Where magic and reality go hand in hand
The dance, between reality and an almost magical environment , will take you to experience how wonderful our planet can become. Shall we head to Cappadocia?
THE ARRIVAL
We rented a car at Kayseri airport (prior flight from Istanbul) because we wanted to move with a certain freedom through that place as remote as it is visited by thousands of tourists each year. We went, impossible to deny, for the balloon Experience, but we fell in love with everything else.
Contemplating the landscape in a balloon is a must
Dogukan received us into the night in its hotel reopened for only two weeks. The Seven Cave Rock Hotel was strategically located in Göreme, one of the most important towns in the area , and just below the constructions excavated in the typical mountains of Cappadocia.
The rooms are built in the cave walls and they are all individual apartments that overlook a modest garden with a swimming pool. A perfect place to a spiritual retreat. We got the room with the porch and a vine full of bunches of grapes. Perfect to believe that we were in our summer house.
While he was telling us that he was reforming every detail of the hotel, what was I going to make a garden and what did you want to put ceramic stalls , Doğukan's eyes were shining brightly and he was smiling nonstop.
He was starting with the project of his life in the place where he had seen him grow. He ordered us dinner to go and the first kebab of the trip in just 20 minutes. Hummus, Turkish salad and white rice to finish. Ready to sleep and continue the adventure.
DAY 1
We had a full day to visit the area and decided, through the hotel, hire a local guide that he come to spend half a day with us to explain the main points of interest. The cappadocia it was refuge of thousands of Christians who were fleeing from persecution of the Roman Empire and that is why they settled in its mountains.
The architecture of the place presents peculiar forms: 'mushrooms' and inverted tops coexist that housed houses and churches which, having been built directly into the mountain, managed to maintain a neutral temperature in very extreme territory. The summers in cappadocia they can become 40 degrees , Meanwhile in winter they arrive at 15 degrees below zero.
we start with Kaymakli, the underground city, an impressive construction six stories down that was used before threat of attack. They were able to survive months locked inside the mountain, sharing rooms to sleep, eat and keep animals alive which they used for food.
They had their own water pipeline and created dozens of outlets, doors and air channels , for ensure oxygen and the possibility of escape.
Can visit to the top floor , but prepare to go crouch And watch your head. impress.
After emerging from the depths we headed to the Goreme Open Air Museum which was, at the time, a complex of monasteries in which they took refuge the Christians. Each of them had his own church and today they can still be visited (and not photographed) and contemplate the frescoes of their ceilings and walls.
Caves in Göreme National Park
This museum is pride of the inhabitants of the city -Doğukan fervently insisted that we visit him- and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 1984.
At three in the afternoon the lunch break becomes essential: we order a cold beer and lots of grilled meat. Again, cucumber, tomato and onion salads , a good portion of humus and we are encouraged with the pottery kebab, typical of Cappadocia.
It turned out to be a kebab cooked inside a ceramic jug that you uncover by giving it light blows. a stew that combined with rice it's delicious.
Red Valley
With a full belly and already recovered, we start the route to the last obligatory stop: Pasabag, an old town located in the middle of a vineyard. Also known as the Valley of the Monks , stands out because its constructions are shaped like mushrooms, although popular tradition called them "fairy chimneys" and has ended up being the most instagrammed place of the area.
The day is intense but it doesn't end until the sun sets. Here we had a clear recommendation: Red Rose Valley. take its name from the color of its rocks , and it is that the pink turns intense as the sun goes down.
The valley has paths for hikers , but the best point to see the king star fall is in the rocks from in front of the bar where the crowd is. The immensity opens at your feet in a landscape in which Can you imagine that the Little Prince himself she could appear in any corner taking care of his rose.
DAY 2
The alarm clock rings at 4:10 a.m. A transfer picks us up at 4:15 am and, with our eyes half closed, we get into a van with our fellow adventurers. Us we are four and we have decided to fly in a balloon of 16 people -you can do the private trip through a higher budget.
Silence enhances magic
We are an hour or so before dawn and all the goreme roads is it so full of vans like ours. All with the same goal: to take us to our first balloon flight.
in Cappadocia dawn around five in the morning and the van leaves you in the middle of nowhere. There are only balloons that still lie on the ground and gradually inflate. The little light What's up? illuminating the faces of illusion (and sleep) of all those present.
The fire coming out of the burners starts to inflate the mesh and, in a matter of minutes, the balloons are ready for the flight.
We get on with our, we wait, experienced pilot , who tells us that our big guy is called Titanic. The flight starts without even realizing it.
Progressively and almost magically, the sky fills with dozens and dozens of colored balloons full of wide eyes trying to capture the moment forever. On one side, the moon, which is not yet hidden; of the other, Sun how shy begins to appear in the distance.
Lake Tuz
During an hour are suspended in the air crossing the valleys, surrounded by silence and sky. It's better than all the photos you've seen (and I know there are not a few).
The descent happens about six o'clock in the morning , perfect time to continue resting for a while and go to the next stop: we will leave Cappadocia passing through Lake Tuz, or Tuz Gölu, in Turkish , What does it mean salt lake
this lake, the second largest in Turkey , is a large area of salt covered by a few centimeters of water that generates a impressive optical effect. Water turns pink and merges with the sky to the point where the horizon disappears.
It is a spectacle of nature that acts as perfect closure for two days in which reality and imagination are mixed in a unique enclave.