In October 2008 we spent some time touring Western Turkey and it turned out to be one of our most memorable vacations. Started our visit in Istanbul where we stayed at a charming smaller hotel just inside the old walled city, just a couple of blocks from the famous Blue Mosque and easy walking distance of most of the major tourist locations of this ancient city.
Hagia Sophia
Blue Mosque
The Cisterns
The Topkapı Palace
Next stop Cappadoccia
The flight from Istanbul to Cappadoccia was about an hour and a quarter. We were meet at the airport by an employee of the tour company holding a placard displaying our names. It was dark by the time we had dropped off the other passengers at their hotels in the town. As we drove towards our cave hotel, I began to observe the strangest sights: the "fairy chimneys" every where, with light emitting from their irregular windows.
Cappadoccia (/kæpəˈdoʊʃə/; also Cappadoccia; Turkish: Kapadokya, from Greek: Καππαδοκία Kappadokía, from Ancient Greek: Καππαδοκία, from Old Persian: Katpatuka) is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in the Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, and Niğde Provinces in Turkey. In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadoccians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine (Black Sea). Cappadoccia, in this sense, was bounded in the south by the chain of the Taurus Mountains that separate it from Cilicia, to the east by the upper Euphrates and the Armenian Highland, to the north by Pontus, and to the west by Lycaonia and eastern Galatia.[1] The name was traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history and is still widely used as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage.
Hisar Evi Cave Hotel Cappadoccia was our hotel
The balloon ride required a 4:00 AM rise which was far too early for us so we decided to pass on this option. We checked in late the night before and wanted to use the free time to enjoy our stay at this novel cave hotel, whose rooms and furnishings were carved out of the soft volcanic stone.
During the time in Cappadoccia a 2 hour walk through Scenic Pigeon Valley was part of the itinerary.
Refreshment stand located near the end of our hike where we enjoyed a welcome refreshments which consisted of juices made to order from fresh fruit which were squeezed before your eyes.
Another destination was to the Goreme Open-Air Museum which featured ruins of 11th century Christen Churches with amazing painted frescoes which were in excellent condition considering the centuries of accumulated damage earth quakes and vandalism.
Underground Cities
One of the several underground cities was another of the high lights of our stay in Cappadocia.
These troglodyte cave-cities were excavated as early as Hittite times, and expanded over the centuries as various marauding armies traversed Central Anatolia in search of captives and plunder. There are 36 underground cities in Cappadoccia and the widest one is Kaymakli underground city, while the deepest is the Derinkuyu Underground City.
Kaymakli underground city is built under the hill known as the Citadel of Kaymakli and was opened to visitors in 1964. The people of Kaymakli (Enegup in Greek) village have constructed their houses around nearly one hundred tunnels of the underground city. The inhabitants of the region still use the most convenient places in the tunnels as cellars, storage areas and stables, which they access through their courtyards. The Kaymakli Underground City has low, narrow and slopping passages. While the underground city consists of 8 floors below ground, only 4 of them are open to the public today, in which the spaces are organized around ventilation shafts.
The road trip from Göreme, to Pamukale by motor coach is 616 km estimated to take 9 hrs. 52 min. The trip was surprisingly comfortable and the bus was very modern but without on-board washrooms so, there were scheduled stops at 2 hour intervals. The stops occurred at locations that had all services; food, washrooms, even small mosques for the travelers to pray. We were especially impressed with the cleanliness of the premises; cleaner than one would expect to find in North America. The bus had a crew of at least two, the driver and stewards. The crew looked after the passengers very well by continually providing hand disinfectant, water, and hot towels. The also kept track of passengers tickets and destinations and made sure that passengers departed at the correct destination. That was all very reassuring to us because we had no idea where we were going. The trip was not without its moments of terror. We had not been on the bus for more than a couple of hours when we reached the station where we were scheduled to make a transfer to a western bound bus. The transfer, to describe it now in hindsight, was the closest thing I could imagine to what we refer to as "Chinese Fire Drill". When the bus came to a stop, everyone climbed out and headed for the luggage compartment to take possession of their luggage. The crush of passengers around the luggage compartment was 4 to 5 persons deep and it was next to impossible to see what was happening, let alone spot our luggage. At this point I was practically in panic mode so, I decided to go to the other side to see if it was any better there. That turned out to be a mistake because they were just at that point closing the doors. After much scurrying around some how we were steered to the correct bus heading to our destination.
Hieropolis
After doing the attractions at Pamukkale it was time board a tour bus for our next destination Selkuk
Selkuk featured the ruins of St. John's Basilica, a ancient art museum and the retreat home of The Virgin Mary, situated a top of the highest mountain in the area overlooking the valley below and to the west the Adriatic sea.
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey.
Library of Celsus - Selçuk - Seven churches of Asia - House of the Virgin Mary
St. John Bascilica
Ephesus
House of The Virgin Mary, situated a top of the highest mountain in the area overlooking the valley below and to the west the Adriatic sea.
After spending a couple of busy days at Ephesus it was time to head back to Istanbul and finish doing some of the must see attractions we missed the first time.
Back to Istanbul we booked a day tour for a ferry trip to the Prince's Islands where the rival Sultans relatives were banished to after their eyes were gouged out and blinded.
The Railway Station for the Orient Express on The Asian side
Palace
Breakfast on the roof of our new hotel across the road from the old one
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