Our previous dwelling in the town of Goreme had very limited Wi-Fi, so it was quite a battle to actually find another place to stay. We again ran into issues with certain websites not allowing us to book in Turkey, which makes no sense. We weren’t successful in a new booking until after 11pm. It was a fitful night of sleep. We thought the bedding looked a bit suspect. At 6am, the call to prayer woke us up if we weren’t already. I went to the bathroom to discover we also didn’t have running water at that time. Our place was really checking all the boxes for how not to run a hotel. Complaining about Wi-Fi and creature comforts can be seen as a bit petty, but running water is a little important. If ever there was a time that people really needed to be washing their hands, it’s now. Stemming from these experiences, we thought it best to avoid the hotel’s breakfast.
Around sunrise, however, we were able to at least enjoy a view of the numerous hot air balloons being launched into the cold morning air. Balloons are a big thing here. You can be assured, however, that Bricole will not be joining the parade of gaseous lighter-than-air death baskets. If I wanted to get on a vehicle that was simultaneously out of control and highly combustible, I would have taken Aeroflot. Hey oh!
It’s unclear where they are actually launching these balloons. Because they were everywhere at once, they may even be launching them from the streets themselves. They got quite close. I was watching one that looked like it was about to hit the power lines before ascending.
Perhaps it was about thirty minutes or so, but it looked like all of them had drifted off toward some valley in the distance. As they disappeared behind the rock formations on the horizon, we could no longer witness their fate. I think 10% casualties is a fair estimate.
After the balloons, we checked out, got back in the car, and sped off to a greater future. We first stopped at Peri Bacalari , or an area known as the “Fairy Chimneys.” Cappadocia is known for these unusual rock formations, though some look so strange, I find it hard to believe that they were entirely natural.
There were numerous trails and spurs from the trails to explore the area. Even though we arrived fairly early in the morning, the tour buses were quick to follow. There was already a group of instagram types invading one of the areas. They all wanted the same exact shot of themselves inside an alcove in one of the rocks. Weak. We were initially hesitant about even adding Cappadocia to our itinerary because we knew it tended to cater to some of the worst kinds of people. However, we also figured that because of Covid, their online followers would travel shame them. I don’t want to know what this place looks like during peak travel, but it must surely be something awful.
Nevertheless, it was surprisingly easy to get away from all the people, even after the large tour groups arrived. Nicole and I found some trails that involved some slight physical fitness to climb the mildly steep surrounding hills. Because the instagram photo shoot going on nearby involved people dressing up in heels, dresses, and things that weren’t really conducive to walking, we had no difficulty losing the crowd.
We found the views from above better than the bottom up views that people were getting from the ground level. In fact, we discovered an entirely different group of rock formations that were not visible from the ground due to the surrounding hills obstructing their view.
We gradually worked our way back to the car and headed to another vista. This one also wasn’t too crowded as long as you don’t count the dozens of people riding around on ATVs pretending to look cool. If there’s anything that sets Nicole off, it’s people who think they’re cool. There were several props set up for the instagram folk so they could go on a swing overlooking the rock formations or pose inside a heart frame. After passing all of these things, we encountered about five people.
You will note a lot of the formations are very unique looking. They might, as the English would say, resemble a “gentleman’s sausage” much more so than these so-called Fairy Chimneys. We then hunted for some lunch, which unfortunately led us back to Goreme. We got some Turkish pizza (or Pide) at a small cafe before getting back in the car.
We had one more stop to look at some formations, but the traffic was so chaotic and the views no better than what we had already witnessed, we continued without stopping. We were then able to check in to our new hotel which is a ways outside the town, which at this point is a plus for both of us. Staying in Goreme is like being in Oia on Santorini or Time’s Square in New York. Everyone says you HAVE to stay there, but in the end it’s all just one big tourist trap. Our new place is in a residential area. There are no shops or restaurants nearby, though Nicole was quick to notice a mosque a block away. No need to set our alarms tomorrow.
Our new room is much nicer, larger, cleaner, has wi-fi, costs less, AND has running water. Wowzers. The thing to do here in Cappadocia is stay in “cave rooms” which are built into the hillside. I thought that was the reason for our bad Wi-Fi at the previous place, but that theory has been proven wrong as we are in another cave here. Having witnessed the crowds absolutely inundating some of the viewpoints, we elected to take the afternoon off and just avoid everyone.
We took care of our hotel and flight situation for the next few days, so we don’t have to worry about doing such things late at night when we’re stressed, tired, and lacking in Wi-Fi. After 4pm, we ventured out once more. It is, after all, mischief night, which very few people in the world would know. This coincides with a full moon, and I thought it might look nice with a moon rising above some of the interesting rock formations. I did my best to try and analyze where the moon would actually be rising from, but even with technology, the framing isn’t always what my mind envisioned.
We were dealing with hundreds of ATVs kicking up dust behind us as we were trying to watch the moon, so it wasn’t the most relaxing atmosphere. The blowing dust seemed to be making the moon less sharp as well, so we decided to get out of there. Unfortunately, we ended up in a parade of slow-moving ATVs. Why is there an ATV tour after sunset? Why do they have to be in groups of 50? Why are they driving on the highway? Why have an ATV at all? We had many questions. None were answered. As we drove back toward our hotel, I glanced left and abruptly made a u-turn to park on the opposite shoulder.
Even though the moon was a bit higher, and the sky was getting dark fast, I thought it looked nice as if it was perched on top of this rock formation.
Clouds slowly rolled by over it and I attempted to get some video as well since it was perfect for this very mischievous of nights. As it turns out, my telephoto lens did actually have some use after our African safari. How about that?
After our moon shots, we drove back to our hotel, where we got dinner. It was a very fancy looking place, beyond compare with our prior dwelling in Goreme. Nicole ordered a filet mignon for the equivalent of $8, and I had a local pottery kebap. Basically they put a clay pot in the ground and slow cook it for who knows how long. It seems like a lot of unnecessary effort for what in the end, took me about two minutes to eat. We polished it all off with some Turkish beers and some baklava to celebrate Turkey being Nicole’s 50th country visited. Serefe! And with that, we called it a night in anticipation of being woken up at 6am tomorrow by our local mosque.
passports & pepto bismol 