Turkiye Day 6 - Cappadocia, Ankara, Bolu

If you have not done so, read the previous related post here.

We woke up early in the morning (5+am) and got ready for an exciting optional part of our trip. We were going on a hot air balloon ride around Cappadocia. On our way to our balloon, we could already see some other balloons setting up and even taking off. Having been on a balloon ride in New Zealand, I was more excited this time knowing that I will be seeing more than farmland and cattle from the top. After taking so many pictures, I guess I have to display many without captions.

Our balloons, the high power fan is used to blow air into the balloon.


Heating up the air in the balloon


Some earlier groups were already taking off!


The balloon we were going to ride


Balloon from inside, there are four burners


Burners in action


Lift off!


The higher we go, the bigger our shadow


Still climbing


The Seljuk Castle in the far background




Getting closer to the castle


Notice the mixed cave and houses featured in many towns here


Land form from the top. This looks like a large plateau that has been cut up by water running on top and underground








Descending. Much nearer to the castle now.


One of the many valleys




The castle again




The balloons fly in and out of the valleys


Up again

That concludes our tour in Cappadocia. After touch town we had the traditional Champagne and were given certified "flown in balloon" certificates. We returned to our hotel for breakfast and embarked on the road to the capital of Turkey, Ankara. There we had lunch and visited the mausoleum of the late founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (father of the Turks). The place also housed an exhibit of the founding of modern Turkey. However, after lunch disaster struck! I had some stomach problems that resulted in less photos.

With this much advertising the loo here must be fabulous. Went in, it was not bad.


This is the main lake that Turkey gets its salt from. The grass around it is very green.


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Satellite view of the lake


Turkish coffee. The ground coffee is boiled together with water in a copper pot.


This residue is the coffee. Do not eat this!


Lunch! Iskander Kebab


Some sweet dessert made of what I think is fried cheese


They stay in high rise apartments here too.


The mausoleum


A guard. The army here uses AKs but I could not identify this weapon. A SIG perhaps.


Close up of mausoleum


Ceiling inside


The interior


Ceiling above the "coffin"


Some sculpture outside


Old cars used by the founder

After Ankara, we headed to Bolu for the night. Our hotel was owned by an artist so it was rather designer style. A nice place with a garden in the works next to it. Unfortunately I could not really enjoy the day as my stomach got worse here.

Garden Entrance


The hotel


Room keys. So designer


A nice garden in the works beside the hotel


Dining area

Dinner was rather entertaining. There was a pianist/singer playing some songs. Also a group of children were in the same hotel with us. Having made friends with one of the uncles in our tour group, they relentlessly invited us to dance with them during dinner time. Seems to be some traditional dance. After a not so good night's rest we were headed back to Istanbul the next day via the Bosphorus bridge.

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Turkiye Day 5 - Cappadocia Part 2

If you have not done so, read the previous related post here.

After visiting the open air museum and Carperdocia, we headed to a few other scenic spots before our lunch stop. First we went to Devrent Valley to see some really non-uniformed shaped fairy chimneys.

Look! A Camel


The camel is right by the road


Pyramids


It is a bird?


Mushrooms!


The dancers


Panaroma of Devrent Valley

Next we visited Monk's Valley. Apparently monks used to make use of this place. There are some really tall fairy chimneys here. Also, they are growing grapes. I unknowingly stepped on some of the vines before realizing that there was this lady on another plot working on it.

Now, these are more like chimneys!


I think the monks dug these


Slope landform


Lots of tall chimneys here


More of them


See the camel (the real one)? They charge a dollar for a picture with it.

Lunch time! Today's lunch is at a special place. It would be inside a cave! After lunch, we were going to visit a pottery merchant.

The entrance


Walking to the dining area


Inside. There are two musicians in the center. We sat in one of those blocks of seats. It is cool in here.


Grilled fish and butter rice


Dessert! Rice pudding


Lunch over. We were at the pottery factory. An artist paints the pottery. This is actually a ceremonial wine flask.


A demonstration of pottery making. Nothing really special.


This plate probably costs a few thousand USD


Vase painting


The vase in full view


Lots of pottery here

Next up is an underground city/town. These places were used since long ago as refugee camps during times of disaster: i.e. war, earthquake, etc. Later peoples came and further extended the place. Being a place for refuge it was full of low corridors. Bad for the knees but bearable. Without lighting it would be pitch black inside. This particular city was built with a loop. The loop entrance and exit of the loop can be sealed. On tactic would be to draw the pursuers into the loop, escape through the exit, and seal both the entrance and the exit. The "locks" used to seal the loop were smooth on one side. Hence once closed, there was no way of telling which wall of the cave is the one that is blocked. Furthermore, there are no handles on one side, making it impossible to move even if you know where it is. Most will turn insane once the lights go out. However, this place did not make for many good pictures.

Information


Map


Flour mill


A very long air shaft


Holes everywhere

After the underground city, we visited the Pigeon Valley, a precious stone merchant and Uçhisar Castle. Pigeons were used as messengers for a long time in these parts and pigeon droppings were useful for fertilizing crops. The pigeons in Cappadocia are aero-acrobats -- they can perform back somersaults in the air and they do so regularly. They will fly to a certain height and fall by performing multiple back somersaults before flapping their wings to gain altitude. Nobody knows why they do that.

Pigeon Valley


Uçhisar Castle in the background. The Seljuks dug the big rock and used it as a castle. The foreground is the town of Uçhisar.


Acrobatic Pigeons


Panaroma of Pigeon Valley. This involved 4 pictures, totally a nightmare to join.


Lets get out of here!


I quickly got back into the bus and a visitor came to scratch its paws.


The other side of Uçhisar Castle, previously seen at Pigeon Valley. This castle is a landmark in Cappadocia and can be seen from many places.


Many of these planes were flying around throughout the trip. I suspect they are trying to seed clouds as it never rained.


Uçhisar Castle closer up


Some nice formations opposite the castle

Finally after the whole day out, we were headed back to our hotel for a rest. This is where I decided to go for a Turkish bath. Bath is done in a few steps. Firstly, you could swim in the small pool and exercise. Since I was out the whole day I skipped that. Next you would bake yourself in the sauna. After baking myself for about 25 minutes, I took a quick shower and lay on the warm marble. The warm marble is supposed to open your pores. Then, the bath man will come with the scrub and practically all your dead skin will be scrubbed off. Next is shower and then a whole body shampoo with massage. Lastly, shower again and your are done feeling squeaky clean. Well I guess without my skin I can't get any cleaner.

A good dinner and rest awaited, which I thoroughly enjoyed with a 700ml glass of local Efes beer (Efes is actually a name for Ephesus). Tomorrow would be a very exciting day. We were going to wake up early and go for a hot air balloon trip!

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Return to the trip index here.