cave dwellings and fairy chimneys

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after our hot air balloon ride (and a heafy nap!), we explored around the whimsical, charming, and strangely beautiful villages of cappadocia. when i first saw pictures of this place, i was taken back that something like this excited on our planet earth, and being there in the flesh i was even more genuinely amazed. the wildly eroded landscape of this area has been a refuge for people for centuries – cave dwellers inhabited the green and gold land long long ago, early christians dug into the soft rock to hide, and today many come through to simply enjoy the uniqueness of this spot.

the two days we spent in the cappadocia valleys were balmy and full of quite relaxed fun. we loved scrambling through different areas where we could really explore caves and fairy chimneys (that’s what they call the rocks that singularly stick straight up, like the one in the picture on the left, and isn’t that just magical?!). we had delicious food, met really kind and funny people, were impressed and humbled by history, and we slept in a cave, which was just pretty really cool. IMG_8200
^^ here was our view from breakfast at our cave hotel. ^^
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^^ a pretty good spot to eat breakfast under the sun! ^^
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^^ in the town center in the village of goreme. just a crazy jutting rock formation dotted with caves – nbd. and beautiful textiles in street side shops! ^^
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^^ we bought a magnet in each place we visited, to start a collection that we plan to continue to add to throughout the years ahead. we were constantly looking for stellar magnets everywhere we went. cappadocia had some great options! ^^
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^^ shopkeepers on their smartphones – a sight common to every single stop on our trip. ^^
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^^ this is at the goreme open air museum, which is such a neat place! we strolled around and entered lots of different caves, some of which were churches and some of which were burial places and some of which were dwellings. it was so neat to imagine life there centuries ago. ^^
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^^ the remains of carvings and paintings in a cave church. these were everywhere around cappadocia, not just at the museum. we went inside many cave churches that were remarkably well preserved…^^
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^^ like this one! iiiiincredible. we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, so i lifted this photo from here to help me remember that i was pretty awestruck inside those caves. ^^
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^^ also, there were wildflowers everywhere. so pretty! ^^
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^^ i love this man. ^^
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^^ on our walk to lunch we passed through lots of cute alleys and sidewalk shops selling beautiful things. ^^
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^^ for lunch we had a testi kebab, an anatolian specialty – meat and vegetables cooked inside a clay pot that had to be hammered open by our waiter! it was really, really tasty. ^^
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^^ a view from our drive to the village of uchisar, which boasts a cave “castle” on top of a hill. ^^
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^^ i loved this dried fruit and nut stand in front of the entrance to the castle. ^^
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^^ and of course these wildflowers! ^^
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^^ the view from the top of the castle, and more nuts and dried fruit because isn’t that so beautiful?! ^^
more views from the top:
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^^ as we headed back down, we decided to follow some paths to scramble in and around some different cave dwellings. it was so much fun to explore. ^^
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^^ inside someone’s home, inside of a rock!, centuries ago! not a bad view from the “window”… ^^
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^^ we love trying random foods or treats in foreign places, and that strawberry soda was really, really delicious. (and ian’s navigating skills with the iphone and rental car were top notch!) and… more streetside shops selling beautiful patterns. ^^
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^^ we headed to “rose valley” around sunset time to see the pinkish/redish rock there. we took a little walk among the green grasses and pretty wildflowers. ^^
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^^ along the drive back to goreme. horses. ^^
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^^ we rushed to catch sunset from a viewpoint back in goreme, and kind of missed it trying to get up high. but it was still wonderful to see the landscape bathed in descending light. ^^
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amazing day in an amazing place!!

Comments

  1. LOVE seeing this! Hearing about it is one thing but actually seeing all these awesome places is another! So glad you are making a permanent record here. You will love looking back at these memories!

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  2. Wow! I am sorry I keep popping in just to say that but my goodness it is so much fun to look at your pictures and read about your adventures! Such amazing pictures of a beautiful place! Thanks for giving us all new destinations to dream of.

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  3. This is amazing. So unique!

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  4. Can you recommend any reading about life during this time period and place. It is beautiful and I'm sure has quite a story to tell...

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