The Epic Tofurkey Adventure of 2011 - Day 8 (Part 9 of 12)

Day 8 – Thursday, September 1, 2011 – Cappadocia

For our second full day in Cappadocia, the six of us went on the "green" tour, which took us outside Goreme to other beautiful parts of the region. We met Galip, our guide, at the hostel, and piled into the van to drive out to a lookout point overlooking the city. Like all of the views we had seen the previous day, we overlooked the mounts of volcanic rock and ash that have been molded by the wind into these cones and chimneys over thousands of years. From the Goreme lookout, we drove to Derinkuyu Underground City. Going 8 stories underground, this city was used to hide, and was connected to other underground cities nearby. We walked through this elaborate connection of rooms, visiting stables, cellars, storage rooms, and oil and wine press, refectories, chapels, and even a religious school. It was amazing to see what could be built 55 meters straight down into the rock.

After about an hour of driving, we then arrived at Ihlara Valley, which is a 16 km gorge cut into the rocks of Cappadocia. The entire valley, with the river flowing through it, has homes and churches cut into the rocks where the Christians would go to escape the Roman soldiers. We visited St. Daniel's church with its painted frescos, then walked 4 km down the gorge to a restaurant where we had lunch. A few of us waded in the river, which was a nice, cool refreshment on a hot day. Belisirma, where we had lunch, is a restaurant built right on the Melendiz stream. From there our van picked us up, and we made our way to the Selime Monastery. This monastery is the biggest rock-cut monastery in Cappadocia and goes straight up a hillside. We visited the cathedral, kitchen, monks quarters, stables, and lookout tower. Like most of the trip, we also had an incredible view from the monastery. On our drive back to Goreme our van driver stopped on the side of the road, got out of the van, and bought a whole bag full of strawberries from a road-side stand. We all thought it was pretty funny, but these were the most flavorful and delicious strawberries I have ever tasted. Our next stop was at Crater Lake, a beautiful blue mineral lake hidden among the mountains. Our last stop before returning to the hostel was at Pigeon Valley, where thousands of pigeon houses are carved into the rock along with caves and fairy chimneys.

After our tour, the six of us walked up to a lookout platform on the hill above our hostel. From there, we were able to watch the sunset over Goreme and the fairy chimney landscape. The clouds happened to roll in just as the sun was setting, making an absolutely beautiful view. From there we walked back into town for dinner at a restaurant called Bidek. On our bus to Pamukkale, Abram had been sitting next to a Turkish tour guide, and he told us about this restaurant where you have to make a reservation and order the day before, because they start cooking your meal about 4 hours before you arrive. We all sat and lounged on pillows while our Testi Pots were brought to the table, cracked open, and poured onto plates. Another delicious meal. We wandered back to the hostel through the streets and shops of Goreme, enjoying the atmosphere on our last night in Cappadocia.