Goreme Things to Do

The cheapest quoted price last year (late August to early September of 2011) for the hot air balloon ride was 125 Euros per person. I decided against it because I did not want to wake up as early as 4:00 a.m. for this ride (even though I heard it's GORGEOUS) due to the full day tour schedule before and after this activity. As previously stated, it is best to get the cheapest quotation once you get there rather than having it pre-booked on the internet.

Good Luck & Enjoy Beautiful Cappadocia!

We walked aroung Goreme quite a bit. At places we would sit and talk to the shop owners or just lounge around in restaurants. Their hospitality reminded me of the famed Arab and Indian hospitality. On our way to the Open air Goreme museum we stopped at the last shop in line. The kids wanted to see the trinkets and jewellery at an adjacent shop ( an artist from France makes her own stuff and sells it in the nice shop) and as i stood waiting outside the shop, the Turkish owner of a Kilim shop next door very warmly started telling me about his fascinating carpet collection. His older brother visits the country side, staying with nomadic tribals, or buying collectibles and antiques from old mansions. They have a beautiful collection of textiles, carpets and kilims. Unlike other shops, each piece has a story and history woven into it. There was no pressure to buy, and it seemed like a gentle walk into a culture that i was so eager to know of. The next day we stopped by their shop again and the two brothers were sitting outside in the cool evening breeze, eating fruit and home made biscuits (made by a great aunt). They invited us for tea. We sat on kilim cushions across a make shift rock table outside the shop, with our tea and fruits - cherries etc kept around. The two brothers were like 'gentle giants'. Tall, affable Turkish men. They talked gently and in an unhurried way about their travels. We talked of life, spirituality and other things. The stars had come out by now. It was the most beautiful evening spent. (wonderful experience for the kids too)

We have just finished our Hot air Balloon ride in Goreme. Considering it is expensive we had to make a choice if we really wanted to do it. Must say that it is DEFINITELY worth it. It was the most wonderful thing that we have done in a long list of wonderful things. Besides being a novel experience it is a fantastic way to see the valleys around and the fantastic land formations here in Kapadokiya (as the turkish pronounce it). The kids had kind of got tired visiting and site seeing so many historical places in the last few days - so this time we thought we will give them a break and show them the whole place in one shot from up above. We got up early in the morning and took the flight at 5:30ish with so many other hot air balloons. It was a sight to behold. We had read various complains on the net about there not being enough place to move in the basket, or about the journey being much shorter than the 1 hour promised or of being behind someone else and not getting the 'balcony' view. However our travel agent (Agra tours- a Turkish company with an Indian name because their forfathers had fought in India during Ottoman rule) is a very smart chap :) He told us he will get us the best deal ( for just 120euros as opposed to 160 euros that the other companies are charging) and it will be a 12 seater basket only ( give and take one more person). Also, it turned out that we had ample room to move around and get views from different angles. The pilot made an expert landing and take off. He navigated the balloon in just the right way so we got to see the Rose valley from near, the Fairy chimneys from a certain angle etc etc...The balloon company 's website is thkbalon.com and the travel agency is www.agratravel.com .
(breakfast and champagne included)

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One of the attractions of Cappadocia (the best!), are the old christian churches, built in the soft lava that covered all the region.

Now, as the erosion is advancing, the churches come to daylight, announcing their inevitable disappearing. It hurts, seeing such historical places facing that destiny. But... there is, really, no solution at all to save them?

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Cavusin Church Entry Fee = TL8.

I ended up my hike for the day at the Cavusin Church. The Cavusin Kilise or the "Great Pigeon House" commemorates the visit of the famous Cappadocian Emperor Nicephorus Phocas.

I hitched a ride on a small dyna truck back to Goreme just outside the church - in front - on the other side along the main highway.

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Am I so glad I continued my walk from red to rose valley to Cavusin.

It's a very interesting town with the tall and wide rock structure that looks like an old tenement building settlement. It's one of its kind. Never seen anything like it, well, except of course the Uchisar Castle, but the castle is more of a box-type. This one is wide range. Don't get me wrong, they're equally interesting for me.

There's also a nice roman church ruin below the rock settlement. The beautiful and elegantly carved facades of the houses of old Cavusin brings evidence of how impressive the village once was.

Last stop --- the huge rock mountain church of Cavusin.
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I got confused really which is Red and which is Rose Valley, one thing I'm sure of -- they share the same color at most times, I think they're beside each other sharing the same space. The Red Valley isn't literally red and the rose valley isn't blooming with roses. I think it has something to do with the prominent colours of the rock mountains (see pics) -- that sounds like I'm genuinely dumb!

So anyhoo, I think leaving the Hacli Church I was on my way to Rose Valley, don't forget to buy a bottle of water from the snack shop beside the Hacli Church before proceeding as it can get hot walking onto the Rose valley.

The mountain range is really coloured in pink (or old rose, so there I am again with my quite serious dumbness) that's why they called it Rose valley, but why not Pink Valley, so there's a red valley and a pink valley, just for the consistency - colors - instead of flower. Stop me please, right now! ...... Next tip === Cavusin.
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From Hacli Church in Red Valley I continued my walk up and down the rocky mountain. The road is clear but there are a lot of cliffs and no shades from the scorching heat during the summer (it wasn't summer as yet). Nice views here, and there's this huge jutting rock mountain that looks like the back of an elephant, a little slippery but you can (dare! if you must) walk upto the end of it and take a great pic (see my photo here).

It's only about 10 minutes and reached the Rose Valley...next tip for that.
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