Amateur Adventures #35: Turkey Tripping - The magical landscape of Cappadocia

Hello all my Steemian friends.

Today we are still tripping around Turkey and being inspired by the beautiful natural landscapes of yesterdays post on the terrace pools of Pumakkale, thought I'd share another top 3 from my travels.. also amazing landscapes!

This time we are heading further inland (even though I'm a beach girl). I hope you enjoy the amazing (and sometimes very interestingly shaped) landscape of Cappadocia

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Cappadocia, is without a doubt a highlight of any trip to Turkey. It has some of the most amazing landscapes you will see on earth - and I've been lucky enough to see some pretty amazing places.

The landscape is dreamlike, dotted with the famous "Fairy Chimneys". These were formed over four million years ago when volcanic eruptions rained ash across central Anatolia.

The ash hardened into what is know as tuff, a hard porous rock, then layered with basalt. After millions of years of erosion the tuff wore down - leaving tall pillars with mushroom-shaped caps over the top. And thus creating the magical fairy chimneys.

Throughout history these rock formations were excavated as the locals built churches and homes in the chimneys. They expanded these into vast underground cities like that of Kaymakli and Derinkuyu.

The best way to see the natural wonders of Cappadocia is to do a couple of hikes through the valleys. There are a quite few, but we hiked Love Valley and Red Valley.

Love Valley is an interesting one - with some very interesting rock formations... I suppose you could say aptly named :) You can make you own mind up!

There are surprises around every corner - a winery, a shop selling snacks in the form of dried fruit and nuts. Tunnels through the rocks. You can easily spend a day hiking in the many valleys that surround Goreme.

Goreme is probably the best place to base yourself if you want to be in the thick of things. There are lots of funky cafes - which do a pretty mean cappuccino as well, bars and restaurants as well if you are hanging around for a few days - which I recommend.

Hubby also got what he thought ( and still does to this day) the best hair cut ever! - 5 dollars - 30 min head massage, shave, haircut. He probably ruined it for the rest of the tourists by giving them a $15 tip though! He still misses that barber!

Getting to Cappadocia is fairly easy - either fly - or if you are up for it there is an overnight bus trip from Istanbul - which is the cheapest option - but its a long one - 10-12 hours unless you break down on the side of the road for an extra four or five! Turkish buses do have some limited form of wifi though so all is not lost (back in 2012 and coming from Australia this was quite novel for us believe it or not!)

Hope you enjoyed this look at more of Turkeys natural wonders,

The the next adventure

Steem on with Love and Light

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Source:

1. Photos are the work of the author except where credited otherwise
2. This is original Content and can also be found at my Travel Blog The Amateur Adventurer
3. You can check out some of my other posts here:
   • Amateur Adventures #31: Crazy Cairo Part 2: Postcards from the Pyramids
   • Fathers Day in Australia : Focus on the Dad's not the politics
   • Amateur Adventures #32: Ephesus - A City to Rival Rome
   • My New STEEMIT Tee!
   • Amateur Adventures #33: Turkish Trips - The City Of Troy
   • Amateur Adventures #34: Pamukkale - Cotton Candy Terraces