Cappadocia was the part of our trip that we were most excited about; we were looking forward to it all along the journey. Unique landscape along with a rich history – this place is a traveler’s heaven. The landscape is all about ‘fairy chimneys’ – cone shaped structures formed due to solidification of volcanic ash and we were amazed to see how the ancient people carved their homes and religious places inside these structures.
Reaching Cappadocia
The bus from Ankara took us around 4 hours to reach Nevsehir bus stand in Cappadocia. The bus stand is around 14 kilometres from the main city – Goreme. Goreme is the most happening town in Cappadocia with pretty streets, lots of restaurants and is the base for hot air balloon adventures. There is a mini bus service from Nevsehir to Goreme from around 8 AM to 8PM. We reached past 10 PM, so the bus service to Goreme had already been stopped for the day; we were left with no choice but to take a taxi to the hostel, which cost us a little less than 100 TLs (Turkish Liras), while the mini bus would have cost us 5 TLs per person. Hence, you might want to reach before 8PM if you plan to avail the mini bus service.
Accommodation
Luxury resorts, airbnbs, backpackers hostels – you name it and Cappadocia has it all. We had already booked our accommodation for 2 nights in “Dorm cave by Travellers” hostel. Once we reached, we fell asleep as soon as we got to our beds, but not before setting an alarm for 4.30 AM the next morning.
We had 2 mornings in Cappadocia – so we wanted to spend them doing the 2 major events Cappadocia offers in the morning. The first morning, we wanted to watch the hot air balloons taking over the skies and on the second morning, we wanted to ride in a hot air balloon. The first morning, we hiked up to Lover’s Hill, a hot air balloon view point. I do not have words to describe what I saw. Check the pictures below maybe? So many balloons flying and the sun rising amidst these – truly a treat to the eyes.
Underground cities
After breakfast, we headed out to explore one of the 2 major underground cities in Cappadocia – Kaymakli. The other one is Derinkuyu.
Out of the 36 underground cities in Cappadocia, these two are the famous ones with Kaymakli being the widest of all. What’s interesting about this place is that it has 8 floors below the ground and has rooms, kitchens, a church and a winery as well – all underground. How cool is that? Kaymakli was mainly used by Christians during the Byzantine era for protection from invading Arabs. Close to 3500 people lived here.
We had to take a couple of buses from Cappadocia to Kaymakli – it cost us 9TL per person in total. The entrance ticket to Kaymakli cost us 40TL. The tunnels in Kaymakli are narrow and deep and it is unsafe for people who are claustrophobic or suffering from high blood pressure, heart ailments and asthma.
Uchisar castle
We had read about Uchisar castle being one of the best spots for sunset, so that was our next destination. Uchisar castle is popular for being at the highest point in Cappadocia, for being on UNESCO world heritage sites list and for being an offbeat wedding photo-shoot destination.We took a bus from Kaymakli to Nevsehir and from Nevsehir to Pigeon valley, from where we walked all the way to the castle. Outside the castle, we found a lot of camels used for “fun rides” for people. We’d be really grateful if you would take pride in no rides and contribute in ending this cruelty towards them.
The entrance tickets to Uchisar castle cost us 10 TL per person. The castle is weirdly beautiful to look at. Once we climbed up the stairs, we found a small crowd waiting for the sun set, with their cameras. The point also offered a panoramic view of the city of Cappadocia.
After sunset, we took a bus to Goreme, roamed around the pretty streets, did some more shopping, smoked some hookah at a narghile cafe and rested well, because we had to wake up early the next day as well.
Hot air balloon ride
We had booked for a hot air balloon ride with AirCappdocia at the rate of 190 euros per person.The next day, we were picked up by the operators from our hostel at 4.45 AM and taken to their office for breakfast. We were provided with a light breakfast and after verification taken to the ground to fly. The operators were pretty rude, asking us to split into 2 different balloons so as to accommodate in the same balloon other people who had come together. After a lot of fighting, we went together in the same balloon. We also felt that the balloon was a bit overcrowded. The view of the landscape from up there was for sure surreal, but watching the sunrise from the height was definitely the highlight.
We spent the rest of the day visiting Goreme open air museum, roaming around the town, shopping and eating. The open air museum is at a walkable distance from Goreme town and it has a lot of walking involved inside. It mainly consists of remains from the ancient civilization including many places of worship. We later went to a restaurant where we met a Turkish waiter who spoke better Hindi than we did; I was almost convinced that he was lying by saying that he’s Turkish – Bollywood movies are more famous than I imagined .
Souvenirs we bought from Cappadocia
- Fridge magnets (always and forever) – a lot of them
- Postcards
- Balloon shaped lanterns
Expenditure breakup:
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