The second part of the trip was in the region of Capadoccia. To arrive there we took a local airline flight to the airport of Kayseri, from there we rented a car for the days we were there. We stayed in Göreme, a small town located in a semi-desert valley surrounded by other valleys and interesting geological formations. It is common to find hotels built in the hills and the rooms are real caves with all the modern commodities but still caves in the sandstone.
In Göreme one can visit everything withing walking/hiking distances, but the car was a good way to get around the different attractions that are close to the town. During the first day we walked around the town and try some of the best food we tried in Turkey. Despite to be a touristic destination, there are not so many tourists as in Istanbul and it makes also that there is less attention given to tourists so in general the service was better and lot less annoying. In the night it is a good idea to go uphill and see the view of the town inside the valley.
The second day we woke up very early, 4:00 am but there was a good reason for that, we got places in a balloon ride! they picked us up in the hotel and bring us to the place were several balloons were taking off. We had very good luck with the weather, a clear sky and almost no wind. The balloon trip takes place during the sunrise and goes for about an hour. It was probably the best we did in Turkey, the view is incredible and the soft flight is a really nice experience. At 7:00 we were back at the hotel for having breakfast, rest a couple of hours and get on the way to visit some places. That day we visited the underground city of Caravansari. A system of caves full of tunnels and traps. In the past people were hiding there during the wars. Later on we hiked along the green valley, a kind of oasis following a small river with bushes and trees on the side. There were of course some caves that were some centuries ago Christian chapels. Nowadays in the river there are built some small kiosks for having tea or even for lunch. Afterwards we visited Selime a monastery built in a mountain and then we headed back to the town.
The last day we visited some of the remaining places: an old castle, the love valley with its interesting shapes of rock formations. Other part had some shapes where you could imagine a camel made of sandstone and finally we visited a pottery workshop, a traditional activity from this region. For the end of the day and also the end of the trip we went to watch the sunset from the top of a hill followed by a dinner at the town. Next morning we drove back to Kayseri, flew back to Istanbul and flew back home.
Oliver's Mind 