By Jeanette Teh
As our car approached the village of Goreme, my husband Mike and I craned our necks to catch the first glimpse of the “fairy chimneys”, for which the region of Cappadocia in Turkey is known. The sleepiness from our nap during the one-hour car ride from Kayseri Airport rapidly diminished as our eyes greedily drank in the beautifully unique rock formations.
These large conical rocks were shaped over centuries from eroded volcanic stone and came in all sorts of shapes as we would later see in Devrent (“Imagination”) Valley, so named for its rocks that looked like a camel or various other forms according to one’s imagination.
The Cappadocia region, which means “land of beautiful horses”, covers several towns, including Goreme — the quaint village of rock homes with a population of 2,500 that is doubled during the tourist season. Evidence of civilization has been found here from 2000 B.C., starting from the days of the Hattis who were then followed by the Hittites, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, and Ottomans who all came along this trade route, of which the Silk Road was a part.
We arrived at Pashahan Inn, centrally perched atop a little hill overlooking the village shops and restaurants, and were warmly greeted by the owner Sergio (who goes by his Italian nickname for ease of pronunciation). We immediately fell in love with the charming house with eight rooms and lovely roof-top patio that was carved out of tufa, a soft volcanic rock, almost 300 years ago.
We took a walk around Goreme and visited Sergio’s father’s rug shop located next to his inn. The three-generation-old shop, which is covered with large rugs on the outside, has seventeen rooms and a courtyard. It houses over thirty thousand rugs, each of which is somehow incredibly inventoried mentally by Sergio’s father. Rugs play an important role in Turkish culture and are considered works of art, often made in preparation for a daughter’s dowry.
Rock Churches and Monasteries
After a lovely breakfast served with the delightfully sweet Turkish apple tea, Sergio drove us to the Goreme Open Air Museum. We had opted out of walking there to conserve our energy and heat tolerance as the sun was blazing down at 35 degrees Celsius. The UNESCO Heritage Site consisted of many beautiful rock houses and thousand-year old cave churches, some with ceiling frescoes still visible. It truly was a stunning sight to see these little homes carved out of rock and we had fun exploring the caves especially since they provided a cool refuge from the heat.
We later visited Selime Monastery, a monastery carved out of rock in the 6th century that was used as a tomb in the 1200’s and then a castle in the 1500’s. It was definitely worth the hike to get up to the top to see the cave rooms and to treat our visual senses with the magnificent panoramic view. As a reward for all our physical exertions, we enjoyed a Turkish hamam experience that evening to scrub and massage away the weariness of our muscles.
On another tour, we explored Monk’s Valley’s unique mushroom-shaped formations with cute houses carved at the top, which I absolutely adored as they were reminiscent of the Smurf homes featured in my favourite childhood cartoon.
Turkish Dances and Belly Dancing
On our first night in Goreme, we were treated to a traditional Turkish meal of chicken kebabs, grilled fish, local wine, hot and cold mezzes (appetizers), and an array of different Turkish dances, including a wedding ceremony. As entertaining as the dances were, the highlight of my evening was when Mike and a few hapless men were pulled on stage to perform belly dancing moves with the very sensual belly dancer. The dancing of the men, however, was decidedly far less sensual, causing the audience to burst into peals of laughter.
Underground Cities
The next morning, we started our tour at a panoramic lookout point with its stunning vista of forested valleys and colourful fairy chimneys, some of which looked like icing atop lemon meringue pies. We then drove forty-five minutes to the Derinkuyu Underground City, one of at least forty underground cities in Cappadocia (although only six are open to the public).
Once upon a time, about 3,500 years ago, the first inhabitants of Cappadocia opened deep cavities within the rocks to escape from wild animals and harsh winter conditions. They further enlarged these cavities as required until underground cities were created with tunnels connecting one city to the next. During the persecution by Roman soldiers, Christian Cappadocians hid here for months at a time, but generally lived above ground in times of peace.
With a total area of approximately 600 square metres and eleven floors, Derinkuyu, which means “deep well”, is the largest underground city, accommodating between 20,000 and 50,000 people. It is an incredible experience to go as deep as 85 metres through very narrow and low tunnels (definitely not for the claustrophobic!) and see a church, baptism site, wine cellar, meeting hall (where anyone trying to escape during wartime was crucified on a cross), kitchen, well, ventilation chimneys, and the large stone doors to protect against attack. My vivid imagination could hardly process the fascinating history that had unfolded here centuries before my time.
Hiking through a lush valley
Living in desert Dubai which has few natural trees, we were thrilled when we were taken to Ihlara Valley, a canyon about 70 metres deep that was dotted with little forests and surrounded by volcanic rock fairy chimneys. We took the 400 steps down and were greeted by lush forests with a stream and river eventually leading to a delightful waterfall. We relished in the lovely green hike, soaking in the glorious chlorophyll of which we had been deprived, and stopped to visit two little rock churches embedded in the valley.
Up, up and away!
On our third and last day in Goreme, we woke at the crack of dawn to join the legions of tourists floating in the sky in hot air balloons. The view over the various valleys, towns, and fairy chimneys was simply breathtaking. We floated as high as 700 metres amidst a parade of other colourful balloons although the vast terrain below somehow made it all seem quite nearby. Our balloon ‘pilot’ managed to skillfully take us between the rock formations and brought us low to the ground to alternate our views of the magnificent landscape. We were able to get really close (and sometimes closer than the risk-averse amongst us would prefer) to these rocks and see little pigeon-holes carved in the rocks. Pigeons were important to the early Cappadocians as they were used as messengers, their eggs in construction, and their waste as fertilizer. At the end of our hour-long remarkable and memorable adventure, we were presented with champagne and a ballooning certificate of which we were extremely proud.
Alas, our three glorious days in Goreme came rapidly to an end. We felt a pang of sadness to leave the little beautiful village we had come to love and to bid farewell to Sergio, our host who had become a friend. However, as Sergio said to us upon our arrival, we would only see 75% of Cappadocia so that we would have a reason to come back again, and indeed, he was right — we certainly do.
This article was originally published in 2010 in bazaar.
Jeanette Teh is a legal and corporate trainer, adjunct (assistant) professor, non-practicing lawyer, writer, coach, and founder of Kaleidoscopic Sky. You can find more about her at http://linkedin.com/in/jeanette-teh-601115.