Beautiful valleys of Cappadocia
Beautiful valleys of Cappadocia
Have you ever booked on booking not a hotel, but a cave? ! We already do) And everything is so natural “Your reservation of the cave is confirmed”. I have heard before that you can book a tent or tent, but this is the first time in a cave. And the most paradoxical thing is that booking a cave is cheaper than a full-fledged hotel, only 23 euros per day and the cave with all the amenities is yours! In general, until recently everything was simple, the best trip of the seventh season could be called Annecy. But now we are faced with a difficult choice. It's good, even though Norway was last season.
We'll have to cancel the nomination, and give the landscape designer of Cappadocia an Oscar!
This trip was also unique in that it did not take place on our initiative. More than a year ago, Dasha and I calculated possible ways to get to Cappadocia and kept her in our wish list, but one warm evening, our friend Olya (olgaspv ) suggested “Let's fly to Cappadocia for my birthday! ” Olin's birthday was just a week away, but advanced travelers knew without further ado that this was not about the next birthday.
Getting to Goreme
The road to Cappadocia is a real test of willpower, you have to prove that you really deserve to plunge into this fairy tale. And you can get into this fairy tale in this way. First you need to fly about two hours to Ankara. It is best to use whiskey and cola or a little wine, this temporarily makes it easier to understand the complexity of the route. Then about an hour to get to the bus station by bus for 11 lira. Moreover, you need to sit not on the bus that is leaving right now, but on the left one, which does not plan to go in the near future. After all, we are not looking for easy ways. Now you need to have a meal, but to warm up your appetite, it is advisable to run through all the floors of a huge bus station in search of that treasured ticket office. You need to try as much as possible to communicate with the bus station workers, who speak beautiful and pure Turkish. By the way, there are two ticket offices, and both are located on the third floor, one of them is number 50, the other with a number higher than seventy. Then eat delicious Iskander Kebab, or no less magnificent Kofta.
They have a wonderful restaurant at the bus station. "Cheap and clean" - this is how the cashier described it to us. Then we clink glasses for the journey that has begun and drink ayran. After ayran, it would be nice to drink tea from Turkish cups. Olya, who most of all wanted tea from a narrow Turkish cup, was brought in a large glass cup. Olya really wanted to drink fresh instead of ayran, but Zhenya said the immortal phrase “You are in Turkey - drink ayran! ” sounded like a slogan for a Turkish advertisement for ayran. We leave a tip to the waiter, as this restaurant will still be needed to return from a fairy tale. Now 40 minutes walk through a very strange semi-park that surrounds the bus station. And you can go further. The road to Nevshihir takes about 5 hours. There was no direct bus to Goreme, despite the fact that there seemed to be such ones on the Internet. At the time of our trip, two buses of different companies departed at 15:00 and 15:30. Tickets must be purchased on the spot. It seems like there are more buses, but they were not offered to us. Both companies have comfortable buses and make stops for a bite to eat. If you go by the Nevshihir company, they will give you sweets and coffee, then Pepsi is also poured for those who wish. If you go by the “KomilKoc” company, you can look at the sweets that will be carried past you, but not offered. But they will drink water all the way. In any case, the ride is very comfortable. We arrived in Nevshihir at 20:30, the last minibus in Goreme had already left. Perhaps if we got on the bus at 15:00, we would have time. Then the taxi drivers offered a ride for 100 lire ($18). We got into a local minibus for a couple of lira and went to the city center to try to get to Goreme from there. But there was one nuance - it began to rain so heavily that in the center it was difficult to even lean out from under the visor of the stop. And it is not clear whether there will be any other buses. Fortunately, there were Chinese people standing next to us who called us a taxi. They themselves planned to spend the night in Nevshihir, but seeing our desire to get to the heart of Cappadocia, they also called a taxi to Goreme. We eventually agreed for 60 lire. As soon as everyone was seated, the taxi driver for some reason told Zhenya to move from the front seat and put another man in his place. Zhenya jumped back to us. It turns out that this is how we were offered to share the trip. As a result, we went for 40 lire ($7). Not only was the strongest downpour pouring, but also the cold was just crocodile. I was pierced to the bone. But the four of us in the back seat became much warmer. Google predicted that for our entire trip there would be thunderstorms for half a day. But it’s not for nothing that this season is called “I go and the sun follows me. ” Until we reached Goreme in 20 minutes, the rain stopped.
