After our short stop in Istanbul, we were heading to the middle of the country, in the region of Cappadocia, where we spent a week. We had an early start at 5:30 AM, walked to the shuttle bus stop, and waited for it to arrive as we were too fast getting ready. We sat in the minibus who brought us to the main station. We then waited while looking at the chaos of Turkish buses and cars all trying to have priority. Our coach turned up about one hour late, and we were the only ones in it for the first 45 minutes, until we reached the next station. Some people entered the bus and strangely the company seems to be only assigning seats starting at the front. So the back of the coach is empty and the only few people are crammed in the front. We received complimentary crackers and coffee and enjoyed the free WiFi for our really long bus ride.
We stopped in a rest area for a quick pit stop, and also stopped in the very modern and huge Ankara bus station. We didn't feel the need to visit Ankara, even though it is the capital, there doesn't seem to be much to see. When we stopped in Nevsehir, a minibus was ready to bring us to Goreme. It must have been the driver's last run because he drove like a maniac (110 in a 50 km zone). We arrived in Goreme, found our little bungalow, put our bags down and went for supper. We had Gozleme, a traditional pastry dish filled with meat and/or veggies. A good recipe to keep in mind for the future!
We had a really good night of sleep in our small cabin. When we woke up, we had breakfast and started our first excursion in Capadoccia. We followed the street towards the Open-Air Museum, and kept moving all the way to the Sunset Viewpoint. After 5 km, that is when the real hike started. We climbed on top of the plateau at 1360 meters and had amazing views over the different valleys. We saw multiple caves carved in the stone. We did a grand tour and had a great time. We really enjoy hiking to the top of mountains, when we can see very far, and especially when we are by ourselves.
Here is a link to the hiking map.
Goreme Day 1
After our 14.4 kilometers hike, we took a well deserved rest in our little bungalow. For supper, we splurge in a nice restaurant where we tried the pottery lamb and pottery veggies. It was very tasty and filing with the complimentary white beans. We bought a bottle of Turkish wine to enjoy in our room.
Here are some pictures of the first day:
We stopped in a rest area for a quick pit stop, and also stopped in the very modern and huge Ankara bus station. We didn't feel the need to visit Ankara, even though it is the capital, there doesn't seem to be much to see. When we stopped in Nevsehir, a minibus was ready to bring us to Goreme. It must have been the driver's last run because he drove like a maniac (110 in a 50 km zone). We arrived in Goreme, found our little bungalow, put our bags down and went for supper. We had Gozleme, a traditional pastry dish filled with meat and/or veggies. A good recipe to keep in mind for the future!
We had a really good night of sleep in our small cabin. When we woke up, we had breakfast and started our first excursion in Capadoccia. We followed the street towards the Open-Air Museum, and kept moving all the way to the Sunset Viewpoint. After 5 km, that is when the real hike started. We climbed on top of the plateau at 1360 meters and had amazing views over the different valleys. We saw multiple caves carved in the stone. We did a grand tour and had a great time. We really enjoy hiking to the top of mountains, when we can see very far, and especially when we are by ourselves.
Here is a link to the hiking map.
Goreme Day 1
After our 14.4 kilometers hike, we took a well deserved rest in our little bungalow. For supper, we splurge in a nice restaurant where we tried the pottery lamb and pottery veggies. It was very tasty and filing with the complimentary white beans. We bought a bottle of Turkish wine to enjoy in our room.
Here are some pictures of the first day:
We also visited a church carved in the rock on our way back. It was located in the town of Cavusin. There are a lot of those churches in this region. We discovered a lot more in the Ihlara Valley, which was on our forth day in Cappadocia.
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