Entering our third week in Ankara–in waiting…
So we are entering our third week in Ankara – waiting on our visas. We have used the time to catch up on some admin tasks, visiting friends, homechooling and enjoying the warmer weather.
We are homeschooling the kids on Turkey history and the ancient cities etc. We decided to have one ‘field trip” while in waiting and went to Cappadocia. (Kapadokia). Ons het een aand gaan oorslaap in ‘n grot hotel in Göreme. We had some trouble with the GPS, although it spoke English all the other info was in Turkish. So after period of trial and error we wound the town. We also met up with other people from South Africa which was really nice.
It was like entering a surreal place when you look over the Cappadocia valley. Fairy chimneys and the rock formations was just amazing. The kids were entering one cave after another – eager to explore.
Göreme
Here are some pictures of the Lalezar hotel where we stayed for one night. The kids loved it, it is carved right into the rock. We had the one bed and the kids shared the other bed. Luckily they can all still fit on one bed.
Inside the hotel room, they have carved out holes to put decorations I believe. The kids decorated it with their own toys.
Our hotel Lalezar
This is the picture we were hoping for
Map of the region Cappadocia
The next morning we got up really early hoping the balloons would fly over Cappadocia, but it was raining….! We left the hotel at 5:30 driving around and waiting for the light. It never came but we still took some great pictures.
We left the town of Göreme and visited Uҫhisar, the Pigeon valley and went on to Nevşehir. It was raining really hard at times but we were determined to find the underground cities. The first underground city is in Kaymakli. We decided to visit only one city due to time constraints and opted for Derinkuyu. Kaymakli and Derinkuyu is linked with an underground tunnel that is about 10 km long and very dark! Imagine walking that all bend up in places. You will be really small when you reach the other side.
Map of Derinkuyu
Illustration
It was really an interesting trip and we learned a lot. There are many different stories about Cappadocia. You can go and read them and decide for yourself where these ancient cities come from, who made them and for what purpose?
Comments