This report is about the tour: Trekking in Cappadocia
Review of the tour Unreal Cappadocia, October 2020
It has been a long-standing desire of mine to visit Cappadocia; I have always wanted to visit it in October, since I think this is the ideal and most comfortable time here. In addition, being a lover of extreme sports, I flew virtually everything that was possible to fly, but I always wanted to fly in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia, so this amazing place was undoubtedly included in my program in Turkey.Our Cappadocia program differs from standard programs, since we came as part of a sports group and all our days are scheduled with the most interesting trekking trips, during which we will visit all the valleys, canyons and underground cities from the inside, so we arrived earlier than the rest of the group for additional entertainment.
We got from Istanbul to Cappadocia by night bus, checked into a wonderful cave hotel and went for a ride and met the first sunset in Cappadocia on ATVs. About the ATV excursion, I can say that I really enjoyed it. I have ridden ATVs many times before, both in winter and summer, and I can say that the route was not at all easy, we rode for 2 hours through all the valleys in funny German helmets, surrounded by stunning views and, of course, met a wonderful sunset in this land of unreal landscapes.
Hot air balloon flight in Cappadocia. This is a classic, so this is where I wanted to fulfill this long-standing desire. I love extreme sports, I’ve already flown everything possible, but I left ballooning for Cappadocia. Balloon flight is not extreme, but it is incredibly beautiful, romantic, seeing the sunrise in the sky. We were very lucky, having arrived in Cappadocia, we found out that the balloons had not flown for 2 days and the next morning there were no seats, so in the morning we went to watch the takeoff from the ground, the next day we flew for absolutely ridiculous money, and then the weather turned bad and the sky was closed again. Balloon flight is by far the best thing you can do in Cappadocia, so plan your flights in advance
While in Cappadocia, you cannot miss another interesting spectacle - watching hot air balloons take off at dawn. The observation deck is located directly in the valley, where the balloons take off and a truly amazing sight opens up to your eyes
Unreal Cappadocia. This is how you can characterize the landscapes surrounding here. We came as part of a sports group, so we walked at least 25 km a day and completely walked around all the valleys and canyons. As usual, there are blue and green tours, which also cover the main attractions, but you need to walk significantly less. On the first day we visited the Pigeon Valley, the Uchisar fortress, the Valley of Love
Cappadocia has it all. Even stone mushrooms. The Pasha Baglara Valley is one of the symbols of Cappadocia. When you look at these rocks it is difficult to imagine such a fantasy of nature. The rocks look like mushrooms with caps of a completely different type and color. Another unique creation of Cappadocia nature
The Zelve cave complex is now an open-air museum, located 10 km from Goreme. A very impressive place, beautiful, much preserved. In the 9th-13th centuries, Christian monks took refuge here from persecution, and a settlement appeared not only with monastery, but also with residential premises. It’s very different from the open-air museum in Goreme, which I’ll also tell you about. Zelve is definitely recommended for a visit.
The cave monastery of Cavusin and watching the sunset at the highest observation deck in Cappadocia, Sunset Point, is a wonderful end to a busy excursion day. The Çavuşin cave monastery has many well-preserved and virtually uncollapsed halls; some have preserved columns, paintings and frescoes
Probably the most famous and popular tourist attraction is the Goreme Open Air Museum. Entrance to the museum is quite expensive, 75 liras, but this is where there are more churches with perfectly preserved frescoes. There is also the famous black church with the best preserved frescoes, there is an additional entrance for another 25 lire, but the beauty and preservation of this church is impressive. The peculiarity of this museum is that it is strictly forbidden to take photographs here, either with or without a flash, so taking rare shots of the frescoes is an additional attraction for tourists.
If time permits, you simply need to go to attractions further away from Goreme. Undoubtedly, a must-see is the Ihlara Canyon. Simply an amazingly beautiful place. An easy trek of only 3.5 km, but it will give you both amazing views of the canyon itself and well-preserved ancient frescoes in numerous rock churches
At the end of our part of the trip, which concerned Cappadocia, we visited the most distant, but no less interesting locations of Cappadocia - the underground city of Derinkuyu and the Selime rock monastery. The cave city of Derinkuyu is very impressive. Built in the 2nd century BC, and found by chance in 1963. Its dimensions are enormous. About 8 levels are now open to visitors, but this is only a tiny part of what has been excavated and studied. It’s hard to imagine how it was all built 3 thousand years ago and how long it took. The Salime rock monastery was impressive with its multi-level, cathedral-sized rock monastery.
Cappadocia is an amazing place on our planet that leaves indelible impressions in the memory and is definitely worth visiting at least once in your life! And we set off on the next part of the trip to a stunningly beautiful trek along the Western Lycian Way
Marina Kolyubakina, Odessa, October 25, 2020.