Turkey - Goreme and environs

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At about 6.30 am, as soon as the rising sun’s rays hit us, we warmed up rapidly, breakfasted and packed up and set off to explore the area which abounds in gorges where troglodytes have made their homes over the centuries, carving into the soft stone. We visited Ihlara, Belisirma, Guzelyurt, Kaymaki, and Uchifar where we saw various early Christian churches carved into gorge walls. There were underground cities - some very isolated and rather scary to explore while others were plagued by busloads of Japanese tourists.

Our target for the day was Gorem where we fortunately found an ideal campsite overlooking the valley of stalagmites. These formations were quite extraordinary and eerily beautiful, again where troglodytes had made their homes - some still lived in. The campsite owner warned us that there would be balloons launching from the valley early the following morning so, after enjoyable hot showers and an excellent camp supper we repaired to bed reasonably early. (Only 91 miles today)

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Photos

Camp7 - Kapadokia Area
Camp 7 Kapadokia area - (day 13)

Kapadokia Area
Camp 7 Although sunny it was a freezing morning! (day 13)

Leaving Camp7
Leaving Camp 7 (day 13)

Travelling to Kapadokia
A stop on the way to Gureme in Kapadokia