Goreme
Despite the routine of getting there, the streets of the city immediately inspired us. These bizarre rocks are right on the streets of the city! Hotels, shops, caves, all mixed up at once. Everything is beautifully illuminated by night lighting and shimmers from the recently ended rain. Does it really happen? Now we need to solve the problem with the ball. Frozen and survived the storm, we were at the bottom of the pyramid of desires. There was only one desire - at least to fly on a balloon in general. A month ago, Olya's friend flew here for five days and at the end sang the song “In a big balloon, we never flew! ” The owner of the hotel promised that the balloons would fly steadily from the day after tomorrow. This comforted us, and we climbed a little higher along the pyramid of desires, now we had the main goal, so that our balloon would fly in clear weather, and we would see the dawn. It's time to move in.
We were led to our two caves. One cave is luxurious and spacious, with a hollowed-out couch in the rock and a carpet on the ceiling, the second cave is small but cozy. But the price is exactly the same. It is necessary to determine who will settle in which in the most democratic way. The first option was “Let Eagle or Tails decide! ” But that would be very easy! It had to be a little more difficult! But how? Need a brainstorm! What exquisite ideas did not come up, there was an option when Dasha sleeps in a small one, and the rest in a large one, an option when everyone sleeps in a large one, an option when everyone sleeps in a small one and hangs out in a large one, an option when after 2 days we change rooms. When no one sleeps in anyone, the option when everyone just sleeps, there was also the option of anonymous voting. The owner initially stood and asked what we finally decided. We said that in such a difficult question we could not give an answer so quickly and continued to laugh, sorting through ridiculous options. After 15 minutes, we were all settled. The good news is that in all cases, one couple was looking for a reason why another couple should live in a cool room, and this is really cool. Dropped things and went to feast in the city. Lentil soup, pide, baked jacket with mushrooms and cheese and other goodies. It was a blow to the diet, but a very, very tasty blow. My wife needed to change money and, fortunately, the waiter in the restaurant turned out to be the real “Central bank of Kapadokia”, at least he introduced himself that way.
The peculiarity of this trip is that you need to wake up early every day so as not to miss the balls. In June, the balloons start to take off at 04:35. The balls must be observed from the mountains that surround the city. The road to the most popular survey took 12 minutes. But our hotel was located quite well and our terrace also offered excellent views of the balls. So, on the first night, you can cheat and not climb the mountains. Especially today it is not known whether those balls will be in such weather. One of us volunteered to be the hero who would get up before the rest and check if there were balloons, and then wake up the others. In fact, everyone ran out at 04:40 to the terrace in anticipation of seeing this miracle. There were no balls. But there was a rumble from the mountains, perhaps it had something to do with the balls. And everyone came out not in the mood, and the lantern also treacherously shone in the eye. There was a good reason for my not being in the mood - I had a dream five minutes ago that we went to look at the balls, and there the toastmaster began to entertain everyone with stupid contests. We stand as if rooted to the spot and look into the empty distance. I said that the lantern infuriates me and now he began to enrage all three. So, for some reason, our hero is missing. He is sleeping, he said that he hopes that there will be no balloons))) We continue to look at the insidious lantern. And then, from behind a lantern far into the desert, a piece of another lantern looked out! Just kidding, of course, the ball popped out! We ran to a higher terrace, in the desert we could see a couple of dozen balloons, which gradually inflated. Our hero was awakened and now we are all part. The sky was overcast, inside the intrigue grew more and more that I want a clear sky tomorrow. The balloons began to inflate more and more, the first ones began to take off from the ground.
The balloons all took off and took off, in 30 minutes about 150 balloons rose into the sky. This spectacle can hardly be called beautiful, it is something much higher, as if you are looking at the best screensavers for your desktop. Weightless balls of different distances hover as if in space, they are feathers. Inside me at that moment everything became just as weightless. It's like seeing the green Carpathians for the first time. These are the moments that become priceless gems in a museum of memories. It is not even clear what is more beautiful, to look at the balls or to rise into the sky. An hour of magic and you can go further along the beds. After lying down for about 10 minutes, Dasha and I came to the conclusion that we need to start the route now, while the sky has at least some blue, according to the forecast, there will be a thunderstorm in the afternoon. Since the number of forces is different and the preferences on the routes are also different, it is optimal to track separately. We turned on the mobile Internet and constantly exchanged impressions from the routes. Around 6 am we started our hike to the Sabel Valley.
Saber Valley
We took the routes here. The route started outside the city. On the way, a cafe with delicious buns, pies and other Turkish delicacies was waiting for us.
At the beginning of the route, we were met by a guide - the dog Rubby. The dog had an incredible talent for ruining photographs with ridiculous poses. We tried to explain to Rubby that we could manage without him, but he insisted that it was impossible to go on the routes without a guide. Okay, let's go together. The most interesting thing is that, going through the pictures of other tourists, I noticed that guide dogs in Cappadocia are a common thing.
