DAY 6, NOV 16, 2021, TUESDAY:
.Cappadocia lies in central Anatolia, in the heartland of Turkey. It's a high plateau over 1000 m in altitude that is pierced by volcanic peaks, with Mount Erciyes near Kayseri being the tallest at 3916 m.
Two airports handle Cappadocia travel. Kayseri has more flights and is in fact a separate city located about 1 hour from Göreme. There is another Airport in Nevşehir which is about 20-30 minutes drive from Göreme. There are fewer flights into Nevşehir.
Göreme is better situated for visiting much of Cappadocia. So our base was decided as well as the airport to fly into. Now for the dates to fly into and out of Kayseri airport. We wanted to fly to Antalya from Cappadocia. We noticed there were direct flights only on certain weekdays, other flights had a stop at Istanbul. We did not want to waste our time, so we scheduled our stay of 3 days in Cappadocia with the direct flight in mind. We took the 9.30 am Pegasus flight to Kayseri airport in Cappadocia from SAW airport in Istanbul [Istanbul has 2 airports IST and SAW]. Took a taxi arranged by hotel to the airport.... a big airport van for 30 euros at 6 am for the 9.30 flight. The airline did not allow web checkin for foreign passports. Only one cabin bag was allowed, no personal item. We adhered to the rule, saw many carrying more bags and big ones.
Landed at Kayseri airport. Car rental AVEC van was waiting to drive us a km to their office. Renault, Clio, automatic. Everything was great. Loved their welcome pack with 2 bottles of water and masks
Our offline map was giving some trouble and we were confused when signs said we were heading toward Ankara. Son got instructions from a petrol pump... they even drew a map and gave clear directions in TURKISH. Earlier the shop owner where we bought water near the car rental had also been very kind and put us on our way with a hand drawn map.
We reached our accommodation... Travel Inn cave hotel. Lovely authentic setting with many antiques. We had a room with windows opening on to the valley.
We drove to Paşabağ ("Pah-shah-bah") which is known in English as the Valley of the Monks. Paşabağ means "Pasha’s Vineyard", a name it received after the Byzantine Greek population left the region which is located in the middle of a vineyard. It's located just a few kilometers outside of the village of Göreme
Paşabağ contains some of the most striking fairy chimneys in Cappadocia with twin and even triple rock caps
So, how were the fairy tale chimneys formed?
Sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams and ignimbrite deposits that erupted from ancient volcanoes approximately 9 to 3 million years ago,, underlie the Cappadocia region. The rocks of Cappadocia near Göreme eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars and minaret-like forms. People of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out houses, churches and monasteries from the soft rocks of volcanic deposits. Göreme became a monastic centre in 300–1200 AD.
Our Hot air balloon ride was scheduled for the next day.
Report continues here
https://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2022/01/turkey-trip-report-day-7-cappadocia-hot.html
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