Welcome back to part 2 of Candice and I’s 6 week trip in Turkey.  If you missed part 1 please make sure to check it out here – A Turkish Delight-Ful Trip – Part 1.

A quick recap: we visited Turkey from early December until late January, starting with a 3 week Workaway visit just west of Izmir in the town of Urla.  We visited Ephesus, the Temple of Artemis, the Ancient City of Troy and had a blast in Istanbul for 4 days and now we were heading into the very center of Turkey to Cappadocia (Kappa-Doh-Kyah).

During January, flights to Cappadocia are dirt cheap and we managed to snag flights for $25 CAD per person one way and that included a checked bag! During the peak season I expect flights would be much more expensive so if you’re travelling on a budget you might choose the 12 hour bus option but it didn’t make sense for us when the flight was so cheap.

Cappadocia is the name of the region and not a specific city.  Most people (us included) choose the city of Göreme to base themselves but there is no airport in Göreme so you’ll need to fly into either Nevşehir or the big city Kayseri.  Göreme attracts a ton of tourists so the hotels will offer transfers from Nevşehir just 15 minutes away.

What makes Göreme such a hot tourist area?  Simply 3 words; hot air balloons.  More than 100 balloons carrying over 2000 people fly every single day in the region.  They don’t actually fly 365 days a year since bad weather will ground balloons but they launch on average 250 days a year which adds up to 75% of all hot air balloon rides World Wide every year. Riding a hot air balloon in Cappadocia was the #1 thing Candice wanted to do on our trip so here we were.

Because you’re not guaranteed that the weather will cooperate you’re recommended to stay in the area for 3-4 days.  If your ride is cancelled due to bad weather (and the majority of bad weather is in the winter) you’ll be moved to the next day for free.  The good news is that this is an extremely unique landscape and there are several other things on your non-balloon ride days.  The first thing you’ll notice are the rock formations called fairy chimneys.

The ground is composed of volcanic ash that turned into a type of soil called tuff.  Wind and rain over millions of years eroded the soft ground leaving only the hardest elements standing.

What is even more crazy to me is that we could travel thousands of kilometers from our home in Alberta, Canada and find this unique landscape that looks almost identical to the Drumheller region in Southern Alberta, take a look at this picture of Drumheller below.

Back in the Roman times Christians were heavily persecuted in this region and tens of thousands took refuge in Cappadocia.  The rock was easy to carve out and so the fairy chimneys were turned into houses and churches while massive underground cities were carved deep into the ground in case persecutors discovered where the Christians had fled too.  The largest underground cities could hold up to 10,000 people and enough food for up to 3 years including livestock could be stored underground.

Today the city of Göreme is much more modern with most people living in proper houses but poorer people still live in some of the fairy chimneys while many hotels have converted other fairy chimneys into hotels for tourists.

Bad Weather Delays

Because the weather is unpredictable, especially in the winter, we booked our balloon ride on the first morning in Cappadocia.  On the day of our balloon ride the winds were too strong so we were cancelled and pushed to the following day.  We decided to not waste the day and ended up getting a car rental for the day.

Our first stop was the largest underground city in the region called Derinkuyu.

Holding over 10,000 people and going down 10 levels this place is insane.  The very bottom 2 levels are not safe for visitors so you can only get down to the 8th level.

If you’re a bit claustrophobic you may not enjoy it so much but the rooms are fairly spacious, all things considering, though Candice was not a fan of the tight stairs in some areas.

These stairs in particular take you from the 4th level straight down to the 8th and there are over 100 steps to climb – a kid coming down after us counted every step out loud so it’s not just a guess.  Candice didn’t want to go down at first but she decided she’d never get to see something like this again and pushed herself to get down there.  She lasted about 10 minutes poking around the small rooms and then we needed to head back up.

I found the high plateau grasslands set next to the mountains very interesting to look at and, yes, that is snow.  The temperature was a crisp 5 degrees in the valleys and there was plenty of snow at the higher elevations.

Some of the landscape was so eerily similar to southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and I suppose that’s why I liked it so much – it felt like being home without having to actually go home.

We passed a few villages built into the mountains like this one.

This gorge, in a national park, is on the tourist list but the wind was howling and it was so cold we decided we’d rather eat our lunch in the warm car and venture out for a few long distance pictures instead.

