Cappadocia – Friday 31 May – Monday 3 June

The Cappadocia region has become a tourist Mecca in the heart of Turkey. Famous for its fairy-tale landscape of improbable rock formations, hot air balloon rides and underground cities.

We treated ourselves to a three-night stay in one of the famed cave hotels in Göreme, giving us just two full days to explore and enjoy the sights.

The hotel website gave the first two images, Nigel took the third. So not quite as grand and imperial as we had expected but still very pleasant with friendly, helpful staff.

On the first day we opted to visit two of the main tourist attractions.

Göreme Open Air Museum is a vast complex of Byzantine monastic dwellings and churches built in caves or carved out of the rock. The paintings inside the churches are particularly well preserved. It was within walking distance of our hotel with some interesting sights along the way.

We had read that this was one of the top tour bus destinations so made it our first stop of the day, hoping to beat the crowds and the heat. Given that this was just the first day of June and so nowhere near peak season, we were only partially successful. We queued to get into many of the caves but were happy to do so to escape the sun.

We had arranged for a car to pick us up and take us to the next tourist highlight – Kaymakli Underground City.

Not wanting a guide we were free to explore the first four levels of tunnels and chambers – apparently there are eight levels all together.

We read that the city was at its peak in the Byzantine era, when persecuted Christians used it for protection from Muslim Arab raids during the four centuries of Arab–Byzantine wars (780-1180AD).

Listening in on the one tour guide that we came across we learned that they would cook every three days or so and then only at night so that the smoke coming out of the numerous ventilation shafts was less likely to be seen.

On the first day Nigel had been up at 5am and witnessed the daily (weather permitting) spectacle, of what must be the worlds largest concentration of hot air balloons drifting across the Cappadocian landscape. We were all up in time to see it on the second day.

We joined the sea of people all heading for the ridge of high ground above Göreme town to get the best view of the seemingly endless flow of balloons rising with the sun over a distant hill and drifting slowly over the town before sinking over the next ridge.

According to Mr Google about 2.5 million local and foreign tourists visit the Cappadocia region every year, with around a fifth of these visitors opting to take a balloon flight. Hot air balloon flights occur on roughly 300 days every year, depending on weather conditions. In high season as many as 150 balloons take off each day.

It seemed that everyone needed to have a selfie with a balloon in the background. Numerous Chinese (Japanese, Korean?) women were dressed immaculately for the photo opportunity, taking it in turns to be photographer or model. One couple were having their wedding photographs taken. We took approximately 10,000 photos and then headed off to attempt a two-valley trek before breakfast.

Google maps took us on a torturous route through the town but we eventually found the our planned walk and enjoyed an early morning stroll through the peaceful Pigeon Valley up to a view point below Uçhisar Castle before returning through Love Valley with its iconic phallic rock formations.

We had a 10am deadline to be back at the hotel for breakfast so Sue and Jonathan gave up waiting for Claire and Nigel, who were captivated by the photographic opportunities (as usual), and set off on the final 2km walk along the main road with the temperature rapidly approaching 30°. The photographers had the last laugh when they were picked by a local Good Samaritan and whisked into town. They did at least make sure that there was breakfast waiting for the hot and sweaty walkers.

With so much of the day left to fill – that’s what happens when get up before the sunrise – we headed for yet another open-air museum. Zelve was just a short bus trip back along the road Sue and Jonathan had walked (snigger, snigger). Whereas Göreme was a monastic settlement, Zelve was ‘normal’ village of cave dwellers up until 1952 when a cave collapse forced the last inhabitants out.

At this site there were no crowds and we were able to roam freely over the spectacular setting.