Sailing Calista20 April 2024 – 23 April 2024
After our scrumptious breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and headed off to commence our seven hour journey to Cappadocia which had been on our bucket list for quite some years.
As we left the hotel the rain was bucketing down torrentially and getting out of the city was rather challenging. The wind screen wipers were going full speed trying to keep up with the deluge and Paul was having to concentrate being in amongst the traffic while getting use to driving on the right hand side of the road. Google maps certainly helped with the navigation and voice commands.
We couldn’t believe that the roads were so busy for 8.30am on a very wet Saturday morning. Goodness knows, where everybody was going to. There were some pretty impressive architectural buildings as we cruised by.
The roads were awash in a whiteish colour, it was actually quite weird. We realised that it was probably the Saharan dust coming down in the rain.
Travelling along, when the rain was easing off somewhat we noticed that the windscreen was quite smudgy from the Saharan dust.
We drove through numerous tolls and tunnels, some tunnels went several kilometres through the centre of mountains. The rental car was fitted with a toll sensor so all we had to do, was just drive slowly up to the barriers for the car details to be read then drive on through. It was so easy. The main highways are very impressive, mostly four lanes wide. We were very impressed how advanced Turkey was with their roading, it really puts New Zealand to shame with their roads.
The speed limits on the open road was mostly 140 klm. Trucks were only permitted in the two right hand lanes and the cars are able to travel along at a steady speed on the other 1 or 2 lanes without being held up by trucks.
After several hours we eventually out ran the storm and the weather brightened up for us to enjoy the rest of the journey without the wipers. We stopped at one of the roadside autobarns for a toilet stop and refreshments before continuing on, As we got near to Cappadocia the landscape started changing to a drier barren land and rock formations .
We checked into Kistar Cave Hotel, a small boutique hotel in the centre of the small town of Uchisar.
The interior was beautiful with it’s curved stone arches and ceilings.
The owner is very musical and had collected numerous items of musical instruments over the years.
There was a cosy nook to sit and relax.
To access our cave room we had to walk out the front door and around the outside to the path which led down to a wooden door. Once through the wooden door, there were a flight of steps down to where our room was. It was abit of a mission carrying our bags down and back up when we left.
During out stay we were kept fit with climbing the steps, the exercise gave our thighs a good workout.
The lovely young receptionist advised us that the cave room was at least 2000 years old. Obviously some renovations had been carried out with the inclusion of a tiled bathroom and some electrical.
The room was very spacious and bathroom floor had underfloor heating.
Once we had unpacked and got settled into our cave room, we went out for a walk to explore around the town and find somewhere for a drink and a bite to eat.
Wandering around the streets we walked past Uchisar Castle, it was very windy and we decided to leave climbing to the top until another day. The central rock spire is around 60 metres tall and has many underground passages with hundreds of rooms within and below. Once the rock occupied as many as 1,000 inhabitants.
Uschar is situated on the edge of the Goreme National Park. Like most of Cappadocia, Uschar once made a living from agriculture but now depends entirely on tourism. Many of the old stone houses and caves have been turned into boutique hotels.
In the local tourist shops there is an abundance of hot air balloon memorabilia.
On our way back to the hotel we came across a new fountain and park area currently having new turf laid. I noticed the bull in the fountain, my star sign. It was uncanny as it was my birthday the following day.
The following morning Paul got up early and went out outside to see if he could see any balloons. Paul was surprised to see them flying. He had expected that there would be no flying as it was so windy the evening before. There was only a slight breeze and the balloons were flying in the direction of the valleys near Goreme. We got dressed and went outside in the garden to watch them float along just as the sun was beginning to come up over the horizon. Just magical to see so many in the sky.
From the garden we had a great view of the hot air balloons, Paul counted at least 100 balloons that were currently in the sky. In the distance we could see some balloons still launching. It was such a wonderful morning and a great start to the day celebrating my birthday.
We had arranged to go on a “Green Tour” of the local area with a couple of others. The van seated seven and was very comfortable and rather luxurious with large panaramic windows. It was very fancy, even had USB charging points. We had a friendly Turkish man as our guide who spoke very good English, he sat up front with the driver.
We stopped at the Panorama Lookout which is famous for the fairy chimneys and watching the hot air balloons and the sunrise.
We checked out Guvercinlik Vadisi (Pigeon Valley) a few hundred yards just up the road from our hotel. It’s name was earned from the the numerous man made dovecotes that have ben carved into the soft volcanic tuff. Since ancient times Pigeons have been used in the Cappadoca region for food and fertiliser for the infertile volcanic soil.
We covered about 75-80 km around the region visiting the key tourist spots. It was a lovely afternoon for being driven around the countryside. There was still some snow on the mountain ranges nearby.
We visited the historical Derinkuyu Underground City and shown some of the rooms that were once occupied. It’s thought Derinkuyu is thousands of years old and was created by the Hitites in the 7th-8th century BCE as a refuge during the Byzantine wars. Later used as a hiding place for Christians fleeing persecution.
The ancient city comprises of 18 levels of tunnels and ventilaltion shafts, the cities were complete with areas for cooking, food storage, animal pens and even wine and oil presses. Inhabitants could hide for weeks and months underground until it was safe to emerge.