At the beginning, we were waiting for authentic trees, hung with eyes from the evil eye, pots in carts and even two aliens. This world is so interesting, until recently we were shocked by the fact that we watched the show of mermaids, and now we met the aliens themselves. By the way, the views of Cappadocia would fit perfectly into the picture of the film “Kin-dza-dza”.
Meanwhile, the dog did everything to fit into all the photos backwards. An attempt to run to a beautiful panorama faster than a dog turned into a photo in which Dasha seems to be racing with her hunting friend!
The Saber Valley is one of the most beautiful valleys in this area, its feature is that you can not only climb between the rocks, but also walk right along the tops. A bonus for those who set off on the route early will be the balloons, picturesquely hovering in panoramic photographs.
After we climbed the peaks, we can go down into a narrow canyon. Climbing the peaks is sometimes not entirely safe, so be vigilant and careful. During the three days of routes, I once stumbled a little, but successfully landed on my hands. It was scary. As we descended into the narrow canyon, our Rubby began to howl in a strained way, it seemed that something unexpected would happen around the bend. The narrowness and height of the canyon was pleasantly exciting. After walking for about five minutes, we reached a stairway three meters high.
It seems that the dog was afraid of this, she obviously knew well about the stairs. Well, Rubby, we'll finally have to say goodbye here. We went down the stairs and went on, the Dog began to howl and demand that we return. But even with the most optimal scenarios, we still won’t let her down the stairs. We walked for about five minutes, but the barking did not stop. Something would have to be done, but in fact, what can we do? And the dog can safely return the same way that went with us, especially since there is only one road. But at one fine moment, Rubby caught up with us, still found a way to go down, for bravery our faithful dog was awarded a salami stick upon his return from the canyon. True, while I left the store with a stick of sausage, another dog was sitting in his place with the same look, as if he had walked the entire canyon with us. But we found Rubby and rewarded her. Gradually, the Saber Valley passed into the Rose Valley.
This valley was the most spacious of all. If in all the valleys it was possible to make your way only along the paths, then in this one there is complete freedom of action. And if you carefully look into the rocky caves, you can even find entire temples with columns inside. They also found a rather interesting two-story cave with a rope for climbing, but they did not dare to climb.
We were on the road for only a few hours, but during this time we set an absolute record. Our charged battery showed that the charge was almost exhausted. During these couple of hours we took more than three hundred photos. Luckily, we have a second battery of the same type at our hotel. And breakfast is about to start. And from the spacious pink valley it is easy to return to the city, and then start from the same place. In general, everything indicated that you can take a break.
Our Rubby also wanted to enter the hotel, but I closed the front door. While we climbed to the second floor, the dog was already looking at us from another open door on the second floor. We came for breakfast and told Olya and Zhenya about their impressions of the route to the Sabel Valley. We were literally overwhelmed with emotions. Olya noticed that now there will be an interesting moment in the history of travel, for the first time after our story they will be able to repeat our route in just 30 minutes, instead of the usual two years. The breakfast was quite good, in general it's great that we returned. True, a strong thunderstorm is predicted very soon and returning for breakfast may be our last adventure of the day. We had breakfast and ran to continue our route.
Caves, of course, came across notable, so to speak, for every taste. Our path lay to the city of Chavushin. But it would be too easy to reach him directly. Fortunately, in addition to the direct road, there is also a road that goes to the right and passes into the Red Valley. And then, when we leave Krasnaya, we will be 400 meters farther than now, but we will make a circle through the valley about three kilometers.
Red Valley
Here, it would seem, we will go through one or two valleys, and then everything will be monotonous, but no! Absolutely all valleys look different. For example, in the Red Valley there are such cool moments as climbing 15 meters up the stairs, which turns into a dark tunnel, through which you need to go through with flashlights.
And the best thing is that no matter how hot it is, you don’t need to take a lot of water with you, even in the most remote corners of the valleys there is a beautiful temple, near which inexpensive water will definitely be sold.
Along the Red Valley, we got to the very top, from where a breathtaking view of the canyon with valleys opens up. And there is also green planted grass, upholstered furniture, a swing in flowers, coffee, ice cream and a bunch of sweets. In fact, a road approaches that place and the locals, who are too lazy to go down to the valleys, spend time here.
Instead of a strong thunderstorm with rain, the sun in the clear sky was gaining power, turning from warm to hot. Of course, we had sunscreen and even sunscreen, but all this was successfully left in the room, because in the morning we did not even hope that after so many successful sunny trips the forecast would be wrong again. Fortunately for us, these were transitional days from an ice cyclone to the summer heat. We had a photo shoot on the grass, loaded up with pistachios and continued our route.
