(Just continuing to post on backlogged trips – this one from September 2022.)
From Istanbul, we flew to Kayseri in Cappadocia, rented a car, and drove to Göreme, our base town to explore the area for the next 3 days. Göreme lies at the heart of a network of valleys in a landscape of tuff – volcanic ash that has piled up over millennia. Over time, the elements eroded this soft deposit of rock to create not only valleys, but “fairy chimneys” where denser rock withstood erosion and led to natural obelisks set amidst a sandy and desolate landscape.
Until maybe the 3rd century; maybe earlier – hard to tell. But then, Christianity hit the area in the 4th or 5th centuries and cave churches, monasteries, and houses carved into the tuff flourished.
Leading, inexorably, to the creation of Göreme.
View from our cave hotel:
Time of day simply enhanced the optics of the town:
A view of Göreme from up the road near a little field trip to Uçhisar:
A minaret features prominently in town:
It was hot. There was a pool.
Maybe the coolest pool we’ve experienced?
A little wagon ride down into the valley below Göreme for a farm breakfast.
Another nearby valley on the way. Although some of the holes in the fairy chimneys are homes, most are little caves carved out to allow pigeons to roost. And then collect the shit for fertilizer. Which is pretty effective and brilliant, frankly.
Our ride. And Uçhisar in the distance.
The carved steps to doom.
Or breakfast. Whichever.
A brief tutorial on the arid garden supplying the farm.
And the farm itself, deep within the valley.
Breakfast underway.
We totally did not take pictures of the spread – which we very much should have, because it was pretty awesome. But we were so hungry we forewent all of that and just gorged. Sorry.
But here’s a carved and quite refined cave home within the tuff:
Farm infrastructure, also carved into the soft rock:
Uçhisar in the distance on the way back. (We’ll have full coverage of that outrageous outcrop in a future post – trust us.)
The terrace of our cave hotel, which is the most popular perch to perceive. . .
This! Every morning! Scores (hundreds?) of balloons taking advantage of the dawn thermals over the valley.
We’ll get to experience it ourselves the next day. But that’s a different post.
Final night in Göreme (but definitely not in Cappadocia – freakin’ awesome place with lots to show).
WolfeStreetTravel 