Goreme: Easter 2010

Goreme is a town in the Cappadocia region, which is an amazing place! It is fully of ferry chimneys, rock spires in which people have carved cave dwellings. It is astounding to be walking around and see glass windows set into the rocks.


To get to Cappadocia I took a 12 hour overnight bus from Istanbul. I didn't know it at the time but it is also possible to fly there. Bus trips in Turkey are similar to plane flights in that there is an attendant on board who wanders around every so often offering people tea, coffee, soft drinks and such. There are a few TV screens on board each bus and movies are played. On the trip to Goreme they started off showing Slumdog Millionaire but before much of the film had shown it was replaced by Transporter 3. I have no idea why.


I took a day tour on my first day in Cappadocia. The tour guide was planning to take us to places other than those on the itinerary and had to be pushed to stick to the schedule. It was a great way to see some of the region and go to places that you can then walk to yourself and explore in more detail. The best place I went to on the tour was called Uchisar Castle. It overlooked an amazing forest of ferry chimneys that I went back to later.


There are a couple of underground cities in the region but I didn't manage to get to them as they were far from Goreme. There are a number of different day tours and some of them go to these cities: if you have the time it could be worth doing a number of different tours to see the whole area. It is also possible to take a ride over the region in a hot air balloon. I couldn't afford that but I did get to ride a camel as it was led around a car park by its owner: they are very gentle creatures to ride at slow speeds but I don't think I would fare too well trying to gallop one across the desert. I didn't manage to get a photo of me on the camel because my camera battery ran out of juice near the end of the tour.


Like much of the accomodation in the region, my hostel had rooms set into the caves. I also went to a nightclub in a cave called Flintstones Bar, which was full of tourists. The music was all Western Songs than had already been around for a while before I left: music seems to take a while to work its way over to Turkey.

While in Goreme I ate a dish called Testi Kebab. Its a stew type dish that is cooked in a clay pot which the waiters break open at your table before serving you. Tasted great and was a good sized portion: it was also cheaper here than in Istanbul.


I've put the best photos from Goreme on Facebook, to give an idea of just how majestic the region is. It is simply amazing, one of the best places I have ever been.