True, the view of the valleys under the scorching sun was a little alarming, and obviously at the height of summer such a trip could end badly. But it's still hot right now. The route along the Red Valley was very unusual, there were even corridors through the rocks with a side over the cliff.
Sometimes I wanted to go along two paths at once, but I had to choose one. More confidence was added by maps me maps where all these paths were well drawn. Google was sure that we were just walking through the forest.
Chavushin
After a few hours of a fun hike, we got to Chavushin. Here we have marked a castle.
There we look out of the window.
It was a mountain consisting of through caves, apparently an analogue of a skyscraper among ancient people. Moreover, there are a lot of tourists on the upper floors, but how they got there is completely incomprehensible. We were spinning for a long time looking for a rise, in the end we decided to take the fortress by storm! And here it is, it was not in vain that I watched all the series of “Game of Thrones”, I knew for sure that someday it would come in handy for us. We climbed to the upper floors the way wildlings climbed the wall in the movie! There was an even cooler option - just fly up on a dragon, but we decided to climb up without too much pathos. It’s hard to believe that so many tourists on the upper floors also took advantage of the skills from the cult film.
While we explored all the nooks and crannies, Olya and Zhenya also began to climb. Only here is the dilemma. They don't know exactly where it was possible to climb up like that, and we don't know exactly where to go down now. There was one strange place, but Zhenya put everyone in their place with his phrase “Guys, I remind you, we have a ball tomorrow! ”. But I didn't want to risk the ball at all. Eh, it was still necessary to fly up on the dragon. Now it was just a matter of figuring out how the others would descend.
I even found a hidden ladder. Moreover, a wooden staircase inspired even less confidence than an independent descent. In the end, everything turned out to be trite and simple - in one place there were ordinary steps for descending and ascent. In general, they took the fortress, now it would be nice to celebrate the victory! We chose a restaurant without people, made an order. The waiter called the car on the phone, handed over our order to the car, the car left for another restaurant and after 20 minutes brought ours and dishes. Right on the tray. It was very strange, especially since it looks like the driver went at least to Istanbul for our order. It still seemed strange to me at the time. But by the end of the trip, we had already ceased to be surprised at such trifles. Have you ever thought that perhaps we are living in a simulation? Most likely thought about it. And in general, it is possible that only you are real, and everyone around you, as in a matrix, simply experiences your attitude to different aspects in the world. I tried to consider this theory for more than one year and from different angles, but I did not find evidence. In fact, there is so far only partial evidence in the form of the "YUNGA Quantum Experience", but most likely it's just that humanity is not yet able to explain all quantum phenomena. But what happened in this restaurant a couple of days later is almost direct proof of virtuality. A sparrow flew in and hovered. He stood and looked into the distance. Snapping fingers around him had no effect. The waiter brought him a bowl of water and pushed it close so that it touched the sparrow. Sparrow only looked into the distance and sometimes turned his head a little. Together with the sparrow, everyone who looked at him began to hang. It seemed that a solution would happen now, but for 10-15 minutes nothing happened at all. Then the sparrow piled a bunch and continued to hang. Maybe it just rebooted or overheated. I started googling what to do with overheated sparrows, in response I got so much mind-blowing content that I almost went into a reboot myself. Let's just say, for now, that the Internet is not able to answer this question, but the results are such that philosophers will not be able to find a logical chain for a lifetime. When the sparrow's reboot was successfully completed, it began to jump. Sparrow deftly waited for a moment until everyone was distracted and simply disappeared, as if there was no sparrow. Although he left a bunch.
I had to wait a long time for food, and it began to put pressure on hungry nerves a little. But as soon as we tasted this magnificent shish-tauk, we forgave the restaurant everything. It's good when you start the route at 6 am. It seems that so many valleys have passed today, and there is still half a day ahead) At the exit from Cavusin there are excellent natural pillars with hats. It's just a great place for photos. We still don't know how beautiful Stonehenge is, but the real hanging stones are right here)
A whole valley begins behind the pillars, but visiting all the valleys in one day is also not ice) We went to a stop to wait for a minibus back to Goreme. While we were waiting for the minibus, a car stopped near us, a man held out a bucket of cherries and insisted that we pick up a bunch of cherries for ourselves. How cute is that! We were just treated to cherries! And here comes the bus. It was a little strange to realize that today's multi-kilometer and multi-valley route on a minibus can be driven along the highway in about four minutes. And we are back in our cozy cave! The evenings on this trip were notable, because every evening it is an occasion to meet at a common table with your beloved friends and discuss all the impressions of the day, and there were indeed thousands of them.