Huge circular stone doors up to 1.5m in diameter and weighing up to 500 kilos were rolled across corridors to seal entrances off from attackers. These doors were only operated from the inside.
We visited a section of the Ihlara Valley which is a deep river canyon, 150m high in the southwest region of Cappadocia. The Melindiz river flows along the 14 klm long gorge. We stopped for lunch in Belisirma Village along with lots of other people, also on bus tours and we were herded into the large seating area where we enjoyed a set menu on the rivers edge.
Those people not on tour groups, could eat in the small make shift cabana’s while the water rushed by closely underneath.
After our lunch the guide took us on a 3 kilometre hike along the gorge. The track was flat and it was a nice stroll following the river. We encountered lots of other people also out for a walk.
We stopped at the Selime Monastery which had been built over two floors dating back to the 8th or 9th Centrury BC. Carved into the rocks the monastery was used for worship and as a fortress against attacks.
Unfortunatley some of the frescoes have been damaged by weather and over recent years by occupants who had lit fires.
There was even a wine cellar which Paul couldn’t resist checking out.
The following morning we were due to have a flight in a hot air balloon. We waited outside our hotel, it was very windy so we predicted that there would be no flying this morning. We were picked up from the hotel at 4.00am (such an ungodly hour – much earlier than in NZ) We went to the headquarters of Kappadocia Balloons where we had a cuppa tea/coffee and cake before driving out to the launch site in the pitch dark. Young Andrew Parker from our Balloon Club in Hamilton, used to fly with the Company when foreign pilots were allowed. It was rather breezy so we kind of expected that there would be no ballooning. Sure enough, after waiting around for an hour, the flight was red flagged. There is an app (Kapadokya SHM) developed by the Kapadokya Universities where the professional authorities have the final say whether the pilots can fly or not – this decision is made for the safety of all pilots and passengers which all the pilots have to abide to. No cowboys can fly. Such a great system where everyone is treated equally.
We were dropped off back at our hotel and as it was still early for breakfast, we collected our car and decided to check out some sights down in Goreme to kill some time before everywhere got busy with tourists.
It is quite common to see signage of police cars all around Turkey on the side of the roads. From a distance the models look the real thing and for newbies, it makes you slow down.
Our rental car was a Fiat Egea Sedan, automatic and only had 1700 klm on the clock.
All around the area there are cave houses of varying sizes.
At the hotel we enjoyed a lovely breakfast. There was a good selection of hot foods, cereals, yogurts, fruit, cold meats, salads and pastries
After breakfast we headed off in the car to explore Goreme town.
Goreme is down in a large valley and due to the hot air balloons, the town is very touristy and has about 400 hotels.
In Goreme the roads were narrow and we somehow took a wrong turn which took up to the top of the town where we came across some workers replacing cobbles in the road.
We asked them the way back to Ushicar and they said to keep going on the road. We followed their advice and carried on along the rather narrow and dirt road hoping we didn’t encounter anyone else coming from the opposite direction.
There were many sights to admire as we drove along. We never encountered anybody else and we eventually joined back up to main tarsealed road.
We stopped off at the local car wash. 8.00 euros, the chap sprayed with a prewash solution then presssure washed the car. We thought that was all, but then two guys proceeded with a chamois cloth and wiped the entire car down including the inside of the doors. 10 minutes later the car was looked mint again. Wow, what a great service.
We choose a lovely morning with clear skies to climb the 200 odd steps up to the top of Uchisar Castle.
Uchisar is simply a natural formation created through the erosion of soft volcanic rock known as tuff. Over millions of years, wind and water sculpted the landscape, given rise to the distinct chimney formations that characterize Cappadocia. Ushisar Castle is the largest and tallest chimney in the region and can be seen for a great distance.
Looking back down over the town of Ushisar.
Couldn’t resist a selfie … smile for the camera.
We stopped at Dream Cappdocia after our climb for a coffee, the views were amazing and we decided to stay on and have a light lunch.
We are quite partial to enjoying the Turkish tea in their small cups.
We returned to our hotel later in the afternoon and enjoyed a glass of local wine on the balcony overlooking the valley below. There are some really good wines produced in Turkey.
We rose early the next morning and drove down towards Goreme were we were able to watch the hot air balloons lift off from several locations. Sadly, we had been unable to rebook a flight as all the slots were already booked out. It was fun being on the ground watching how the big boys operate.
I don’t think I would have enjoyed being in a large basket with about 26 other people. The passengers miss out on all the action. As it is a big commerical operation, the passengers are kept in the van until the envelope is inflated then they are herded into the basket like sheep.
The balloons seem to lift off before the sun is up.
It was a wonderful seeing the balloons lift off and drift across in the slight breeze.
Uchisar town and Castle is in the distance, very prominant on the landscape and can be seen from afar.
It is no surprise why the envelopes are dull and dirty looking considering the launch/landing sites.
We drove down into the town of Goreme where we watched one of the hot air balloons fly over the roof tops.
After a few fun days in Cappadoccia it was time for us to move on.
On the morning of our checking out, the lovely couple who own and operate the hotel presented us with a huge container of home made turkish delight. Wow, what a lovely gesture, it was so yummy. We drove out of Capaddocia and headed in the direction of Antayla where we were staying for the evening.
