Tuesday 8th April 2025

It was an early start this morning, but it’s not so bad having the alarm wake you at 3am when you know it is the first day of another adventure.  By early afternoon we will at our destination.

A 6am flight from Chania took us to Athens, a short while later we boarded a  flight to Istanbul and then our third flight of the day was to Nevishir, one of the gateways to Cappadocia.

Our plan is for four nights in Cappadocia, to see its unique multicoloured landscape which has been created by volcanic eruptions that have eroded over hundreds of years. Then we will travel to Istanbul where we will spend two nights to see some more of the sprawling city’s sights.

We have planned a rough itinerary for each day which starts this afternoon with an ATV ride.

Before we booked we did the usual research including checking the monthly weather history.  April is usually a dry month with temperatures averaging 15 degrees Celsius.

However, when we checked a couple of days ago, the forecast was for 15 degrees yesterday and today, a little cooler tomorrow and 4 degrees and snow on Thursday! Not what we expected, let’s see what happens.

The transition between our flights went smoothly.  A hotel transfer from the airport to our cave hotel in Goreme  which we had booked was waiting for us and we enjoyed the short journey to our hotel.

As we checked in, the receptionist confirmed our booking for our ATV ride and informed us that a minibus would collect us at 4.15pm.

We walked the short distance to the centre for a much needed coffee and some water then after a little wander we returned to the hotel ready for our pick up.

It started to rain a little before 4pm so we donned our cagoules and hoped the weather would improve.  The minibus took us directly to the ATV’s office, where we met Ibrahim who recommended that we also wear long macs to protect us from the elements.

He also issued us with protective helmets and most of us purchased a breathable material face cover to protect ourselves from dust and sand.

There were nine vehicles in our convoy. One or two people chose to drive their own vehicle but most couples shared an ATV.

The ride was exhilarating, off road, passing spectacular sights, stopping now and again to take photographs.

It was a brilliant way to start our time in Cappadocia, we saw so much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is easy to guess why Love Valley is so named, with its phallic shaped rock formations, sometimes also called fairy chimneys. A so called ‘wish tree’ has multicoloured tiny pots tied onto it.  The pots are sold close by and couples write their names or wishes on them and hang them on the tree.

An old dilapidated bus was parked up near other vendors, it sold a large assortment of items including woolly hats and believe it or not, Epson Printers!

Ibrahim led us to spectacular views of Red and Rose Valley and to Sword Valley. Another stop was at an ancient monastery which once had seven floors, but nowadays only one floor is accessible. Luckily, the weather became brighter.

 

 

 

 

 

At one point, knowing we were a little past the time that the trip should finish I asked Ibrahim if it was our last stop.

He replied “Oh I don’t look at my watch. If there is good energy in the group and everyone is happy, then so am I. We will continue.”

We were the last convoy of ATV’s leaving the sights, heading back just after the sun had set. Apart from ATV rides, we saw fun loving folks in convoys of jeeps, horse riding and classic cars. Shetland ponies and camels were also available for rides.

Cappadocia actually means “The Land of Beautiful Horses”. There are many ranches and stables and all the horses are indeed, beautiful and appear to be well kept.

When we returned back to ‘Goreme Paradise’s’ office, Ibrahim offered to return us to our individual hotels.  However, Dave and I were quite happy to walk and look for a restaurant.

Sat in a traditional Turkish Restaurant, we ordered lamb koftes and a local  Cappadocia dish named Testi Kebab. This popular dish is meat and vegetables baked in a sealed clay pot.

Dave chose the rib eye steak testi, the dish was brought to our table and the waiter broke it open with a small hammer.

During dinner, we chatted about how fabulous the ATV ride had been, the amazing different colours of the rocks, the different shapes, textures, stratum, gorges and fairy chimneys.

It is like something out of a Tolkien novel, I’m sure I saw Bilbo Baggins come out of one of the cave ‘houses’ and Gandalf disappear into another…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking back to our hotel, we commented on how wonderful all the illuminated cave hotels and other dwellings looked in the dark.

It was 9.30pm when we returned to the hotel and finally removed our walking boots, 18½ hours after putting them on!

 

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