The private tour we took on third day of the southern valleys of Cappadocia was the highlight of our trip. Well, let me say it this way – we had seen lots of pictures of Cappadocia, especially of the hot air balloons, from our friends and other visitors. So when we hiked through the amazing valleys, we had a bit of déjà vu. However, the cave cities we saw on our third day were unexpected and totally mind-blowing. We visited ancient churches in Soğanlı, Sahinefendi, and Cemil, dating from around 1100 to about 1900 A.D. These towns offered cave-church exploring similar to the Göreme Open Air museum but off the beaten path with less crowds and the ability to view the cave drawings up-close. We also got to see traditional village living that has been unchanged
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