Day 6 – Kaymakli, the underground city

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That day, as ever, we had our breakfast on the terrace, still hoping for the sun to come. We took a “dolmuç” towards Nevsehir and then Kaymakli, to visit one of the famous underground city, which was used to protect people against invasions. A lot of people were heading to the same place of course and we met two guides who tried to convince us to book a guided tour. They quickly understood that we were not the kind of clients who could afford a guided-tour. One of them could speak really well French and started to tell us the stories about underground cities. The place was full of people: school day-trip, Asian tourists, etc.







They were quite well organised in there, as you could find a kitchen, rooms, Wine cave, animals facilities, water point, etc. What is more, it would not have been possible to find the entrance of any of those underground city. The huge stone “doors” let the air come in without permitting anybody to see it from outside.







Afterwards, we looked for a place to have our very special dinner, made out of bananas, chips, cheese and meet, sometimes. We had already been sitting for a while in front of a primary school, when a 15-17 years old girl called us “Turkish tea, Turkish tea”. Uncertain at first, we then decide to accept her invitation, but once in front of the house, the door closed and we heard them arguing on something we could not understand. A bit disappointed, we went somewhere else to finish eating and took a “dolmuç” back to Göreme







Afternoon program’s was to visit of the open air museum in Göreme, where the best churches had been kept in a good state. Much less authentic but still beautiful. Really impressive, how such drawings can go through thousands years without disappearing, reminding visitors of their beliefs and the beauty of their art. We hesitate a bit to buy the supplement of 10 TL (Turkish Lyra) for the “dark church” but never regret it. I definitely recommend you that part of the museum, which I think is the most beautiful we could see. It is called the “dark church” because no light at all goes inside, and this is very important to keep the colour’s intensity and brightness such a long time. The blue was incredibly blue and bright.

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