Balloons at sunrise over Goreme.
A landscape like no other and a history of settlement dating back to the persecution of the early Christians is what greeted us when we arrived for our stay in the township of Goreme in the region of Cappadocia. We were gobsmacked at the stark beauty of this place and its unique geological structures that dominate the town and its surroundings.
The entrance to the Kelebek Hotel with "fairy chimney" room in the background.
Our hotel is perched high above the town with magnificent views form the deck morning, evening and night. Thanks to Liz Jeffress' recommendation, our stay here is really comfortable and we re enjoying the quietness of the location, the hospitality of the staff and the quirkiness of the buildings...they are actually cave rooms!
View from the driveway
View from the deck...."happy hour".
.......and at night.....just magic.
We wasted no time settling in to our digs....beautiful meal at a local restaurant and then a "still dark" get-up for our much anticipated dawn balloon ride over and through....I do mean through....the valleys and canyons of this "moon like" landscape.
The launch
....and into the canyons
What an experience....silent ( except when the pilot gave a blast of flaming propane into the canopy to control the balloon) gliding, gentle, floating......kind of surreal actually. With between 50 and 60 balloons (which certainly added to the spectacle) we climbed high up into the sky to catch the first rays of sunrise and then dropped into the canyons and ravines to see the ancient cave dwellings in the cliffs lining the dry river beds...so close and silent we could almost reach out and touch the sides of the ravines. An hour just flew by, the sun was getting high and it was time to come back to terra firma ......and to land right on the trailer! Pretty impressive flying I must say ......and an experience we will not to forget.
On our return we were transported in an old Land Rover and entertained by a guide (who had lived in Australia and New Zealand for a time and cracked us up with his use of the Australian vernacular....funny how they absorb some words quickly) to an organic breakfast in a small farm deep in a rocky ravine. The farm has been in the family for over four hundred years and how they survived let alone thrived in such conditions is testament to their skill, detailed knowledge of their environment and years of sheer hard work.
We were fed a sumptuous breakfast of local produce and breads cooked the traditional way.
And we were treated to a detailed description of how they lived and worked in these arid places for hundreds of years. Digging holes in the cliffs to get water seepage for their wells, tending fruit trees and grape vines not on trellises but as bushes with the soil piled around the stem to keep in the moisture from the air. They also kept animals, ducks, chooks, pigeons, donkeys....and really big dogs to keep the wolves away.
We shared our breakfast and the experience with a Chinese and Turkish couple...and we were getting along very well in no time at all. They were really nice people and we shared stories of our cultures and histories....but they were mostly interested in/concerned about Australia's wildlife....particularly that of the the deadly variety!
The time with those couples provided another dimension to our experience in Turkey and reinforced for us that, with all the issues in the world, particularly this part of the world at the moment, people are just people...and most of them are a pleasure to meet and know.....which has actually been our experience with all the people we have interacted with on all levels for the whole of our trip to date.
It has really been an "experience" stay in Cappadocia and, as part of that theme, we really couldn't pass up the opportunity of a sunset quad bike tour. What fun! Dusty, loud and lots of laughs.
Michael and Wendy had a bike each and Wendy and I shared one. It really was gangs of fun for all of us but it was Michael spinning wheels, spitting gravel and fish-tailing down the tracks that was the most entertaining. The bike shop gave us masks for the dust which I thought was a bit "over the top" but the tracks were like talcum powder and we all quickly looked like we'd been hit with flour bombs. So much so that when we returned they had a compressor to blow the dust of us with a powerful jet of compressed air....which I have to say was a "novel experience" when he aimed the jet at the seat of my pants!!! ( I need a very surprised, raised eyebrows emoji here)
The sunset was speccy and, as we returned to the town on dark, there was a bit of an "incident" where we were "temporarily misplaced". With dozens of bikes around, and in the poor light, we had inadvertently followed the wrong group ....who promptly turned us back in the right direction, but by that time our group was nowhere to be seen!! A few panicky minutes later we were eventually reunited .....much to the relief of the guide.
We have had the most marvellous time in Cappadocia!
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