Ihlara Valley

T minus 8hrs: Our first stop was the Ihlara Valley, a 16km long gorge with a depth of about 110 metres, filled with old cave churches and a stream that runs straight through valley. There are four approaches to the valley – the first starts from the southern tip at Ihlara village, second from the eastern side at Belisirma village, third from the north end at Selime village or fourth from the western peak at the Ihlara Valley Touristic Centre.

The most popular route is to start from Ihlara village and trek about 4-5 hours to Belisirma village, you’ll get to see most of the churches and a bit of wildlife along the way. The stream runs right through the valley so you can take a quick dip from any point.

Since we were short on time we started at the Tourist Centre taking the quickest route down using the stairs. Now climbing down those 360 odd steps may seem easy at first, but after you’ve been trekking around the valley for about 2 hours or so climbing up 360 steps was a killer!

Derinkuyu Underground City

T minus 5hrs: The underground cities of Capaddocia were built by early 8th-7th BC settlers and were used through the centuries to protect villagers and livestock from the neighbouring raiders. Of the 36 underground cities in Capaddocia, Derinkuyu is the deepest decending down 8 floors to a depth of 85m… this is not your average underground bunker folks, this is a self sustainable city complete with storage rooms, stables, cellars, churches and wineries (mans gotta party, raiders or not), that could shelter anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 people!

The guy at the entrance said we were lucky, there were no other tourists below so we’d have the whole place to ourselves… lucky huh? This was probably the only time in travel history where we actually wanted to bump into other travellers! There was an eerie, uneasy silence to the place and at one point I could’ve sworn I saw something that looked like a white human form through my viewfinder. I half expected to see those crawlers from the movie Descent come up through the ventilation shafts.

Uchisar Castle

T minus 2hrs: It’s not everyday you get to see a castle (or fortress depending on who to talk to) carved out entirely from rock! Most of the rooms are blocked and inaccessible, due to erosion, though thats not the main draw of Uchisar Castle. The highest point in Capaddocia, most people climb up to the roof for some brilliant panoramic views of the region.

T minus zero: So by the time we reached back to Anatolian House (7:05pm), we found out that our bus had left just a minute before… great. Thankfully there was a second bus that would arrive in 45 minutes or so. We did end up catching our flight (barely) to Istanbul and vowed to return back to Capaddocia for some more escapades.

Goreme Valley

Göreme Town

Anatolian Houses – Cave Hotel

There’s no shortage of places to stay in Göreme Town, the more unique ones being cave hotels that have been carved out from the surrounding rock. Göreme Town has options for the budget minded (Rock Valley Pension, Guven Cave Hotel) and well-to-do traveller (Kismet Cave House, Anatolian Houses).

Top tip for travellers to Göreme – forget the tours and packaged itineraries… the best way to explore Göreme, and for that matter the rest of Capaddocia, is to pick up a good road map and rent a car. Tours to the museum are rushed and cramped during peak hours. By renting a car you can avoid the crowds and have the freedom to detour off to some of the more quirkier side attractions (UFO Museum) in the area.

Fred Flintstone never had it this good

Göreme Open Air Museum

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Göreme Open Air Museum, situated 1.5km away from Göreme Town, is a collection of cave churches and monasteries adorned with Byzantine frescoes dating back to the 10th-12th century.

St. Barbara Chapel

There are 10 churches in total – St. Basil’s Church (Basil Kilise), Apple Church (Elmali Kilise), St. Barbara Chapel (Azize Barbara Kilisesi), Snake Church, Dark Church (Karanlik Kilise), St. Catherine Chapel, Sandal Church (Carikli Kilise), Buckle Church (Tokali Kilise) and the Nunnery (Kizlar Monastary). You read more about these churches here.

The churches differ in architecture and fresco style, if you’re pressed for time then make sure you visit the St. Barbara Chapel, the Apple Church, the Nunnery and the Dark Church. The Dark Church is named so for the lack of sunlight entering in, which in turn has helped preserving the original artwork. There is an extra charge for visiting the Dark Church, but its worth every Turkish Lira.

Elmali Kilise (Apple Church)

Elmali Kilise (Apple Church)

Karanlik Kelise (Dark Church) Frescoes

Karanlik Kelise (Dark Church) Fresco

Kizlar Monastary, Goreme Open Air Museum

Cappadocia Landscape

For most travelers, Turkey starts and ends at Istanbul, which is a shame. As beautiful as Istanbul is, there’s an entire mainland, untouched by commercial tourism, just waiting to be explored. Cappadocia, located in the province of Nevsehir, is just one of these places.

Cappadocia’s otherworldly landscape was formed centuries ago after volcanic dust, ash and lava settled in surrounding lakes. Eventually these lakes dried up and over time the sediment left behind slowly eroded away. It’s defining peaks, valleys and mushroom like ‘fairy chimneys’ were formed later after a series of earthquakes ripped through the region. The result is a landscape unlike anything you’ve ever seen around the world.

Goreme

Fairy Chimneys

Settlers, around the 7th century, carved out their homes, churches, monasteries and even underground cities out of these rock formations which, to date, have been preserved in their entirety thanks in part to the Turkish government.

In the next few posts, we stroll through Goreme National Park, trek the Ihlara Valley, climb Uchisar Fortress and visit the Derinkuyu Underground City!