Turkey is easily accessible from India. Direct flight to Istanbul and hassle-free visas make it into a tempting destination. The swanky new Airport of Istanbul is huge and one had to walk quite a bit to transit into the domestic terminal. We were transiting to Cappadocia which is just about an hour’s flight away from Istanbul. The city is approachable by two Airports – Nevsehir and Kaysari.
Day 1- Reaching Cappadocia & Discovering the neighbourhood
Just 20 minutes into the drive from Nevsehir airport, and we got a fair idea of what the landscapes were going to be. The landscape looked barren and rocky but the volumes of rocks improved as we drove along. The cameras started coming out as the mass of rocks started getting left behind giving way to distinct mushroom shaped structures.
It took around an hour to get to our cave hotel called the Artemis cave hotel at a village called Goreme. Uchisar and Urgup are other places where tourists stay. We were happy with Goreme as it had a decent market with lot of eateries and most tourist places were nearby. Artemis may be called a cave hotel but we didn’t have to crawl into any caves. It was a nice luxurious place which required a lot of steps to be climbed to go to upper rooms and bar/restaurant. Thankfully we were on ground floor. The views were fantastic and one could sit and sip the sundowners while watching the sun set and the stones changing colours. Residences are not allowed in the mountain caves but only commercial ventures are. As these hotels, restaurants etc were inside the mountains they are called the caves. These ventures have to follow guidelines and maintain the properties. It would be very cold outside but once we entered the rooms – they were really cozy. They become cool in summer when it is hot outside.
The location of Cappadocia is such that it is covered with mountains from all sides and it is set on a plateau. The region gets snow in winter and has hot and dry summer. It is region in Central Anatolia. The meaning of the name is ‘ Region of horses.’
Day 2- Hectic day with Red Tour, ATV Ride, Turkish bath & A Great dinner
We decided to do the ‘Red Tour’ which pretty much took us to most touristy places including the rip offs like ceramic showrooms. To be fair, the prices of the ceramic shop were high but stuff was exquisite. Red tour had a busy itinerary with Turkish lunch at a good restaurant included in the price. Our guide was called Oguz who had a good sense of humour and spoke good English. Uchisar castle, Love Valley, rose Valley and Goreme Open Air museums were the highlights. The Christians had built cities underground to escape persecution from the Romans and there were churches, kitchens, hand art, frescos, calligraphy etc in these underground and cave cities. I didn’t even know that Romans were Pagans so they loved to kill Christians till they themselves became Christians and started killing and fighting others (Like Ottomans).
We saw miles and miles of wonders of volcanic accumulations converted by erosion into what they kept referring to as ‘fairy chimneys.’ To me they appeared more like rows of impressive phallic structures rather than fairy or chimney. Men from around the world should visit Cappadocia to get inspired.
We were tired after the trip but Devicka was fascinated by ATV’s so we went for a ATV ride which turned out to be tougher than I thought. On these monster bikes they took us to some rugged terrain and turning and climbing on muddy incline was tough. It was bloody tiring trying to control this monster. They stopped at some great view points and it was really beautiful to sit and watch these landscapes in fading sun. It had started to get very cold so it was a relief to get back to the cozy hotel room.
We were all tired and dusty after this full day out. And what better way to refresh than a Turkish Bath in the Hamam. This is also an experience which a tourist must go through while in Turkey. Dinner was at a famous place called Sedef which was famous for its ‘pottery Kebabs.’ The people of Turkey eat with very little salt and chillies so I requested the chef to spice up my dinner. This turned out to be my best meal of the trip. (The real name is Testi Kebab – made out of lamb or beef with vegetables . It is cooked in clay oven and pot is sealed with bread dough for hours for taste to develop.’ ) They do eat lot of vegetables in the region and main vegetarian dishes seemed to be aubergine, potatoes, tomatoes, red & green pepper. At Goreme there were 4-5 Indian restaurants so Indian tourists must be visiting during the holiday season.
Day 3 – The Hot air Balloon Ride, Kaymakali underground city & Departure
The day has to start early and the day has to be perfect. They picked us up at 5.15 AM and took us to a place where they collected money and gave a light breakfast. Then we drove to a place which was designated to our balloon company. There are many such companies and on a busy day around 180 balloons go up at dawn. This industry does give employment to a lot of people there. It was cold ( 3 deg C) but not windy so we had a good take off and a spectacular ride. Each one on a balloon becomes a child excited seeing the landscapes, the colourful sky, and going up and down as the pilot maneuvers the Balloon upto 1000 meters and then brings it down and goes between the fairy chimneys. Cameras are clicked continuously. One wants to capture everything as it definitely is an experience of a lifetime. I don’t have the words to describe the experience but it was truly stunning and mind blowing.
The ride ended with medals given to us along with certificates, group photograph and some nice Champagne early in the morning. It was a heady moment and was made double heady by this bubbly. A day earlier in our Red tour group there was a young Indian origin couple. Both were born and brought up in UK. Their story was that the previous day ‘he’ had hired a basket of Balloon ( which normally carries 4) to be alone with her. Then he had gone down on the knees and proposed. She proudly showed us the lovely ring which I guess meant that the proposal had been accepted ! Well – from the balloon we also saw many pre wedding shoots happening and were told that many instagram influencers specially travel to make their stories. Nice !
We still had time on our hands before the departure so we took a cab and went to explore the underground city ‘Kaymakli.’ It was fascinating labyrinth of dark caves and introduction to the kind of lives people led when they actually lived underground. Devicka wanted to get out and go into fresh air soon after we had entered the tunnels.
As we drove towards the Kayseri airport, the topography started to change. The area didn’t look so arid and dry. Soon we saw lofty snow covered mountains. It had been a great place to start the holiday. I think more from India should travel here. They will go back feeling happy.