Yes where there thousands, millions! And a very interesting fact surfaced. Despite the fact that we had common planning and laying routes, in fact the routes turned out not only to be different, but even the same places could be completely different. For example, in a multi-level cave-fortress in Chavushin, we stumbled upon a room covered in soot and paraffin, but after 40 minutes Olya and Zhenya already took a photo of the room in which dozens of candles were burning. And in the Sabel Valley, our routes turned out to be completely different, because while wandering along the peaks, we accidentally stumbled upon a descent, and Olya and Zhenya went further along the tops. Every evening, memes and immortal quotes were born. For example, the severity of the local caves could be determined by the red stripes on Zhenya's head. If, when leaving the cave, he did not have time to bend down in time, then there is one more stripe on his head. The day today was hyper-saturated, at 21:30 we were already sleeping without hind legs. Our next day started at 03:40 at night. It was a special day - Olya had a birthday, and a balloon was waiting for us! The sky was clear and on the pyramid of desires we went from “Fly in a clear sky” to “Fly on a beautiful balloon”. It was funny that among the 150 balloons one gray one with a huge inscription “Potencial” was flying, but most often it was turned so that only the word “Potency” was read.
Every day we had a competition to be the first to see potency among the balls. And everyone secretly worried that potency would not be our ball. Not only we woke up so early, but also our old friend Rubby, who settled very comfortably on a bench on our terrace, leaning on my drying T-shirts. Apparently the dog decided at night that it was not good for her to sleep on the street and moved to our terrace. When Rubby stood up, he defiantly rubbed his ass on my T-shirts, but he decided not to go to the ball with us.
Back in Kyiv, Olya told us about her experience that there would be many Chinese in Cappadocia, but as they say, in order to stop being afraid of something, you need to get closer to it. Therefore, our group transfer minibus was filled to capacity with Chinese. And our balloon, of course, too) The runway with the balloons looked cool, they are so gigantic, they are all different, they are inflated with powerful compressors.
When the balloon is inflated to a certain size, they start to turn on the fire. All this preparation for the launch was very exciting, how will it fly on a balloon for the first time? 24 people are placed in the basket, which are located in separate sectors by three. As a result, everyone gets enough space to admire. We thought it would be cold on the ball, but the constant fire gave off a pleasant heat.
The ball took off from the ground very smoothly, the furthest was enveloped by joy, emotions, euphoria. All experiences are gone. We had a really beautiful balloon and clear skies. The captain, adding gas, began to play a melody with puffs. I asked him to play the "Happy birthday" burner. The man said that he had never tried to play such a melody and now it would be the first time - “Pshik, zilch-zilch-zilch zilch-zilch !!! ” The whole ball began to joyfully sing a song to Olya.
Our balloon began to successfully fly over the Saber Valley, and we were able to exchange our routes and determine exactly where the descent into the canyon is hiding. People on earth waved to us, everyone rejoiced and rejoiced. After flying over the valleys, we began to climb to a height of 400 meters. The balls kept coming and coming. The captains of the balls, by radio, are connected with the central dispatcher, who controlled the entire fleet. We were told that 100 are already in the sky and another 50 will take off within 30 minutes. We climbed higher and higher, the captain announced: “Attention, dawn! ” The red sun appeared from behind the mountain, it was joyful and romantic.
When I said to Olya, “How wonderful everything turned out, where could it be better? ” At this moment, one Chinese man got down on his knee and proposed to his girlfriend, it was cute to the point of tears. These 50 minutes in the air were just fantastic and unforgettable, I wanted to fly and fly more and more.
But the landing began. Also quite an interesting experience. Everyone squats on command and holds on to special handrails. As soon as the ball makes a strong impact on the ground, five men, like ninjas, pounce on the basket from the ground, preventing it from flying back. Then the stabilized balloon makes a very small takeoff and sits on the trailer of the car, then everyone is released. There were an ocean of cries of joy! We did it!!!
Everything planned a year ago came true to the nearest millimeter! Now we will still have an hour and a half of time before breakfast to sleep and we can safely continue on our way! These balls were definitely worth every penny.
Now to the point: A trip to Cappadocia should be planned taking into account the risks of bad weather, at least three days.
Indeed, in the case of wind, the balloons may not fly for days. Balls must be booked as soon as possible. It is also worth considering that the road to Goreme through Ankara takes one day, so it will be physically and mentally difficult to come here for just a day, and then another day to get home. We had three full days in Cappadocia and this was just right.
