Cappadocia

This place is one of the best I've ever been in. Cappadocia is the name of a historical region in central Turkey, Central Anatolia. According to the information that I found, Cappadocia spans about 400 km east-west and 250 km north-south which makes it bigger than Croatia. The unrealistic view of this region resembles the lunar surface and is made by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago, formed by erosion and rain, and arranged as a warm home through years and years by countless nations. There simply isn’t enough time to get bored of Cappadocia, and there is no text or image, film or any other medium for you to describe this magical land.

The first known people who lived in this region were the Hittites, between the 18th and 12th century BC after the Hattis disappeared from the same region. Later the Persians and then Romans arrived. Cappadocia is even mentioned in the Bible because the early Christians in the 4th and 11th century AD hid here during the Roman rule. On this vast territory they carved countless underground cities that could accommodate up to 10,000 inhabitants, livestock, food containers, etc. Christianity was blooming in this area. For this reason, almost every "hole" in which you take a look has a Christian character, and two out of three "holes in the rock" are old churches. Later, during the Ottoman Empire, Cappadocia was abandoned because there was no need to hide in the caves because the Christianity was treated with tolerance.

One of the numerous above-ground fortifications. 

It is believed that the name of Cappadocia comes from the Hittite word Katpatuka which means "the land of beautiful horses".

One of the most famous Croatian travelers and adventurers, Željko Malnar has led numerous expeditions in the 1970s and the 1980s into Cappadocia. Then this area somehow started the tourism development. I'm sure that Mr. Malnar would be surprised how in some areas tourism has blossomed. However, it is very easy if one wants to get away from the whole crowd. This area is so big and vast that it can handle a little tourism. However, bad weather, rain and time drastically shorten the life expectancy of Cappadocia.

In Cappadocia everything is mostly concentrated around the small town of Göreme in the heart of Cappadocia. There is also the Göreme Open Air Museum which is heavily visited by tourists. From Göreme all the most famous valleys are accessible on foot on a one day trekking trip, while for more remote locations you can take the local bus or taxi. Everything is located at about 1000 meters altitude with a pleasant steppe climate which in the hot summer months in Turkey offers a chilly night and a deep sleep.

Göreme, the famous "fairy chimneys", or towers of volcanic rock resembling fairy chimneys, the sight of modern buildings and mosques. The people live on tourism, sale, farming, and are famous for carpets and pottery, especially in the north at Avanos.

A topographic or any official map of Cappadocia doesn’t exist. However, it is possible to find hand-drawn maps. They have them mostly in two versions. These versions are drawn well enough that you can use them for hiking trips through the famous valleys of Cappadocia. The most famous valleys in the heart of Cappadocia are the Rose, Love, Red, and Pigeon Valley, which are generally between Çavuşin, Göreme and Uçhisar. There is no need for a guide, just a little bit of orientation skills and good trekking shoes. We were in Cappadocia for 5 days. In just two days of hiking we have made around 35 km walking through about 7 valleys. In five days of walking around Cappadocia we met only five people. The reason is that most tourists take tours, visiting all in one day with stops at popular places for the famous photos.

Beautiful views, valleys, canyons, tunnels through which you walk with headlamps and come out in another valley, tunnels which bring you to a dead end, labyrinths, sunsets, the specificities of each valley, underground entrances, homes and castles, fairy chimneys, old Armenian cave churches, phallic rock formations, grass, lemon, peach, apple, grapes, paradise.

Sleeping "in the wild" in a 16 century old church, in an upstairs room. Some tourists pay for such accommodation up to 100 dollars in tourist areas. A little further on, after half an hour of walking to men desirous of nature countless doors open. You can sleep in literally every hole in the rocks, in any building, room or underground church in the wild. And thank God at every twenty meters there is a new hole.

Our home and accommodation, a church, which was carved by the first Armenian Christians 16 centuries ago.

Our church and home from the outside.

Other churches from the inside.

A constant pain in the ass is this kind of grass that is found in some valleys. You can pull it out only from the inside.

The standard Turkish breakfast. Eggs, jam, cheese, olives, melon, tomato, some bread, butter, pickles and coffee or black tea.

Some locals in a small remote town invited us to show us the underground lemon storage rooms which they carved into the rock by themselves, so we got some free lemon.

Standard entrance into all sorts of tunnels that lead through the hill, and sometimes in another valley. It is good to have a headlamp.

One of the numerous underground cities. This is a common room at some 80 meters underground in the city of Derinkuyu which had long ago accommodated around 10,000 people. The city consist of 11 underground levels. The city even includes places for wine presses, stables for livestock, churches, etc.

Dinner with a glass of cappadocian wine. We were offered a good price for this traditional cappadocian dish (chicken in a sealed pot, which they break when they serve it), a nargila and wine as much we want for free. Basically, their wine in our world is classified as vinegar. So we drank only one glass of that "specialty". They put the grape juice in closed jars and pots, bury them for like 6-8 months under two meters of soil. There are also some good sorts of wine though.

Through all our days in Cappadocia we had some pleasant dog company. As they followed us for the whole day we gave them names. Stray dogs had previously been a problem here because of the extreme growth in the number infected with rabies. For this reason the state provides the stray dogs all the necessary vaccinations and some stamps on their ears.

For all those interested in more photos of Cappadocia, you can visit this link (click here) where there are panoramic photos.