When we were invited by our friends Richard and Sandra to accompany them on a visit to Cappadocia we jumped at the chance. To be honest all I knew of Cappadocia was the photos I had seen of dozens of hot air balloons floating over an unusually striking landscape, but that was draw card enough. In fact Cappadocia is a fascinating region, right in the centre of Turkey, full of stunning landscapes, but also rich in fascinating history, lively culture and of course, Turkish food.

We flew to Istanbul, and then caught a connecting flight with Pegasus Airlines to Kayseri for an overnight stay. Apart from a short drive past the snow-covered Mt Erciyes, we didn’t see anything of Kayseri, but we will have some time there on our way back.

Göreme

We hired a car and drive one hour to reach our hotel in the town of Göreme, which is right in the centre of Cappadocia  and makes an excellent (and popular) base. Our hotel was Dervish Cave House, a charming, if somewhat “rustic” hotel built, like many in the area, right into the caves that dot the hillsides. The staff were lovely and incredibly helpful, and the location was good. We spent an hour on the terrace getting acclimated and learning more about the region, and then spent a pleasant afternoon exploring the town of Göreme.

Sunset Point

Towards sunset we headed to the lookout above the town called Sunset Point. The view from there was fantastic, but like every day of our trip, it was cloudy and cold and so there was no colourful sunset. However there was a cafe serving warm mulled wine so our time there was well spent.

View of snow-covered Mt Erciyes which overlooks the city of Kayseri.

Closeup of Mt Erciyes

The lounge at our hotel

Our room – part cave, part building.

In the courtyard of our hotel.

View from the hotel terrace. Our first sighting of the “fairy chimneys’.

Roman Tomb cut into the rock in the middle of Gêreme main street

Cute cafe in the main street of Göreme

Iin Göreme.

Göreme is a tourist town nowadays, the shops are filled with tempting treasures.

Australian coffee is famous the world over.

It’s true.

“Evil eye” amulets hanging from a tree.

Looking back over Gêreme from the lookout, with Uchisar in the distance.

View of the town of Uchisar and Uchisar Castle

View from the lookout above Gêreme. The landscape is stunning.

The rocks are studded with caves wherever you look.

Houses and hotels are bult right into the cliff walls.

Keith, Richard and a very good carpet salesman!

A night market / restaurant.

Night view of Göreme

About Cappadocia

From smithsonian.com:
“On the high plateau of central Anatolia in Turkey, magic can seem real. What else but enchantment could shape rock and stone into spindly stems that rise, mushroom-like, out of the earth? How could geology ever explain such a surreal phenomenon? Together, the landscape of spires looks like something out of a Salvador Dalí fever dream. Even the nickname of these formations — “fairy chimneys” — evokes the supernatural.

But magic doesn’t exist. (Too bad.) The chimneys are a result of a geologic process that began millions of years ago, when volcanic eruptions rained ash across what would eventually become Turkey. That ash hardened into tuff, a porous rock, which was covered by a layer of basalt. Finally, the long work of erosion began. As millennia passed, the softer tuff wore down, giving way to pillars that stand as tall as 130 feet. The harder basalt erodes more slowly, forming a protective, mushroom-shaped cap over each one. Just like that, a fairy chimney is born — no pixie dust required. That’s not to say the chimneys aren’t magical. The history that took place around these formations — and the ingenious ways humans have used them for centuries — are stories worthy of any fairy tale.

The chimneys are located in a region once known as Cappadocia, which ran through the historic Silk Road trading route. Century after century, the area was raided and invaded by a who’s who of European empire builders. The Hittites, the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Romans, the Byzantines, and the Ottomans all laid claim to the land at one time or another.

During the Roman period, persecuted Christians fled in droves to Göreme, a town in Cappadocia. There, they learned that the soft tuff could easily be excavated and built homes and churches in the chimneys. They expanded ancient caves into underground cities like Kaymakli and Derinkuyu — massive refuges that could shelter thousands. Now designated a World Heritage Site, the rock sites of Cappadocia and Göreme National Park are described by Unesco as “one of the world’s most striking and largest cave-dwelling complexes.” 

For centuries, locals would flee into these tunnels under threat of invasion, shielding themselves from outsiders with heavy stone doors and intricately designed traps. Today, these hand-dug artifacts create a remarkable bond with Cappadocia’s natural wonders. (Tourists can even sleep in certain caves and chimneys, which have been remodeled into uncommon hotels.) The fairy chimney is a product of its many environments, a miracle millions of years in the making. Within a relative blink in time, humans transformed that miracle into a home, burrowing into the magic and making it their own.”