In the meantime, I followed Harry Potter towards the nondescript door. The room was in twilight, but the outlines of the room and the boy with a lightning bolt on his forehead were clearly visible. Harry went to the door and opened it. Behind the door, many different forms of balalaikas hung on the wall. Now I know where the balalaikas are kept. ” Although, to be honest, the instrument was more like a violin. . .
The alarm clock rang, it's time for breakfast. If I ever dream about the continuation of the story about Harry Potter and the secret vault of balalaikas, I will definitely write about it in the story. We ate from the belly, now we can continue.
Beautiful valleys of Cappadocia. Continued
Today's itinerary began with a tour of Goreme. They are less than 15 minutes away. These are the places from which everyone watches the balls every morning. The place is really fantastically beautiful, and at any time of the day. From here you have a good view of the whole city. While walking to the survey, Dasha remembered that she had forgotten her cap in the room. When Dasha returned with a cap, our friend Rubby was already faithfully serving me. At first, he just lay down to sleep next to me in the shade, but when I tried to quietly dump, he just as quietly followed me. While we were soaking up the rays from the panorama of morning Cappadocia, the dog got himself a pie. We planned to go down to the Valley of Love-2. The day was hot, the sun aggressively illuminating every nook and cranny of the canyon. But this will not stop the brave travelers? We started the descent. The valley met us a little specifically. The legs began to attack thin and needle-sharp threads of some plants. The plant looks like wheat, only with long hairs. The hairs are so thin that they pierced through the sandals and dug painfully into the legs. But our Rubby doesn’t care how much, he both went out and goes out. Even a friend joined him - a black dog Boxing. Boxing had an ottoman design, but nevertheless ran fast enough. Valley of Love-2 looks pretty good, has thematic columns available.
But noticeably inferior to the rest of the valleys. After a short track, we ended up in a luxurious restaurant, where we replenished our water supplies, Rubby immediately snatched some meat for himself, and Box decided to stay. Soon we came to one of the key attractions - the church of El Nazar. Entrance is not expensive, 6 lire, which is about a dollar. The church is also a cave in which frescoes on the walls have been preserved.
When we entered the church, Rubby started to follow us. But the highlight of this attraction is the owner, who lives in a nearby cave. He likes to chat. He told us to go to the pigeon cave after church and then come back to him for Turkish tea. In ancient times, pigeons in these places were very much appreciated and they tried to breed as many as possible, as a result, entire caves were reserved for pigeons. When we entered the church, Rubby wanted to come after us, he met the owner's eyes at the entrance. I clarified that the dog is not ours, to which I received an unexpected answer: “I know, that's why she is mine) She often comes to live with me. ”. But the most intriguing thing is that now we will find out the real name of Rubby and find out how strong my psychic abilities are, which so cleverly slept until this time, accumulating the energy and wisdom of my years, in order to amaze the owner of the dog and the readers of this story today. So, get the kids away from the screens, and ladies and gentlemen, sit down - the answer might be a bit overwhelming.
Although who am I kidding, hardly anyone will believe in such a coincidence. Our dog, or rather the owner's dog, is called Fyndyk! Eh, apparently they won’t invite me to the battle of psychics.
Zemi Valley
The next valley was extraordinarily green and swampy in places, called the Zemi Valley. True, the hike through the densely overgrown valley was a little scary. Olya and Zhenya met a long snake yesterday (long - according to Olya). And the valley of Zemi is somehow consonantly still called so... Passing through this valley, we were on the alert. But such a green route, also with a river, was completely unexpected in these places. Along the way came across excellent caves and climbs to panoramas. As a result, the valley led us to the city of Uchisar. This city caused a culture shock for Dasha and me. From a distance it looks like Hogwarts.
In fact, these are hundreds of small houses, over which a tall castle-cave rises. Entrance for a nominal fee of 9 lire ($1.5). How amazing is the view of this city. If I had seen it in a movie, I would have been sure it was computer graphics.
The ascent is not long, but from the very top the whole of Cappadocia is literally in full view. Around this point, I began to feel like I was falling head over heels in love with the region. Below, at the foot of the castle, there are two more interesting castles in which you can climb from the heart and look out over dangerous cliffs.
And the city itself is designed quite well, there are several places from which you can directly see the perfect views of the city and the towering rock-castle.
I was so fascinated by the view that I did not notice the tree, hung with "eyes from the evil eye. " When I dug my head in, my eyes shook so menacingly that the first eyefall in the history of Turkey almost began. Already more than half of the day was over, and we did a really long and difficult route, but the enthusiasm from the city we saw was so felt that instead of the bus we decided to return to the city through another valley.
