Leaving Ourselves Behind

Many people come to this area for just a couple of days, with the primary attraction being a ride in a hot air balloon. Now, one can certainly see the attraction of climbing into a wicker basket and lifting off at sunrise over an otherworldly landscape. The romance, the bucket-list box ticked, the celebratory champagne after an hour of serenity and magic in the company of at least 100 other balloons.

We very likely would have signed on but the price of romance and magic was just a tad out of reach. A ride is going for €380 per person, or CA $1142 for the two of us – for one hour.

Friends of ours had a horrific experience years ago, where a gust of wind grabbed their balloon, forced a hard landing and their basket skidded sideways across a potato field. Their sister balloon was not so lucky – it landed on rocks and the occupants had to go to hospital. Now apparently the balloon pilots have rigorous training and their safety record is considered among the best in the world, but still. Terra firma.

We didn’t miss out on the magic entirely – every morning at 6:00, we would go up to our hotel’s rooftop terrace and watch the balloons soar overhead. One of the balloons came so close, we could wave at the occupants.

Apparently a number of the local residents consider the balloons both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because they bring lots of tourists and a curse because many of the tourists do not stay long enough to appreciate the beauty and grandeur of the area. It feels offensive to the Turks to have this unique part of Turkiye reduced to an amusement park.

The Cappadocia region covers the town of Goreme (where we stayed), Uschisar (a town close by) and several smaller towns that include the geology peculiar to the area – a geology that has been almost 400 million years in the making.

In the past 16 million years, a series of volcanic explosions occurred in the mountains and the cooling of the yellow-white ash filled the region with “tufa” layers. These layers eroded and produced fantastical conical shapes; some small and stand-alone and some large enough to create cave houses, hotels and monasteries.

The town of Goreme is quite monochromatic in colour, but highly original in layout. Streets wind around stone formations, up steep hills and around winding corners.

Cave hotels are a huge draw. Many of the hotels are built into the side of the cliffs, with the rooms literally being “a cave.” We were quite interested in trying this out, but several reviews talked about the experience being unquestionably unique, but also dark and damp. We talked to a couple who moved after their first night because their clothes were wet and musty-smelling. Some examples of cave hotels:

This lovely cave hotel has probably figured out the “musty” problem.

We lucked out with our choice, the Hotel Pashahan. Three stories, just 10 guestrooms, a glorious rooftop terrace, and a fabulous Turkish breakfast spread. Our multi-lingual host Sergio, who herded his Canadian, French, Italian, Hungarian, Brazilian and Korean guests like a Turkish border collie, was definitely a highlight of our stay. There was nothing he would not do for any of us, including driving us to the trailhead of the Love Valley and then picking us up afterward.

While this region has produced stone formations that resemble mushrooms, animals and chimneys, one of the most visited area is the coyly-named Love Valley. It would be fun to giggle over giant forever-erect penises, but as adults, let’s just agree that these monoliths are impressive and leave it at that.

A variation on a theme.

You have to work a bit to get down to the valley. A slide down a steep path, followed by a few keen balancing acts and then…the beginning of the valley unfolds.

Our first glimpses of the whimsy of Cappadocia.

See the house on top of this hill, with its reinforced stone retaining wall? How did it get there? How was any of this created by manpower?

A couple of hours of fascinating hiking through this mystical landscape took us past stone formations, oasis-like groves and out to the end of the trail, where a small caravan of camels waited. Although camels were never used in Cappadocia, they are another fun way to experience the area.

There are a number of underground cities in the Cappadocia region and Derinkuyu is the largest – it goes down 280 feet over several rooms and passages and could hold up to 20,000 people and livestock. It began in the Byzantine era and over the centuries housed persecuted populations.

It must be said I am not 100% in my comfort zone being in small, cramped places, so I spent much of our time trying not to think about what would happen if there was an earthquake and we would be trapped underground. As a result, I just put one foot in front of the other and took very few photos.
This was the entrance:

Once we entered the first floor and poked around a number of rooms, we took turns climbing down narrow stairs that ran for several floors in one go. It was only one-way traffic – a group of us would go down and when it was all clear, those waiting at the bottom would climb back up.

To make matters worse, there were several points in which the tunnel closed in, forcing all of us to crouch through, almost bent in half as we inched forward.

I had been looking forward to this, particularly since one of our fellow guests just raved, but by the time we finally emerged back into daylight, I was minutes away from breathing into a paper bag. Stephen was just fine.

A very interesting part of Cappadocia’s history is that Greek Christians and Turkish Muslims co-existed in the village of Mustafapasa (about 40 minute drive away from Goreme) quite peacefully for centuries. Today Turkiye is 99% Muslim. After the Lausanne Treaty in 1923, there was a compulsory exchange of population between the Muslim Turks living in Greece and the Orthodox Greeks living in Turkiye. This tremendous upheaval of up to two million people was regarded by some as a form of ethnic cleansing, but the village of Mustafapasa still has a mixed heritage and Christian churches and monasteries have been preserved.
The town itself was charming and walkable.

Constantine-Helena church. Built in 1729 and currently used for cultural events.

The St. Nicholas Monastery, recently restored in 2021, was part of a pilgrimage route.

The Selime Monastery, located about an hour southwest of Goreme, was quite incredible to explore. This massive rock-cut construction dates back to the 8th or 9th century BC, housing various religious groups. In the 10th or 11th Century, it became a caravanserai for travellers on the Silk Road.

The word “monastery” might seem a bit confusing, but in addition to kitchen and living areas, there was indeed a chapel inside.

Lots of places to peer out at the valley, unseen from the enemy.

A nearby 3-km. hike through the Ilhara Valley. Peaceful, shady and beautiful.

Naturally, the lure of buying a Turkish carpet is strong. Each shop has hundreds, if not thousands to choose from; each shop has piles of carpets five and six feet high. How in the world to choose a carpet? How to know you are buying quality and getting a fair price? We could not make up our minds and figured it was a bit early in the trip anyway, so we settled on three beautiful pillow covers (about $16 each), and a unique wall hanging.

This gentleman was patient and kind with us, and showed us how he weaves rugs on his loom.

Some nights shots of Goreme – it is truly a magical place to wander around when all the lights are on and the call to prayer is echoing, and it feels so very different from home.

Goreme at sunset. We climbed up the incredibly steep hills, gasping and wheezing, to watch the sunset. After the sky went pink, then orange; this was our reward.

We leave this beautiful little part of the country tomorrow morning and head to Konya, about a three-hour drive from here. Konya is the birthplace of the poet Rumi and home to the spectacle of The Whirling Dervishes. According to the somewhat unreliable information online, this weekend is also supposed to be the annual Sufi Music Festival and we’re hoping that is the case. I can’t imagine a more unusual experience.