Cappadocia – The Land of Mythology

As a tourist destination that attracts millions of visitors every year, and was recognized by UNESCO as a world natural heritage in 1985, Cappadocia has two airports located in the Northeast and Northwest of Goreme (capital of Cappadocia region). It takes more than an hour to fly from Istanbul to Cappadocia. However, because I wanted to go to Ankara - the capital of Turkey to visit the mausoleum and museum of Atatuk - the outstanding leader, the founder of modern Turkey, I flew from Istanbul to Akara and then from Ankara took a bus to Cappadocia.

Before entering Cappadocia, I visited Salt Lake, a unique destination that nature has bestowed upon Turkey. Not only is it an attractive tourist destination, Salt Lake is also the place that provides up to 65 percent of Turkey's salt production and raw materials for the production of many types of cosmetics.

Located on the Anatolian plateau, Cappadocia's surface is mainly soft rock formed from volcanic lava eruptions millions of years ago. Over time and geological changes, the soft rock was eroded, creating the amazing landscape today. Cappadocia is a famous and popular tourist destination not only because of its unique geology but also because of its long-standing historical and cultural heritage that is still preserved intact to this day.

Cappadocia can be said to be like a forgotten mythical land and somewhat isolated from the modern world. The wild beauty of the arid plateau and the peaceful life here is the captivating charm for tourists. The local people still maintain a simple and honest lifestyle. Their main jobs are agriculture, handicraft production, sales and sometimes tourist service jobs. They have few opportunities to go out of their living area so they are quite shy but sincere and extremely hospitable.

To cope with the harsh mountain climate (summer winds and extreme heat, winter snow) people here built their houses by carving deep into the cliffs. Many houses, cities and a system of churches and monasteries were built this way since the Roman period. Today, cave houses still exist and are used, but most of them are used for tourism services. Cave hotels are a unique experience that is most popular with tourists in Cappadocia.

In my personal experience, you need at least 3 days to travel to Cappadocia, the destinations are mainly concentrated in 3 areas:

The central area of ​​Capadocia with the capital town of Goreme and the neighboring towns of Uchisar, Çavuşin Ürgüp... is always bustling with tourists from all over the world. In each village, there are many cave hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, spas and Turkish baths, mini-markets open until midnight to sell small consumer goods. In particular, Avanos village is famous for its peaceful beauty of a mountain village and is where talented artisans create the most beautiful ceramics and hand-woven carpets in the world.

Second are the unique and amazing natural landscapes that have been recognized by UNESCO as world natural heritage sites such as: Pasabag Valley - in Turkish meaning "Pacha's vineyard". This valley is also known as Monks Valley because the stone pillars look like medieval monks wearing hoods, Pigeon Valley where there are many pigeons, the locals have built houses deep into the cliffs for pigeons to shelter and breed.

Finally, the heritage area shows the depth of culture and long history, is a priceless asset strictly preserved and protected by the government.

Kaymakli cave city system, underground urban area

To date, archaeologists have discovered about 40 underground cities of different sizes. The smallest area is home to a few dozen households, the largest is the underground city of Kaymakli. The strange thing is that although it is an underground city, each family and community has its own living quarters that are quite comfortable. People have found apartments that not only have bedrooms and living rooms, but also kitchens, food storage, wine production areas, exercise areas, public toilets and even means of communication and sound transmission to help with quick and concise exchanges between households or different levels of the city. The underground city of Kaymakli has up to 6 floors deep into the mountain, showing a rudimentary but very miraculous air conduction system. It ensures a densely populated community with daily cooking activities. Currently, excavation work is still underway, it is estimated that there are more than 100 underground cities in Cappadocia.

While in Istanbul visitors can find hundreds of magnificent mosques, Cappadocia is a holy land with countless Christian relics. Outstanding among them is the system of monasteries, churches and chapels built in the early Middle Ages - now the Goreme Open Air Museum - the most visited place in Cappadocia. All the structures here are carved directly into the rock. From the heritage left behind, visitors can imagine the ascetic and simple life of the monks. In the complex of 30 churches and stone chapels, there are still countless beautiful ancient frescoes, some relics and many remains of monks who dedicated their lives to God.

