pilot. I did
however think my frizzy hair was going to catch fire from the flames
filling the balloon.

Our balloon pilot Mehmet was awesome as he was able to drop us down in
between cliffs and valleys and hover nearly still for awhile before
shooting us back up into the sky...he was even able to land our basket
on a little trailer at the end of the flight! We were amazed at the
control he had. We had sorta pictured us just flying away and landing
wherever the wind blew. Our group did a champagne toast to celebrate
such a rad experience then we headed home to start our day at 8 a.m.!

ready for takeoff

sunrise reflection

amazing lava valleys

taken mid-flight

in the clouds

super stoked

dizzy heights

getting close look

mars

terrible views

outerspace

we made it

Next up, we rented some rickety scooters and hit the open road for the day
exploring a good part of Cappadocia stopping for hikes in several of the
valleys along the way. Stunning landscape to say the least.

fairy chimneys

good balance

smooth rocks

a camel!

soccer pose

old homes

sons of anarchy, eat your heart out

rose valley

entire cave town and castle

painted windows

Topped off an amazing day at our outdoor restaurant downstairs with a
huge traditional meal of 2 soups, one made of yogurt and one of bulgar,
manti (tiny Turkish raviolis with yogurt and sumac), lamb cis, and a
delicious bottle of wine from one of the nearby vineyards. Apparently
the volcanic soil makes for some top notch wine. It's was so good we
bought a bottle and I'm risking ruining the entire contents of my
suitcase transporting it for 2 more weeks. Fingers crossed.

We happened to run into the super cool manager of our cave hotel Mustafa
at a water pipe place in town and ended up smoking nargileh and sharing
many rakis with him well into the night.

sober and Mustafa

Our last day in Turkey we basically got some well needed lounging around
in and just bought some souvenirs that I have already broken (sad story
later) and got our ducks in a row for Greece the following morning.

local women

local women

typical transport in town

carpets and more carpets

nerd alert

Said goodbye to fabulous Turkey over a dinner of Terra cotta pots filled
with either chicken or beef and tomatoes and spices. The pots are
sealed shut with a plug of bread at the top and baked for 3 hours. They
are then delivered to your table and cracked open with a tiny mallet to
get all the goodies out! So delicious and perfect way to end our time in
Turkey.

clay pot

Next up...Mykonos, Greece!