Cappadocië & Göreme National Park
Cappadocia & Goreme National Park. One of the highlights of my trip through Turkey, I’ve been looking forward to it!
Why is it so special?
Göreme National Park and the rock sites of Cappadocia according to Unesco:
The houses, cave villages, underground cities, monasteries and churches contain the petrified remains of a traditional human habitat that dates back to the 4th century.
The Göreme Valley plateau is a spectacular example of the erosion of volcanic tuff by wind and water. Typical features are pillars, columns, towers, obelisks and needle-shaped sculptures that reach heights of 40 meters.
Gümüşler Monastery
Close to Nigde is the Gümüşler Monastery, a cave monastery probably built between the 8th and 12th centuries. There is a small church with very old frescoes and a courtyard surrounded by openings to other areas. I bend down through the narrow corridors, hopefully people were a bit smaller than me in those days!
Derinkuyu underground city
Derinkuyu underground city is a gigantic underground city consisting of several layers. This underground city is probably about 3500 years old and 35,000 to 50,000 people have lived there. I bend down again through small corridors & stairs and go to the lowest floor, 4 floors below. Unbelievable that people have lived here…
Love Valley
I decide to park in Love Valley to spend the night and that turns out to be the perfect place to watch the sunrise with hot air balloons. Why is this valley actually called Love Valley?
Sunrise with hot air balloons
During the sunrise, more than 100 hot air balloons fly over in just 2 hours. What a fantastic spectacle!
They land around 8:30 am right behind the camper, that is also impressive, wow they are so big!
Of course we walk a lot in this beautiful area, you can see the hiking trail running right through the valley. Several street dogs come to look at the camper and one of the dogs walks with us in the afternoon.
Red Valley
Then on to Red Valley, I park in the parking lot for the most beautiful sunset and explore the valley from there. I have a beautiful view from the top and walk with Leo at the bottom of the valley.
The next morning I wake up on time, do I hear air balloons again? Yesss they are close by too! How cool and Red Valley turns dark red in the morning. I take my breakfast outside and enjoy all this beauty one more time.
Uchisar Castle
The Castle of Uchisar is the highest “chimney” of Cappadocia and towers above everything. Erosion has created a honeycomb-like structure of cavities in the rock.
After 120 steps you have a magnificent view over the Pigeon valley!
Cappadocia is an amazingly beautiful nature reserve, I can recommend it to everyone to go there once!
Bye bye Cappadocia I really loved it!!!
After Turkey I continue my journey in Sicily. Please click on this link for the continuation of my journey:
https://www.marianaroundtheworld.com/en/europe/roadtrip-sicily/
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