Travellive advises:

Vehicle:

- Plane:

Turkish Airlines has at least 2 daily flights from other major Turkish cities to Cappadocia, baggage allowance 20kg.

From Istanbul to Cappadocia, Turkish Airlines serves 8 flights/day, flight time is about 01 hour

- Buses from major cities to Cappadocia mainly run at night, high quality vehicles, wifi, good roads, safe

- Motorbikes are available for rent if you want to explore local tourist attractions on your own.

Hotel:

4-star hotel, low season price is about 70-100 USD/room-night, high season can be up to 150 USD/room-night

Some hotels in the central towns of Capadocia:

Goreme Kaya Hotel: 48 rooms including 03 suites, 02 connecting rooms, 01 honeymoon suite, Turkish bath, indoor swimming pool.. Website: www.goremekayaotel.com

Anatolian Houses: 9 standard rooms, 13 deluxe rooms, 05 king and 06 presidential suites, Turkish bath, indoor swimming pool. Website: www.anatolianhouses.com.tr

Sacred House Hotel: Distinctive architecture blends modern and ancient, luxurious interior design. The hotel was originally a 250-year-old villa built during the Greek occupation. Website: www.sacredhouse.com.tr

Uchisa Kaya Hotel: Website: www.uchisarkayaotel.com

Tour:

- The main points are all included in the Green tour, Red tour, Blue tour and Orange tour.

- Buy a land tour directly at the hotel/local agency or rent a motorbike + tour guide to go freely

Exploration activities:

- Hot air balloon ride to see the valley

- Explore the Red River by Jet Boat, Gondola

- Explore the Fairy Chimney Valley by Jeep

Restaurant, Cuisine:

- Lots of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables. This is the region that grows the best fruit in Türkiye, especially apples, cherries, and olives of all kinds.

- Cappadocia has a special clay pot kebab that you should try. It is perfect for winter.

- Enjoy dinner and a show at Evranos restaurant, Avanos town

“Turkey Night” is a traditional show consisting of folk music, belly dancing, and variety shows organized by Evranos restaurant to accompany dinner. The restaurant can accommodate 400 guests, with a cozy atmosphere mixed with mystery.

Shopping:

In Cappadocia, the most popular items for tourists are handicrafts: jewelry with natural stones, marble sculptures, ceramics, hand-woven carpets...

Welcome the sunrise on a hot air balloon

To fully admire the magnificent natural architecture of Cappadocia, there is no better choice than a hot air balloon tour. The price for a 1-hour sightseeing flight is from 200 to 250 USD. But that is not enough, you need a little luck because hot air ballooning can only be done on days with favorable weather.

The hotel alarm woke me up at 4:30 am, it was still dark and quite cold outside. We traveled by bus from the hotel to the KAPADOKYA BALLOONS meeting place in Goreme. It was a low-rise building built in the style of the mountains, with a beautiful grape arbor in front and a large yard. Inside there were about 60 guests, all of them having breakfast with tea, coffee and cakes, waiting for the departure time.

20 minutes later, we continued to travel by bus to an empty field. The sun had not yet risen although the night had thinned out, the faint light of dawn revealed dozens of giant hot air balloons lying on the field. People began to heat the air to set up the balloons, the bustling atmosphere became urgent. When the first rays of sunlight appeared, the giant, colorful, "full and inflated" balloons were ready for the expedition. Depending on the size, each balloon could carry from 10 to 20 people. Controlling a hot air balloon is not a simple job. A hot air balloon in Capadocia usually flies for an hour with up to 20 people working together. At about 5:30, our group's hot air balloon took off, the pilot skillfully controlled the gas tank, the flame shot high, lifting the floating balloon up, passing through the rugged cliffs. Many times it seemed like if we just reached out, we could touch the cliff. More and more hot air balloons appeared in the sky, on a good day the number of hot air balloons could reach more than two hundred.

After a few moments of confusion, anxiety mixed with joy of experiencing the feeling of flying by hot air balloon for the first time, the members of the group settled down and focused on admiring the wonderful scenery of the Capadocia region appearing in the brilliant dawn light. A vast and majestic rocky plateau stretched out as far as the eye could see. From a height of 600m, it was easy to observe and realize that this land was formed from volcanic lava. With the naked eye, you could see cracks, fractures, and layers of rock that were millions of years ago lava flows. Interspersed everywhere were stone pillars eroded by rain, wind, and seawater, growing densely like a mushroom forest. The locals called them monk stones because when approaching the stone pillars, they looked like monks wearing hooded robes. After half an hour of flying, the hot air balloon descended so that visitors could explore the wonder of Capadocia at a closer distance. The most interesting thing is to see the panoramic view of the cave cities where the ancient Cappadocians once lived. A giant architectural work with high community connectivity of the ancient people.