Our last stop of the day was Tuz Gölü translated literally as Salt Lake.

This extremely shallow lake has a large layer of, surprise surprise, salt on the surface.

I tasted the white substance under the mud and it was definitely salty – the name holds up.

Walking out a good 300 meters Candice spotted a cool photography phenomenon.

So we planned an impromptu photoshoot.  The salt base of the lake with a thin layer of water on top made for some cool reflection photos.

Next to the lake was a mall with a few shops and while warming up with a cup of coffee and tea we found a friend.

To The Skies

Hot air ballooning is not a cheap activity costing 150-300€ per person but we decided it was a once in a life time experience.  We paid on the higher end because we went with a more reputable company and paid extra to be in a smaller basket (16 vs 24 person) to get a more personal experience.  In the end we dropped 440€ or about $700 CAD for both of us but we don’t regret it at all.  The extra bonus for paying for the more expensive, smaller basket, is the ride was 90 minutes long versus 60 minutes.

The balloons launch at dawn when the wind is the calmest.  In the winter time this meant getting up for a 5:30 am pickup to make a 7:30 am launch.  In the summer, the sun rises earlier so you’re pick up time is, accordingly, earlier.  Needless to say we found this later start a welcome bonus.

Arriving at the launch area there were already several balloons being blown up.

Climbing into our basket we were ready for a chilly 90 minute ride.  At the ground it was 1 or 2 degrees but up in the air it would be closer to -4.

It didn’t take long to get a fantastic view of the area

and a fantastic selfie.

I wasn’t sure how I would feel riding in a hot air balloon but surprisingly the basket was rock steady and the lift up was so gentle you almost didn’t realize you were rising so fast.  There was no turbulence, no swaying, and no jerking of any sorts.  It was a steady, even flow of rising up near the clouds and drifting back closer to the ground.

Depending on the wind direction the launch location changes so that they fly right over the city.  If you’re an early riser you can go to the balcony of your hotel and watch all the balloons drift over top while sipping a fresh Turkish coffee.

The 90 minute ride zipped right by but we were both getting really cold so we were glad to finally land.  As you can see there was a bit of snow at the landing site.

And as part of the tradition you’re always treated to a champagne toast.

Don’t skip watching this compilation video of the ride

The day after our balloon ride Candice and I got up early enough to catch the day’s balloon flights go over the city.  We slept in a little long but got to the viewing area just as the last wave of balloons were going by.

To The Real Turkey

After our 4 days in Cappadocia we were on the move again.  This time we headed further south east to the city of Gaziantep.  We were told to visit Gaziantep by our hostess at the Olive farm back in Urla, she said it was a major foodie center and frequented by lots and lots of Turkish tourists.  We’re always up for straying off the beaten track when it sounds interesting so we took a chance.

Taking a small bus transfer from Goreme to the big city of Kayseri we then boarded a coach bus for a 6 hour drive across the central plateau to Gaziantep.

If the proximity to Syria seems alarming we discussed this with our host and she and her parents assured us that none of the Syrian war troubles were bothering Turkey.  All the fighting was happening on the Syrian side and no trouble was happening anywhere near the actual border with Turkey.

Immediately upon arriving in Gaziantep we could tell it was very different from the other places we had been.  This city obviously didn’t get many non-Turkish visitors, English was not common, and the overall feel was, all I can say is, different. 

For us, who don’t speak or read Turkish, it was difficult to find any information on things to do in the city.  The big attraction to Gaziantep is the food but it was a challenge for us because Candice is vegetarian and traditional Turkish food has a lot of meat.  Add in the fact that most people didn’t speak English and there wasn’t English menus we didn’t get to take advantage in trying a lot of new foods.

However, we did find plenty of baklava restaurants serving up varieties we hadn’t seen before.

The food scene wasn’t an entire bust and we did find a more upscale restaurant where we were able to try a sample tray for 2 people and bonus, 8 of the 9 items were vegetarian.  We completely devoured the platter before thinking of taking a picture for the blog… oops.

While Gaziantep was a bit of a bust, the market here was pretty amazing.  We missed out on the market at Istanbul so this was a delight to find a traditional Turkish market to explore.  And this one is probably more authentic as there are almost no Western tourists the shops cater too.