I had to go quickly, as a thundercloud quietly crept up to the city. We did not fail with the return route. Pigeon Valley turned out to be by far the most beautiful of today's valleys. This valley has a very unusual rock structure, clearly different from all previous valleys. We got to the hotel in less than an hour, and we are back in our native Yarrr cave!! ! This evening we had a real feast in one of the most spectacular restaurants in Goreme, we celebrated Olin's birthday.
We tried the whole range of Turkish sweets and delicious local dishes. It was a very unusual birthday, we have never walked on a birthday abroad))) And again, the most valuable and unique is the exchange of impressions and emotions from today's routes. We sat on the terrace having fun and laughing. The full moon began to rise over the neighboring rock, and there was even such a moment when, literally for a second, the tourists standing on the mountain flashed against the background of the moon.
On the other hand, a thunderstorm was raging over distant cities. I don’t know by what miracle, but I managed to persuade everyone before going to bed to make a small track again and climb the observation deck, look at the lightning over the city. But even not so much lightning as the view from the night Gö reme was simply mesmerizing. And the most amazing thing is that you don’t even need to fly far to China for such a level of beauty, here it is all right at your side, in Turkey. In general, Turkey once again struck us with the beauty of its country. And before going to bed, the obligatory gatherings with a seagull on the terrace. That evening, Zhenya still offered everyone to taste the original Turkish drink, but since the taste of the drink was very reminiscent of pickle, the drink didn’t particularly appeal to anyone. But in the restaurant we tried a very tasty national drink made from hibiscus.
Waking up at half past five in the morning is already normal. The only moment - absolutely everyone had either disturbing dreams or complete nonsense. Today we decided to meet the balloons from the main view of Goreme. It was beautiful, even despite the fact that almost the entire city gathers here, there is enough space for everyone. But my personal opinion is that the balloons are equally beautiful to look at from different parts of the city, the main thing is to climb higher.
This is probably one of my favorite stories, while I am writing it I am again with friends in Cappadocia and I don’t want it to end, but nevertheless our last full day begins. It's a pity that breakfast at the hotel starts at 08:00. It would be more convenient for us to start the route right after the balloons.
Avanos
It takes 40-50 minutes to get to the city. Not long. Hot asphalt draws pictures of lakes, they reflect the driving cars. How beautiful and dangerous mirages are. It looks like it's going to be a hot day today. The city of Avanos came to us literally from the first minute. The city is small, but there are all the necessary elements for a cozy walk - shady alleys, a bridge over the river, a cozy mosque among green trees, a bunch of workshops with pots, you can go into the workshops and look at everything.
Prices are an order of magnitude lower than in Goreme. Moreover, there is even McDonald's and Starbucks! A couple of hours to walk around the city just for a sweet soul.
We also could not pass by the restaurant, the halls of which were made antique. I firmly decided that we should eat something here. Literally in every restaurant I tried lentil soup, a salad was brought to the soup, we also chose a Turkish sweet - Burma. For a long time I struggled with the choice between ayran and hibiscus drink. After long internal disputes, I settled on a drink, but my lack of knowledge of Turkish played against me here.
They brought me a large glass of cold and beautiful brine, which Zhenya gave us to try. It seems to me that the waiter did not even fully believe that I would drink it. But on the whole, it was positive. By the way, this trip is the leader in terms of the amount of airan drunk during the trip. My name is Andrey and I am an Airan addict!
At this time, Olya and Zhenya came by minibus to take a walk in Avanos. And we got on the same minibus and went in the direction of Gö reme. We went to the place marked on the map as “Fairy Chimneys”. We were not completely sure that the idea was worth it, but we must try. At one of the forks, I asked the driver to drop us off. Considering the mirages on the roads, the act was really brave. After all, if the heat turns out to be too tough for us, then the next minibus along this route will pass only in an hour. We were as if in the middle of a desert, the desertedness and loneliness of the rocks were alarming. But we went to the steppe towards the lonely mountains. The valley turned out to be really worthwhile and certainly different from all previous ones. And in general, I want to note that each valley has its own zest. It would seem that the rocks are the same, but in fact, the beauty is really different everywhere. Here you can wander at the very foot of the rocks "with caps".
This view is probably the most mystical, as soon as those cap stones are held on sharp peaks? About 40 minutes on the route, and we noticed that a wall of mountains up to 20 meters high separates us from the final star. But we won’t go around because of this ? ! Impromptu was still the same, but we climbed the wall! Again, thanks to the Game of Thrones, where it was demonstrated how various evil spirits climbed the wall.