After an hour of exciting exploration, the balloon landed safely. A champagne party was set up for the tourists and crew to raise their glasses and take souvenir photos. Before saying goodbye, KAPADOKYA BALLOONS Company gave us a pleasant surprise by giving each participating guest a HOT AIR BALLOONS FLYING certificate. It was really funny when the representative of the Company tried to call out the names of the group members in Vietnamese. Of course, to recognize our names, we also had to "try hard to listen - try hard to understand". The smiles and tight hugs when saying goodbye closed a wonderful journey and experience.

Text box “Observed from a hot air balloon, the cave cities have the structure and shape of giant honeycombs”

Kapadokya Balloons

• 50180 Goreme, Nevsehir, Turkey
• Tel: +90 3842712442
• Fax: +90 3842712586
• Website: kapadokyaballons.com

You should know:

- Hot air balloon flights are only available on days when weather conditions permit, ticket prices range from 200 - 250 USD/person (including breakfast with cakes, tea, coffee, fresh milk, etc.)

- Flight schedule: 2 flights/day, each flight takes 45 minutes. The first flight departs around 5:30 - 6:00, the second flight follows right after the first flight, around 7:00 - 7:30

- You should dress warmly even in summer because the early morning temperature in the mountains is quite low.

- Follow all organizer's rules to stay safe.

- Be careful with personal devices such as cameras and phones. It is best to have a strap because they can fall off when used in a hot air balloon.

A night in a cave hotel

As a travel journalist, I have been fortunate to experience many hotels and resorts belonging to famous multinational brands and corporations. But the cave-hotel in Cappadocia has left me with unique and interesting impressions.

I am not sure if my personal feeling is correct for you, however, cave-hotel is a very unique type of hotel service. As mentioned, Cappadocia is a soft rock mountain region formed from volcanic lava, the local people have long carved deep into the mountains to make houses and this unique type of hotel is formed from cave houses.

I arrived in the late afternoon in Uçhisar, a tourist town in Cappadocia. The hotel I would be staying at for the night was the Uçhisar Kaya Hotel – the first cave hotel, carved from stone by local artisans in the 1960s – perched on a mountain range overlooking the Guvercinlik Valley. The small, pretty lobby was warmly decorated in local style, complete with traditional Turkish patterned carpets. A large basket of fresh, fragrant apples was placed at the front desk for guests to enjoy free of charge. The only access to the rooms was a staircase leading to long, narrow stone corridors.

Contrary to the initial impression, the hotel is quite large and has many rooms, each with a beautiful view: either overlooking the pool or overlooking the valley. The terrace area and outdoor swimming pool are great places if you want to relax, watch the scenery, read a book, enjoy tea or simply breathe in the fresh mountain air. The best place to watch the sunrise over the valley is the balcony area of ​​the restaurant. The architecture and interior of the hotel have a rustic, cozy local style. The walls, ceiling floors, stairs, walkways in the hotel... everything is made of stone, giving a pleasant feeling when looking at or touching.

It's relaxing to end a day of travel with a traditional Turkish bath at the hotel spa and curl up on a warm bed in a “cave room”.

Uçhisar Kaya Hotel

• No.15 Uçhisar –Nevsehir
• Tel: +90 3842192007
• Fax: +90 3842192363
• Website: uchisakayaotel.com

- The hotel has 77 rooms, restaurant, bar, spa, outdoor swimming pool and indoor swimming pool.

• The hotel is located in the ancient village of Uchisar, very suitable for walking, sightseeing and learning about local life.

• From the hotel, it only takes a few minutes to move to other attractions such as Pigeon Valley (0.3 mi / 0.5 km), Uchisar Castle (0.4 mi / 0.7 km), Roman Castle (2.8 mi / 4.4 km), Love Valley (3 mi / 4.9 km)

The Thanh