Very few places I’ve ever visited have struck me with their magic as much as Turkey’s Cappadocia did. In fact, Cappadocia, a region with an unrealistic desert-like landscape, is one of the most magical places I’ve ever been to.
Me in Cappadocia, September 2013
The natural scenery of Cappadocia looks like something out of a Dr Seuss book, complete with the so-called Fairy Chimneys, limestone structures that have been carved by nature into the most interesting shapes.
Fairy Chimneys in Cappadocia
To add to the mystique, humans have transformed the scenery over centuries in the most unusual way: by carving houses, churches, and even an entire castle, into the inside of these fairy chimneys. In some instances, the man-made caves are complemented by additional brick and mortar structures, while in others, the only hints that someone has taken over the fairy chimney are the small windows carved from the inside out to bring in the light.
Fairy Chimneys in Cappadocia
Goreme
We spent a couple of days in the small town of Goreme, in the heart of Cappadocia. The town is pretty touristy, but that is not necessarily a bad thing, as tourism has brought in a bunch of nice restaurants, hotels and shopping options into a town that may otherwise not even exist.
Goreme, Turkey
Goreme is small enough to cover on foot within minutes, and offers some beautiful views of the surrounding magical landscape. The town is not only home to various hotels, restaurants and shops, it also is home to the Goreme Open Air Museum, only 15-minutes walking from the town centre.
Goreme Open Air Museum
A visit to Cappadocia’s top attraction, the Goreme Open Air Museum, is a must. The UNESCO World Heritage site contains some of the area’s most beautiful medieval rock-cut churches, many of which are over 1,000 years old. Said churches were carved into the interior of the iconic fairy chimneys so that Christians could worship God, while hiding from the forces of the Roman Empire.
Aside from the structures, which are impressive as they are, the churches are decorated with beautifully preserved colourful frescos, which in their own are reason enough to visit the museum. The most elaborate frescos are inside of the churches (under no-photograph areas, so I didn’t take any!), but a few of the simpler ones are visible in now-exposed parts of the museum.
Goreme Open Air Museum
There is a nominal fee to enter the Goreme Open Air Museum, but if you are in Cappadocia, the visit is well worth it.
Pigeon Valley & Uçhisar Castle
One of my biggest highlights of Cappadocia was simply getting to be one with the unique natural scenery of the area, and what a better way to do so than by hiking through its valleys!
Me and Ryan Hiking Through the Cappadocia Valleys
During our three-day stay in Cappadocia, we went on a couple of guided hikes along with most of the people in our group, to explore the different valleys in the region.
One of the highlights was Pigeon Valley, called so because of its large number of dovecotes, which has some beautiful views of the scenery. Pigeon Valley, a scenic pathway filled with apple orchards, runs for 5km in between the town of Goreme and the town of Uçhisar, which is home to a giant stone-cut castle.
Me and Ryan with Uçhisar Town and its Castle in the Distance
At Uçhisar, we climbed to the top of the castle, admiring the many rooms, passageways and staircases that were carved into the rock to create a livable space. The top of the castle offers some breath-taking views over the surrounding area, so it is well worth the hike!
View of Pigeon Valley & Uçhisar Town from the Top of the Castle
Love Valley
**PROCEED WITH CAUTION, the paragraph and photographs below are PG13. You’ve been warned.**
Big Stone D*cks at Love Valley!
Love Valley is a definite (laugh-worthy) highlight of Cappadocia. The valley has received this name due to the large number of phallic-shaped fairy chimneys in the area. Going on this hike with my gay best friend, our inner child (aka immaturity) took over as we posed for some photos surrounded by nothing more than giant stone d*cks!
Me in Love Valley, Cappadocia
Hamam
This was my first-ever Turkish bath (out of two), and although I enjoyed it at the time, it did not compare in the least to the Hamam I visited in Istanbul at the end of my trip.
Hamam in Cappadocia
The basics of a Turkish Bathhouse were there: we were led into a dry sauna room where the heat got us all sweaty, before being taken to a steam room in which men scrubbed our bodies and washed us with warm water until we were squeaky clean. This particular place also offered an additional post-bath massage (by a separate masseur), which was relaxing, although not traditionally Turkish.
So what was lacking? The atmosphere, for one, as the Hamam we visited in Goreme lacks the age of those in Istanbul, a history that is almost palpable in the air. Also the overall experience felt overly geared towards tourists, which, even without having had another (proper) Hamam experience at the time, felt unauthentic.
Was it nice? Of course it was, but I would highly recommend going to the Çemberlitaş Hamam in Istanbul instead.
Folkloric Dinner Show
This is another overly touristy experience which I wasn’t sure about, but actually ended up loving. It may have been partly about the group of people I was with, but this was definitely one of our most fun nights in all of Turkey (and that is saying a lot, as we had a lot of fun nights).
The concept of the show is to portray traditional Turkish folkloric dances (and some adopted ones, like belly dancing) by a group of performers in a circular 360 degree stage, which is surrounded by tables. Viewers get to enjoy the show while eating a traditional Turkish meal, and drinking a lot, as it is free-flowing drinks for the entire 2.5 hour performance!
Us at the Folkloric Dinner Show
The food was quite nice, although not the best I had in Turkey, but I did help myself to my fair share of Raki & water and Vodka & cherry juice cocktails. The show was surprisingly good, feeling more like a flamboyant musical-style play which loosely followed a storyline, than a folklore dance routine.
Towards the end of the show, after dinner was finished and plenty of drinks had been consumed, everyone in the audience was forced persuaded invited to join the stage, at which point popular contemporary Turkish music started playing, and the entire stage turned into a nightclub-like dance floor. This was especially fun given the fact that the audience was actually about two-thirds Turkish tourists, and Turkish girls apparently really like getting all us white gays dancing!
Hot-Air Balloons
If you’ve ever read anything about Cappadocia, you will have probably seen that the thing “to do” is to take a sunrise flight over the magical scenery aboard a hot-air balloon. Well, I will surprise you by saying that I chose not to do the “to do” thing!
Hot Air Balloons Over Cappadocia
There were a few factors about why I decided not to do it, and yes, one was money; I was traveling extensively for two months during my move to the UK and wasn’t sure when I’d start working, so the balloon flight was an expense that I wasn’t sure I needed to indulge in. I also didn’t feel the need to go on one, and to this day, I am glad to report that it is not something I regret.
Sunrise at Our Hotel in Cappadocia
I did however join the rest of the group in an early morning wake up, as I wanted to see the balloons gliding through the air, and I can attest that seeing them is indeed a magical experience, and I was able to get some pretty nice photos of the balloons of Cappadocia.
Kaymakli Underground City
There are a number of underground cities around Cappadocia, mostly built in the 8th-7th centuries BC. These underground cities are most famous for being the hiding places of Christians, escaping from persecution by the Roman Empire after the 5th Century AD.
The UNESCO World Heritage Kaymakli Underground City is one of the most famous, due to the sheer size of the city. Only the first four floors are open to visitors, which we explored with a tour guide, and this was enough to give us an understanding of how big the city is.
Kaymakli City contains close to 100 corridors connecting different rooms, which were used for everything, from keeping livestock, to storing supplies, as well as rooms for every day activities, including living spaces, kitchens, and churches. Inside, you can only imagine how much effort went into building those underground cities, a truly remarkable human achievement.
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If you’re traveling through Turkey, chances are you will visit Cappadocia, and I cannot recommend this region enough. Despite going to so many incredible places around Turkey, Cappadocia was definitely one of the biggest highlights of my three weeks in the country!
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