Blogs from Cappadocia, Central Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East

Took the opportunity to walk across this unusual landscape. Rather like I remember in Star Wars movies. In fact I think part of it was filmed here. No need to wonder too long about why! The pictures speak for themselves. Most of them are from around the Rose Valley but the Fairy Chimneys (you my like to suggest they resemble something else!- this is a public blog so I'm not going to be the first to say it!) are at Pasabaglari. Got dropped by the hotel bus at the beginning, walked the 6 or 7 km, had an icre cream then chatted to the vendor who hitched me a lift with the delivery man back to town. A stunning walk for the price of a chocolate cornetto! You be the judge though! Enjoy!... read more

I made this travel 2 months ago.. Now I am on my desktop, still trying to write the exact words for Cappadocia: speechless. It is absolutely stunning. From Istanbul: I took a bus on Asian Side with Nevsehir busline. (It is less expensive that taking a plane). In general terms, the service is quite good for a long 10 hours travel at night; you can even have water, tea, bread and tv service at the bus. But, I can tell that the seats are not quite comfortable (I paid 70 TL); forget about sleeping all night long 'cause the bus makes around 4 stops which last 15 minutes each. There's something for sure: once you arrive to Cappadocia, it doesn't matter the travel, 'cause it is worth it. I highly recommend to stay at least three ... read more

Our first stop today was at Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic settlement that was occupied for around 1,400 years more than 9,000 years. During the period that it was occupied old houses were abandoned and new homes were built on top of the remain which, over time, created a mound over 21 metres high. The dwellings were built closely together without streets separating them so it is believed that the inhabitants walked across the rooftops and used ladders to climb down into the homes' interiors. Archaeologists have explored the site during two periods of excavations. Initial excavation works were undertaken between 1961 and 1965. The site has been explored further since then with annual investigations taking place since 1993. Most of the findings uncovered at Çatalhöyük over the last 50 years are housed in the Museum of Anatolian ... read more

Our second day in Cappadocia was supposed to start with an adventure we had not done before and were very much looking forward to. We were to take the hot air balloon flight that is so famous in Cappadocia. We were picked up from our hotel at 4 am and were taken to the vast open field. In the dark of the night, the field was strewn with numerous huge colorful air balloons those were being prepared for the flight. There were huge fans blowing very hard –which were used to fill the insides of the balloons with air. Once the balloons were somewhat filled with air, fires was blown directed towards the inside of the balloon so that the air inside would get hot and the balloon slowly started to rise. It was as if ... read more

We had a MASSIVE day today! Our wake-up call was at 4am to get up to go hot air ballooning! At least this early start was for something super exciting, not just to get up and get on the bus. So we crawled out of bed literally after very little sleep and heard the Call to Prayer which is the prayer for Ramadan. We’re not usually obviously awake for this so was the first time we heard it. Thankfully the only time! What a racket! J Anyway, most of us piled onto a mini bus and they drove us to the lil restaurant we paid for the flight and had “breakfast.” It was the weirdest breakie ever! Apple tea (normal), chocolate cake and sausages. Very odd but we were all hungry so we attempted to eat ... read more