Thursday 10th April 2025

Goreme Panorama : Pigeon Valley : Derinkuyu Underground City : Belisirma Village : Narligöl  Crater Lake 

Wow!  This morning we woke to a snow covered Cappadocia.  Everywhere looks amazing!

 

 

 

 

The average temperature in April is 15 degrees Celsius, today it is just 4 degrees!

Both of us are pleased that we have booked an excursion, at least we will get around easily, whatever the weather decides to do.

Yesterday, as we were booking our tour, a woman interrupted the man speaking with us and asked how much the ‘Green Tour’ was. He told her that the cost was 45 Euro and asked her to wait.

She again interrupted, telling him that there were seven of them and asking if she could have a reduction.  He again asked her to wait for a few minutes, but she was quite determined not to. She also asked how much it was for children.

Sighing, he asked her if they were aged under 7, and she said that they were.  He said that there was no charge for under 7’s.  This time she agreed to wait and went and stood outside the office.

I smiled at him and joked, “she has 6 kids under 7 and she is the only one paying!”  He looked quite shocked when he realised what he had said and agreed that he should have asked how many children!

The ‘Green Tour’ took in some of the highlights of south Cappadocia.

Gizem was our guide for the day, the minibus picked us up at 10am and as we were the last to join the group, she then confirmed the day’s itinerary.

Just a few minutes ride away was our first stop, Goreme Panorama.  As the name suggests it is a viewpoint overlooking Goreme and the outlying areas.

The scenery was stunning, the  partial covering of snow enhancing Cappadocia’s phenomenal landscape.

A few of the so called ‘fairy chimneys’ are used as storage as they are situated on somebody’s land.

 

 

 

 

 

Pigeon Valley was our next stop, this is a popular hiking route (when the weather is more favourable), leading from Goreme to Uçhisar.

Thousands of dovecotes have been dug out of the soft rock.  The pigeon droppings are used for fertiliser; the farmers in the area claim to grow the best fruit and vegetables in Turkey.  They are also mixed with water to create a type of paint and a mortar.

Some of the dovecotes have wooden doors on them where the workers store their tools etc. Here you can clearly see some rocks containing the element sulphur which give them the yellow colour.  The red rocks in the area contain iron.

 

 

 

 

 

A few minutes walk away was an onyx workshop, which had a small work area where jewellers were creating different pieces of jewellery. The place was basically a high end jewellery store.  I did, however, find it interesting seeing and hearing about a gemstone called zultanite.  The stone changes colour and is apparently found only in Turkey’s Anatolian Mountains.

Close to the town of Derinkuyu is the ancient Derinkuyu Underground City.  It was built between the 9th and 11th century; throughout this time the city was being constantly dug out.  Presently, seven floors have been excavated, however, it is believed that there are a total of 18 levels.

The city housed around 5,000 Christians who were fleeing from persecution. It contained room for their animals, kitchens, storage facilities etc.  Members of the ‘Upper Class’ had their own living rooms.

All the tunnels were deliberately made small and narrow, this made it impossible for a lot of invaders to arrive all at once. As they reached the end of a tunnel and uncurled their crouched bodies they were immediately killed.  Also the tunnel size meant that no arrows could be used as the invaders were bent over and could not see where they were aiming.

 

Big stone boulders stood at the tunnel entrances to close the openings in case of attack. The city also had a church that was built in the shape of a cross, a simple carved cross was carved on the wall. There was also an underground graveyard.

As we returned to our vehicle, our guide commented that no one had asked her (as they usually do) about bathrooms and toilets.  Apparently, there were no such facilities.

On the way to Belisirma Village, the sky darkened and we could see that we were heading into bad weather. There was more snow in the area too.

By the time we reached the village, the weather had improved slightly.

Our guide informed us that those of us that wished to, could walk down to the village. Only a couple decided to stay on the minibus to reach the village.

 

The walk was short but picturesque. The village is situated in the Ihara Valley which is another popular hike in the area.  The Melendiz River flows through the valley and meanders through Belisirma.

A cat sat in the middle of the road adjacent to the fast flowing river, it was ignoring the loud honks of a car horn and the driver was becoming increasingly impatient.  I scooped it up, it was exceptionally friendly, as were the other village cats.

The village houses were, many years ago, hewn out of the rock.  They appear to be rather small but our guide informed us that they did go quite a way back into the rock.  Any doors that were arched indicated that the building was a church.

A while later, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant at the side of the river.  If the weather had been brighter, we would have hiked along the river (part of the Ihara Valley for an hour or so).  Also our meal would have been served outside next to the river.

Our lunch, today, was of course served inside.  A delicious soup called Çorbasi was served first, followed by a choice of three main dishes.  I asked the waiter what was in the soup, not having good English and as I don’t speak Turkish, he brought the chef.  The chef informed us that the tasty soup was made with red lentils, onions, garlic and tomato passata.

After lunch, we stopped at the Narligöl Lake which is a crater lake. It is fed by underground thermal springs.  The temperature is 65 degrees Celsius.  It is situated over 1300 metres above sea level and has a circumference of 2,500 metres.

 

Everyone agreed not to visit a fur & leather outlet after our visit to our lake.

So, our final stop of the day was a visit to a ‘Turkish Delight, Nut, and Coffee Superstore’.

I wasn’t particularly bothered about the ‘Superstore’ but it was quite interesting. Gathering us all around her counter, a saleslady gave a talk and offered us various samples to taste. There were various flavours of Turkish delight dipped in chocolate, many samples of nuts and other products.

One sample was an apricot kernel and she told us about the nutritional value plus she warned that too many should not be eaten at once!

I strayed from the area for a minute or two, when I returned, I was asked if I wished to smell a sample.  It was just one tiny crystal (that looked like rock salt) dropped into hot water.  Dave didn’t get a chance to tell me to inhale lightly and my deep inhalation almost blew my head off!  The product, was indeed to clear sinuses!

It was 5.30pm when we were dropped back off at our hotel. Both of us had thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Later, we went to an extremely pleasantly decorated restaurant. Its menu outside had drawn us in to the eatery which was situated on the first floor above some shops.  While the food and décor were both exceptional, unfortunately the room was chilly.

For a starter, we chose hummus with pastrami served atop. Another cappadocian cuisine dish ticked off.

 

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