If they can do it, then we can definitely do it. Only our long-suffering camera did not like the climb, if on previous trips it was drowned, then falling on the rocks was something new for it. Behind the wall, to our great surprise, it was full of people. How did they end up in this deserted canyon? We hurried down to them. There was a whole cave complex, and quite a serious scale, even the policeman has his own cave. Judging by the backlight. It should be beautiful here at night, but how can you get here at night. We climbed in all imaginable and unimaginable caves.
We start to go out and go through the turnstile and the ticket office on the back side. It turns out that this is a whole open-air complex where tourists are brought. Luckily we climbed over the mountain. Well, on foot to Chavushin! Hey! The main thing is to go confidently and someday we will come. The route to ”Fairy Chimneys” is one of my favorites, but after the Valley of the Sabers of course. In Chavushin, we immediately came to our favorite cafe, where sparrows hang out, bring food from another restaurant, but nevertheless they cook very tasty. We had a very long break. Climbing under the Turkish summer sun is exhausting. But nevertheless, it is worth remembering that in Cappadocia we may be the only time in our lives and everything that we do not have time for this trip will remain forever unknown. In Gö reme there were two direct routes by minibus or a five-kilometer one through the Valley of Love-1 and then another hour along the Pigeon Valley. Having soberly weighed our strength, we decided that the extra five kilometers along the valleys would not interfere with us. But there was one But. It seems that today's weather forecast is not mistaken and a very black cloud is moving towards our hotel. True, the cloud is still far away, maybe we will have time to slip through. And if we don't make it? Then you will have to look for a more comfortable cave. The road is beautiful and picturesque, wheat fields against a stormy sky.
And then the fotik told us: “You know, you probably go further without me, I have seen enough in this world vzhzhzhshshshshshrrrr... ” Oops! Just not now. We need to revive it! As a result, the lens transplantation helped (in the sense of being disconnected and reconnected) and our friend is with us again. To go to the valley of Love-1, it was necessary to climb the mountain range. While we were walking there confidently, we passed by a group of Turks. Ten men and women standing near the cars looked at us in surprise. When we climbed to the top, we met such a black sky with powerful peals of thunder that we decided to urgently correct the route. We won’t have time to pass 100% of the valley. We need to run to the hotel. The maps showed that we would reach the mountains in 40 minutes. Zhenya wrote that they are now going to the Valley of Love-2. But that one is even near the hotel, the risks do not seem to be critical.
The faster we walked towards the hotel, the more clouds approached us from the side of the hotel. When there were still 20 minutes to go, a strong wind began to rise. Large drops began to fall from the sky. I sent Olya and Zhenya a viber message “Run! ” and Dasha and I, with all our strength, ran towards the city. By the way, we ran through a beautiful theme park with rocks, but there was no time for it. It seems that they have already plowed for three days, and in such a situation they quickly found strength for a good sprint. As soon as the door of the native cave was slammed, a downpour fell on the city in some places. The electricity went out in the city. The cave of our friends was empty - this is a bad sign. Zhenya unsubscribed that they had almost reached the hotel and were waiting in the Sarai. This is a restaurant not far from us) By the evening the rain had subsided and it was time to opt for another day, this time even without brine!
Exactly at half past five, the alarm clock woke us up and said: “It's time! ”. Before the taxi, we still had plenty of time to admire the balloons rising into the sky for the last time. We chose the Sabel Valley as the final site.
Moreover, there is a restaurant with delicious fast food along the way. The valley is empty, choose the peak of any mountain and all the balls are only yours! We had a shortage of warm clothes, so every morning I left the hotel wrapped in a blanket, the blanket was so themed that I imagined myself as Jafar from Aladdin.
Even the car passing by slowed down. The driver looked at me, and I nodded his approval. I still didn't understand what I approved, but the driver, in high spirits, stepped on the gas and drove on.
The way back passed without much adventure. In the restaurant at the Ankara bus station, we were already greeted like family, the waiter was sincerely glad that we returned to taste the delicious Iskander Kebab and Kofta once again.
This is how we turned out to be a dynamic trip, five days passed like half a year, due to early rises the days were unusually long, due to Turkish cuisine they were infinitely tasty, fantastically beautiful thanks to balls, thanks to friends - warm and especially cheerful.
It’s a pity that it’s physically impossible to return to the virtual reality of your memories and visit there again according to the same scenario. This island of a warm and cozy trip with our friends will always float somewhere in space and be warmed up by our memories.
Trip Information
Date of travel: 06/13/2019 – 06/18/2019
Duration: 4 full days
Flight tickets: UIA
Caves: Booking
Excursions: All by ourselves, balloons ordered at the hotel
Trip difficulty: 5/10 (average)
