Jen's Travelogue - Cappadocia, The Land of The Beautiful Horses [Part 2]

Hi all! Alohaaaa my dear awesome Steemians! I hope all of you had a great time with your family. In my first travelogue to Istanbul, I talked about how the historic incidents shaped the overall city and the influenced it brought to the infrastructure. I was a learning and cultural visit to Istanbul.

You can view it here : Jen's Travelogue - The Historic City of Istanbul Part 1

Making Choices either Bursa, Cappadocia or Pamukkale

My trip to turkey does not cover only Istanbul. I decided to visit the land of Cappadocia or locally pronounce 'Kappadokya', The land of the Beautiful Horses. Cappadocia is very famous in my country as a lot of people portrayed it as a destination for hot air balloon.

It does being marketed in such way to the extent I'm interested to go there an experience it myself. Beside Cappadocia, I have considered visiting Bursa and Pamukkale. Bursa, located in Northwest Turkey, is a historical site and fourth most populous city in Turkey. The city is about the early Ottoman Empire. Pamukkale on the other hand located in western Turkey that is rich in thermal waters. Pamukkale has amazing natural geological phenomenon and it is hard to make choice like this because I am a self-proclaimed natural lover :P

but Cappadocia is the choice at the end. I was is so intrigued about Cappadocia is that the rocky and valley surrounding just tempting for a traveller like me and I was not disappointed in that.

Cappadocia

So, Cappadocia it is. From Istanbul airport, I took the domestic flight early in the morning to Kayseri airport. I flew with Pegasus Air To go to Cappadocia. There are 2 airports to go to Cappadocia, Nevsehir, and Kayseri. Nevsehir is much closer to the Cappadocia but not many airlines flying to/from the airport and the opposite goes to Kayseri.

Source: Captivating Cappadocia

Flying from Istanbul to Kayseri seems to be a better option for me. I can take a bus for 10 hours (midnight) but in considering the time taken as well as tiredness accumulated from all the walks, I choose to take the low-cost domestic flight.

• Midnight Bus one way: 10 hours = TL180 (USD48)

Total= USD96, 20 hours

• Flight one way: 1hour =TL250 (USD65)

Total= USD322, 2 hours

Rough estimations: Flight prices may vary according to the time of booking

Now you should understand why I took a flight to Kayseri which saved me 18 hours of my time but paying more.

Where to stay in Cappadocia

In Cappadocia, tourists have the option to stay in Goreme, Urgup, Uchisar or Ortahisar. I choose to stay in Goreme as my friend recommending it without knowing about the other options. My goal is to have a stay in a cave hotel as cave hotel is very popular around Cappadocia.

The cave houses symbolize old residences centuries ago. I made to understand that traditional Cappadocian houses are carved into the stone because of rocky formations of the region.

These pictures showed the cave house I spent the night at. At Cappadocia, you must sleep inside the cave house. They are so unique!

Some background of Goreme. Convince yet?

Why I do not ride that hot air balloon

Source: Elite Traveler

As a tourist, you will be tempted to ride the hot air balloon and witness the sunrise from above overlooking the beautiful valley and other hot air balloons in sight-- that sounds so mesmerizing, beautiful and a one-of-a-kind experience to have.

Unfortunately, my time in Cappadocia only for 2 days 1 night and the hot air balloon flight is depending on the weather.
I was given the cancelation around late afternoon just like everybody else expecting the flight to hot air balloon the next day. It was quite unfortunate by I got a full refund for it so it was not that bad. Maybe one day I will come just for the balloon experience who knows :=)

What to learn from my visit to the 'Underground City' - The early Christians in Cappadocia

At first, I do not know what this 'Underground City' is all about but learning and seeing it live is just an eye-opener. At the era of Byzantine, the underground of movement of religion is not allowed and there will be a heavy punishment from the ruler. Noted that Cappadocia have plenty of underground cities. To be honest, I lost track of which underground city i've visit LOL, pardon me. However, it is an eye-opener experience.

The Underground city is not something as normal as the city on the land. Why? it is because people are hiding so they built the city underground which can be very narrow, cold, dark, no window, congested and multi-leveled. In this Underground city I've visit constitute for 6 level beneath-- imagine the deepness of the city.

Imagine this place to live in

My good friend was exploring at first, but she then can't continue as it is very very cold and narrow place and it is high risk to her asthma. I don't recommend her to continue. As you can see the place can also be a problem to Claustrophobic people

I was taking a breather here and imagining how they live in here

Ok now you imagine that in the underground city lies a kitchen, a room to eat, a Church, a small ventilation on the kitchen, a toilet (ewww), and everyone using the same facilities. This is the congregation place by the way.

Moving from level to level, I do not manage to snap photos as it became very tight.

My time in Cappadocia is both fun and educational. I hope to come here again and exploring other part of Turkey.

Thank you for reading!

Jen