Göreme

On our last day in the Cappadoccia region, we had nothing planned, yet there was still plenty to do. We had our breakfast and retreated to our rooms for a little rest before exploring.

Around noon we caught a cab and went to the nearby town of Göreme. Göreme is probably “THE” place to stay when visiting Cappadoccia. We drove through it each day picking up all the others on each of our tours. It seems that almost all the tourist here stay in this town. There is no wonder why, it is magical. If Aladdin were real he would be living here, for it is certainly a place that must have been created by a genie. The town is riddled with caves and fantastic rock formations with new construction mixed throughout. It is made up of hotels and shops and restaurants all intertwined with a fairy-tale mix of ancient and modern.

We spent our last day walking though the many streets and shops of this magical town. Tourist from all over the world were here sharing the streets with us. The shop keepers were doing as usual, standing outside trying to encourage us to enter their shops with the hope for a purchase.

The economy here is bustling, but still there have been economic woes in the country and lately the value of their currency, the Turkish Lira, is way down. The current exchange rate as of this

writing is approximately $1 for 6₺ (Turkish Lira). Most of the paper money is proudly displaying Ataturk, their beloved former president whom most Turks refer to as the Father of Modern Turkey. Their current yet not so well liked president is presently trying to change their laws so he can stay in power indefinitely. His name is Erdoğan, who strangely enough does not yet appear on any currency. Besides the paper money, they also have coins, although the only one we have seen so far is a 1 Lira coin. The most foreign sounding denomination to us is their 200 Lira bill.

After a little shopping and a nice inexpensive lunch at a sidewalk café, we decided to do a little “off road” exploring of our own.

From the town we spied a cluster of the bizarre rock towers in the distance, which had a few visible windows and doorways carved into them, so we headed that direction. The closer we got, the more complex the series of carvings became. Some of these Goliath rocks had windows or doors carved 100 feet or more up the rock face, with no apparent way to get to them. This kind of thing screams ‘challenge’ to me and I am eager to comply. I was scurrying up and around everywhere looking for access to the rooms but with little success. How intriguing to think that somehow people climbed these rock towers with no modern or electrical equipment and managed to carve entire rooms in the tops of these monoliths. All I needed to do is find a way up there, and I couldn’t even do that.

Eventually we found our way in. One cave entrance was

Trevor sitting in high window

 just a very narrow crevice, and barely noticeable. We had to walk sideways to get to the end, and it lead to a small hole overhead. Wish some help, I managed to climb up and into the hole. It opened to a whole room, or perhaps a small house, that from the back side was at least 80 feet off the ground.

Another one I managed to reach by walking a very narrow ledge disguised by some scrawny bushes. Some well-placed handholds helped me inch slowly across the ledge until it opened into a whole house. It consisted of several rooms with lots of nooks and shelves carved into the stone. This was my favorite house. The ‘veranda’ overlooked the valley and was a good 50 feet off the ground. The only way in or

out safely was by carefully maneuvering across the almost hidden ledge. It could have been easy enough to carry food and firewood in on my back, but if the refrigerator ever went out then forget the idea of replacing it. lol

We spent a little more time exploring the area. There were some vineyards planted on some terraced areas between some of the large rocks towers. Some were still growing wild grapes. There were other caves and homes throughout the area, some we could reach and others we couldn’t, and others we just didn’t have the strength to maneuver through to the end.

Heading back to our hotel, we talked about the amazing day and the ruins that are left abandoned and open for visitors to explore. The countryside had more to explore than anyone could manage, with many  stories hidden within their concealed walls. It was fortunate that the government is leaving them for the public to use and enjoy, and enjoy we did.