Well we spent 5 lovely days in the Cappodocia region and really enjoyed it. The last couple we spent exploring ourselves. We walked to the Open Air Museum, and into several valley’s. We went and watched the early morning balloon launching from a vantage point in town. They really fascinated us and it was great to see the morning sun lighting up the valley. We spoke to a pilot in a cafe and he said last year there were 95 balloons in the air during the peak of the season. We counted 40, at the most in the sky, in the few days we were there.
We decided to hire scooters and visit a few more sites. It was fun – but I’m not the speediest on two motorised wheels. Richard kept telling me to wind it up. Some of the roads are cobbled, and others are being repaired after the winter.Georgia and I felt like Colonel Klink as we had to wear these funny helmets. Richard reckoned we were part of the ‘Mothers Motorcycle Club’ as there was a big ‘M’ on the back of the bikes. We made it to Urgup for lunch and had intended to do some wine tasting. But it was expensive and didn’t think tasting wine and driving on the other side of the road on a scooter, in a tourist town was a great idea!
We took a local bus to Uchisar and climbed to the top of the castle, which was interesting. That morning we had awoken to rain and then snow. It didn’t settle in Goreme but had on the hills. We got a good view over the region – dusted with pretty snow.We walked through Pigeon Valley and back to Goreme. Initially taking a few wrong tracks – but the navigator soon had us back on the straight and windy!!
While in Goreme we met some lovely local people who owned cafes. They were really friendly and helpful. One even had entertainment after the meals had been served. Sadly we didn’t have a camera with us – there was dancing and costumes – and diner participation was compulsory!!
We decided we’d had enough of night travelling – so booked a day bus to Antayla which is on the coast. We boarded at 11am and finally reached our destination at 8.30pm. It was a nice trip and we saw some of the countryside. We went over some ranges where the snow was recent and would have been at least a metre deep. It was a good trip – and interesting trying to decipher when we were stopping, and for how long especially when an urgent toilet break was called for!!
Finally got around to reading your wonderful diary. The reports I’ve had from Coppadocia have all been wonderful and yours are as well. What an amazing sight to see so many balloons!!! Rock on Hamilton at their balloon festival. We had a week in Melbourne recently and very early we counted 8 balloons flying beautifully over the city. We were excited about that many!!! Don’t you feel hugely insignificant when you visit some of these places that have been occupied centuries ago. It sort of blows you away. My sister-in-law is visiting Turkey shortly – what a shame you couldn’t have got together and been travelling buddies for a short time. Holidays now – Easter and then 2 weeks. Bliss but I know it will go so fast. Love to you all. Keep safe.
Good to hear from you Robyn. Yes we are enjoying Turkey – the landscapes are quite different here. We’re just planning the Gallipoli part now as we hope to be there for the Anzac celebrations. The warmer weather has disappeared though, but hope it improves soon! Glad to hear you enjoyed Melbourne – that is on our future travel list too. Enjoy your break.
Amazing stuff. A bit different to Nepal. – Nearly half way through your trip now -is time flying by still? or do you need a break – a few nights in a posh hotel somewhere??