(Part 5) Traversing Turkey: Cappadocia - Posh Caves, Fairy Chimneys, and Underground Cities!!

- Dec. 26-27, 2019, Thursday to Friday.

- "Cappa....what?" Apparently, many people know about this place, but no one is really sure how to pronounce it. Cappadocia is known for its alien-like natural rock formations and its hot-air balloon rides, and has been popularized by celebrities and social-media influencers in the recent years. However, various pronunciations of this place can be heard all over. While most people read its name as "ka-pa-dow-shuh," which is fine, the preferred pronunciation is how the Turkish people and people who speak some neighboring languages pronounce it: "kap-pa-do-kyah." Also, Cappadocia is not as city as many would think, but rather, an area that encompasses several provinces in the central region of the Anatolian Plateau. The province of Nevsehir ("nev-she-hir") is perhaps the most touristy of all the provinces in the Cappadocia region.

- Apart from the tourist sites, many of Cappadocia's accommodations are also unusual. The area boasts its "cave hotels," which are literally hotels with rooms built inside natural caves. Most hotels also tend to have a villa-type set up, which is looks nice, but can be difficult for those who cannot walk too much (like my elderly mom who was with us.) Worse of course is if it rains or snows, since the ground was not flat as these cave hotels are located on the mountainside. Sometimes, one would need to walk up a lot of stairs too if the room assigned was in a higher cave. Despite these, cave hotels are a novelty and a rather different way to spend nights in Cappadocia. Our cave hotel was called Yunak Evleri Cave Hotel.

Yunak Evleri Cave Hotel early in the morning.

The same hotel, at night.

- The hot-air balloon ride is also one of the region's main tourist activity, as I've mentioned. Reservations are to be made beforehand because there are limited seats per hot air balloon. They normally cost around 250 USD per person (yes, you read that right.) Unfortunately, we were told that hot-air balloon rides were cancelled on the two days that we were in Cappadocia due to weather conditions. Those days, it did not only rain, but also snowed heavily. My friends who joined other tour groups and arrived in Cappadocia a few days before our group did were not able to fly as well for the same reason. The best time to go to Cappadocia is during spring or autumn when the weather and temperature are just right (the summer can be too hot, we were told.)

- Despite this, there were still plenty of things to do and see in Cappadocia! That morning, we started our day by visiting the Turkish carpet emporium to see how weavers do the double-knotted Turkish carpet. Because they're double-knotted, unlike other countries where only one knot is done, Turkish carpets and rugs take twice as long to make but its high quality can make it last generations.

A rather traditional weaving loom.

I have always admired weavers.

A paisley-patterned Turkish carpet at the back.

Can't believe that this is handmade!!

I love this carpet and I want to take it home....if only it weren't so expensive!!

I love designs like this.

- After a drive through the region, we reached the Kaymakli ("kay-ma-kluh," where the "uh" sound is like the -u in "drug" or "hut") Underground City. Underground cities, not just the one in Kaymakli, were built around 7th century BC, and most are still being used today. Throughout history, they were made to take advantage of the sturdy mountains and especially in the medieval times, as protection for the Christians from the invading Muslims.The underground network in Kaymakli has been open to the public for several decades now. Do note that those who have a large body structure (larger than mine,) have difficulty squatting or walking, or are claustrophobic may opt NOT to go inside since some tunnels require all its visitors to squat (and there is no other way but to pass through those tunnels), and some may be quite steep.

Driving through Cappadocia.

Out of this world rock formations.

Into the unknown?

Kaymakli Underground Museum.

It was difficult to go around. (Also notice how small the passageway is.)

For wine.

- It started to snow after our visit to the underground city, and it was one of the best snow experiences I've had so far. It was the light feathery type, which most people say snow is supposed to be. All my snow experiences in the past had been harsher. I enjoyed staying out an let the snow fall on my face. Later on, we visited the Goreme Open Air Museum, which showcases not only some of Cappadocia's finest rock formations, but also its cave churches (no photography inside the churches) built during the Byzantine Era.

Snowwww.

Just look at all these rock formations.

It's mysterious and magical at the same time.

The rock formations in the middle are called fairy chimneys. They look like giant rock mushrooms.

- As a way to keep warm from the snow, we visited a pottery workshop located inside a cave home. It was where I found out that apart from carpet-making, pottery is another important industry. Many families in the early days, and some until now, even consider weaving or pottery as a condition for marriage. Depending on the family, if a potential spouse cannot weave or make pottery, the person is automatically not considered as a good choice for the family's son or daughter.

For this family, pottery is its pride and glory. They've been doing it for generations!!

They still do pottery the traditional way.

- We spent another night in our cave hotel as the snow continuously fell. The next morning, soft snow had blanketed the whole city and as nice as it was, we got delayed by an hour since we needed a shuttle to drive us to our bus at the parking spot outside the hotel. It was impossible to walk because the road to the entrance/exit was steep and wet due to the snow.

Elsa is shaking.

Yes, I can survive with wearing just that in the snow, no kidding.

- We left Cappadocia and had a brief stop at Lake Tuz, which is a well-known salt lake. Although it didn't look much when we arrived there, I found out that during the warmer months, the lake bears a pink color due to a special algae, and is visited by wild flamingos. (Because of all these winter-caused "mishaps" in our trip, I am convinced that I need to go back to Turkey some day.)

Lake Tuz during winter: no pink color, and no pink flamingos.

- That afternoon, we skipped our brief stopover in the capital city of Ankara to see the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first president of Turkey, because we left Cappadocia way too late due to the snow and we'd arrive at our nexth otel way too late if we did stopover to see the mausoleum (too bad, I really REALLY wanted to see it as it is an important landmark to honor the "Father of Turkey.") We stayed for a night in the city of Bolu before our final leg in our journey through Turkey - the old capital of Istanbul!!

- Don't forget to read about my other adventures in Turkey:

Part 1, Troy and the Trojan Horse: here

Part 2, Virgin Mary's House and Ephesus: here

Part 3, Laodicea on the Lycus and the Alien Travertines: here

Part 4, Konya: here

Part 6, Istanbul's Royal Old Town: here

Part 7, Istanbul Between Continents: here

Part 8, Istanbul's Secrets: here

Part 9, Istanbul on New Year's Eve: here