Cappadocia, Turkey

The first day, we flew to Kayseri from Istanbul and then took a small bus to Goreme arriving around noon. After checking into Homestay Cave Hostel and drooling over the views from the rooftop, we took a minibus over to Uchisar Castle, a famous “castle” in the area. The minibus was easy to locate by asking asking the people around.

Uchisar Castle towers over the valley. The house is multiple floors of living spaces that were carved out of the rock. You can visit the inside and climb your way to the top, which gives you amazing views of the area and an interesting insight about the people of the area.

Just outside the castle, there are many souvenir shops around. We went inside one because the owner of the shop mentioned he had an underground gallery which intrigued us. We spent a while looking at his huge collection of hand-made ceramics. They were incredible and we walked away with a few new tea cups for our families back home.

From the castle, we found a trail and walked through Pidgeon Valley all the way back to Goreme. It was one of the coolest walks I’ve ever been on. There were caves and man-made holes in the rocks all over the place. It was like a giant playground for adults except. We spent the whole evening leisurely walking back and we had a wonderful time. That night we ate dinner at Viewpoint Cafe, who were kind enough to give us blankets when the sun went down and the temperature dropped drastically.

On the second day, by the recommendation of the hostel owner, we took the “green line” tour (I believe there are three lines, green, red, and yellow). It was a whole day of exploration. We stopped at a viewpoint of Pidgeon valley, then went to this unbelievable monastery (Selime Monastery) in the hill. Everything was carved from the rock, including the living quarters, church, kitchen, and other rooms. From there, we had lunch and then went for a hike through a canyon (Ihlara Valley). The walk followed a little river and when we took a break, we sat at a table situated in the middle of the water.

After the canyon hike, we went on to an underground town called Derinkuyu Underground Town. This was amazing because the town was an 8-story underground labyrinth where up to 20,000 lived, providing refuge for the people during times of recurring threat by invading armies. At least that’s what they told us! Graham Hancock’s Netflix series “Ancient Apocolypse” has a different opinion about this exact underground cave system.

The last stop of the day was another incredible viewpoint of a valley and a goldsmith's jewelry shop. Of course, tours like this want to make more money from the people so they take them to fancy souvenier shops like this. Sometimes that can be annoying, but this time it was pretty cool. The jewelry they had was really impressive and I even bought myself a traditional Saltan wedding ring for $100 (I've never been so in love with a piece of jewelry before).

We got home after dark and were exhausted, but the day was packed with the most incredible sites. We had so much fun. We had dinner at Harlan Cappadocia, a fairly fancy restaurant with more good views of the city.

On day three, my friends and I spent the whole day adventuring by foot. We started at "sunset viewpoint", which required a small fee. We felt it was silly to have to pay to walk up the hill, but the people have to make money somehow, so we forked out a few Lira. It does, in deed, have a great view of the city. From there, we followed a trail behind and found ourselves in Rose Valley, where we spent the rest of the day feeling like we were on a planet from Star Wars.

We realized people usually book 4x4 tours here, but we were happy to walk around and scramble up some cool rocks on our own. The tour typically includes a visit to the “penis” rocks (tall, thin rock formations that resemble.. well.. you get it) though we didn’t make it all the way there just hiking.

At the end of the day, we walked back up to the viewpoint from the back-way and watched the sunset. It was a simple day of enjoying the natural surroundings and it was amazing.

One extra cool note about Rose valley is that there are many people still living in the rock homes which you can pass by and see— so unique and beautiful.

Day four was when we took the hot air balloon ride. We were lucky and didn't have any cancellations due to wind (it’s wise to book this early in your trip so there is time to reschedule if needbe).

We were picked up around 4:30 am to start the day. It was so cold and it took a while for the balloon to be filled with enough hot air to take off, but once we were off the ground and the sun started to rise over the horizon, the views were breathtaking. This really is a bucket list kind of experience. The views of all the valleys are almost unbelievable in the morning glow. Everywhere you look is the most beautiful sight you've ever seen.

The ballooner was female, which was a really refreshing thing to see. She mentioned at the beginning that she had no control over where the balloon went— which I think is mentioned to scare you a little bit.

At one point she dipped us into this valley flying us very close to jutting rock formations and valley walls. We would barely scrape by the tips of the formations with a bit of fear in us, just for her to pull the balloon in the opposite direct and smile. The ballooner did the most amazing job avoiding all dangers and giving us a bit of a thrill, which was a bonus because hot air balloon rides are beautiful but sometimes they can be a little boring.

Eventually we had to land and let me tell you, this lady was incredibly talented. She landed the balloon basket directly onto the truck bed perfectly so the basket didn’t have to touch the ground.

What an amazing morning. Unfortunately, due to covid, we didn't get to drink any champagne at the end, but we got our little hot air balloon certificates and couldn't stop grinning.

Following the balloon ride, we took a much-needed nap before heading over to Dalton Kardesler At Ciftligi to meet a friend who was volunteering on the horse ranch. We paid for a horseback-riding tour through Rose Valley.

My friends had never ridden a horse before so they were pretty scared for a while-- the terrain is not just an easy, flat walk through the river bed. Eventually, they got the hang of it and nobody fell off. The local guide was young, but an obviously seasoned rider. He took us on a thrilling ride up and around the rocky hills. We galloped up steep rocks, looked out at some of the most unbelievable viewpoints, drank some freshly-squeezed pomegranate juice in the middle of the valley, and then had to climb down the rocky mountain.

The tour lasted a little less than two hours and were two of the most incredible hours of my life. We ended the night wine tasting at Mozaik, one of the many restaurants on the main road.

I wish I could find the words to explain how amazing this week and this day were. Cappadocia actually means "land of the horses" so it was a really special thing to be able to ride a previously wild horse through the beautiful valley. And starting the day with the hot air balloon ride was an incredible way to see the whole town from a unique vantage point (the sky).

Everything else we did was just so intriguing. The landscape here is like nothing else in the world— there is so much to explore. Spending this time in Cappadocia was a highlight of my life.