It was 3 or 4 entire streets full of handcrafted items, food, and souvenirs with plenty of copper ware, something this area of the World is known for,

spice shops around every corner reminded us of our time in India

and Candice found a vendor selling decorative plates.  She bartered herself this gorgeous plate for $25.  The tricky part was to cart this around for the next 3 months with breaking it.

And I found my jackpot, a shop selling old Turkish money for a reasonable price.  Today, Turkey’s common bill sizes are 10, 20, and 50 Liras but in the 90’s they had bills worth 100,000, 500,000, and even a million Lira – sadly I never did find the million Lira bill.

Some More Roman History

In all our research of the Gaziantep area I found one really cool thing to check out.  About 2 hours south near the city of Antakya are some old tunnels cut right through the mountain by the Romans when they occupied this region.  Named the Vespasian Titus Tunnels because they were started during the reign of Emperor Vespasian and finished by his son Titus they are an engineering marvel to behold.

During the Roman times the nearby city of Antioch was an important port for the region.  The river continuously carried silt into the harbour causing non stop issues.  Finally it was decided to divert the river through the mountain and the tunnels were thus created.

Reading online told us the tunnels were 1.4 kms long but we’re sure we only walked through about 600 meters or around 10 minutes.  Either way it was still an impressive site to behold considering they were made with no explosives or heavy machinery.

The tunnels will occupy about 30 minutes of your time but luckily there’s another heritage site to see.  Roughly a 15 minute walk away are some old Roman tombs, called the Besikli Caves, where it is thought the prominent Roman officials of the region were buried.

As the tombs are protected you can’t get inside but there are a few open caves areas you can explore.

Last Stop: The Cotton Castle

This was it, after 6 weeks in Turkey we were down to our last few days.  Coming almost full circle around an hour long flight brought us to our last tourist stop, the city of Pumakkale just outside of Denizli. 

Pamukkale translates literally to the Cotton Castle.  This unusual phenomenon is caused by a carbonate mineral left over from the hot springs flowing from the top of the hill.

The lighting wasn’t the greatest for photos but I imagine on a good summer day the landscape is stunning.

After taking your shoes off you’re allowed to walk the carbonate hills.  It was 2 degrees this morning and the ground was painfully cold, these so called hot springs were not very hot at the bottom of the hill.  In the winter, we would not recommend going from the bottom up as we did but instead get a taxi to the top and visit from there but in the summer when the ground is warm definitely do the trek up.

The pools of water may not have been hot but they were warm and provided some relief from the frozen ground while heading up.

Finally at this point the water was hot and that smile is genuine as it was such a relief to feel warmth in my feet.

We were the only people crazy enough to walk from the bottom up but at the top there was a fair number of tourists walking around the pools.

As you can see we had some grey and hazy skies but they did make for an interesting photo here.

After we were done we decided to simply walk back to town, it was roughly a 90 minute walk.  Along the way a car stopped and offered us a ride into town so we accepted.  It turned out we were picked up by the son of the hotel we were staying at and he was headed in for his shift.  How strange is that?

Goodbye Turkey: It Was Fun

Our exit plan for Turkey was to take a ferry from Marmaris to the Greek island of Rhodes.  As usual bus transportation around Turkey is easy and it was no problem getting a cheap, comfortable, bus ride to Marmaris on the southern coast.

During the summer there are a ton of ferry options from many of the Greek islands surrounding the Turkish mainland to many of the cities dotting the coast.  However in the winter pretty much the only ferry running was from Marmaris to Rhodes but since our plan was to go to Rhodes this was perfect for us.

We didn’t get to explore Marmaris as we arrived around 6 pm and were booked on the ferry for 9 am the next day but we were able to squeeze in one last Turkish meal, Kebab with a side salad – absolutely delicious.

And of course we had to grab one last Turkish bagel, called simit.  How can you go wrong with a bagel the size of your head?

Wow, this was by far the longest post I’ve done.  6 weeks in Turkey flew by incredibly fast but looking back we did so many things.  We had an amazing time here and would come back in a heart beat.  The food is delicious, the people are so friendly, and there’s so much to see and do.  If my last post didn’t emphasize it enough, Istanbul wasn’t just some other big city.  Its rich history and amazing culture make it such an interesting and fun place to visit before launching into the smaller more “Turkish” regions.