{"id":2272,"date":"2017-01-01T22:30:15","date_gmt":"2017-01-01T14:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/?p=2272"},"modified":"2017-01-02T19:46:28","modified_gmt":"2017-01-02T11:46:28","slug":"20160827goreme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/2017\/01\/01\/20160827goreme\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 9 of Turkey Vacation: Hot Air Balloon and Green Tour of G\u00f6reme on August 27th, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second day in the beautiful Cappadocia region.
\nThe plan of the day was to take the signature hot air balloon ride for an aerial view of the spectacular landscapes of Cappadocia, and then take part in the Cappadocia Green tour.<\/p>\n

So at 5am we were picked up by the balloon company, that ferried us from our cave hotel to their headquarter just outside the town center of G\u00f6reme, where we were given a buffet breakfast, typed our names (for insurances purposes, and for it to appear in the certificate after landing)
\n

\"Maccan<\/a>

<\/br>Maccan Balloons Breakfast Lounge<\/p><\/div>
\n
\nThe images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh, the breakfast service was there not just to fill our stomach up, since it\u2019s very early in the day, getting to sit there talking to fellow travelers would be of great help to wake one up for the magnificent scenery ahead.
\n

\"Maccan<\/a>

<\/br>Maccan Balloons Office Exterior<\/p><\/div>
\nAbout the choice of balloon companies, this was the only thing we booked through our hotel. Since the year 2016 was not one of the good years for the Turkish tourism industry amid terrorist attacks all over the nation (I might be exaggerating a little bit here), the quotes from the balloon companies were quite lower than what I previously saw online. The quotes from the companies were roughly similar, and we paid 110 EUR per person in cash for Maccan Balloons.<\/p>\n

Some more about the choice of balloon companies, it seemed that most balloons would take off from the same location (an open field North of G\u00f6reme) and landed in similar locations (fields North-West of G\u00f6reme). Based on my observation the next morning, I\u2019m sure that some (but very few) companies have at least their unique takeoff sites (I think “Cappadocia” is one of them). But for me, I sort of liked various colorful balloons in my photos.<\/p>\n

After breakfast, we were again ferried to the balloon launch site, where the crews were already firing up the balloons.
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Flight Preparation<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Flight Preparation<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Flight Preparation<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Flight Preparation<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons Kissing Each Other<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons Taking Flight<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Our balloon took off at 5:56 in the morning. Much to my displeasure, of the total 65 minute flight, I lost 35 minutes of GPS tracking, which meant I wasn\u2019t going to post the tracks here.<\/p>\n

And since we were at the time of the day when the skies were most vividly colored, I processed almost every one of the following photos, particularly adding their saturations. <\/p>\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons Taking Flight<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Rocks<\/a>

<\/br>Rocks near Balloon Launch Site<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons Taking Flight<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons Taking Flight<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flying<\/a>

<\/br>Flying over a Car<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons and Rocks in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia before Uchisar Castle<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia before Aktepe<\/br>Sun rising.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"\u00c7avu\u015fin<\/a>

<\/br>\u00c7avu\u015fin Cave Village from Above<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Landscape<\/a>

<\/br>Landscape of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Rising<\/a>

<\/br>Rising Sun over Aktepe<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Town<\/a>

<\/br>Town of \u00c7avu\u015fin<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia Love Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia Love Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia Love Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia Love Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia Love Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia Love Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia Love Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"-\"<\/a>

<\/br>–<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia Love Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons Landing in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia<\/br>With Balloons landing and people taking wedding photos.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Shadow<\/a>

<\/br>Shadow of Our Balloon on Rocks<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Shadow<\/a>

<\/br>Shadow of Our Balloon on Rocks<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Shadow<\/a>

<\/br>Shadow of Our Balloon on Rocks<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia Grape Fields<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flying<\/a>

<\/br>Flying over Grape Fields in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flying<\/a>

<\/br>Flying over Grape Plant in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flying<\/a>

<\/br>Flying over Grape Fields in Cappadocia<\/br>Flying over Grape Fields in Cappadocia<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flying<\/a>

<\/br>Flying over Grape Plant in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia before Uchisar Castle<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia before Uchisar Castle<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Overlooking Farmlands of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Overlooking Farmlands of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia before Uchisar Castle<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flying<\/a>

<\/br>Flying over Grape Fileds of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Landing in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Landing in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Landing in Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Fields<\/a>

<\/br>Fields of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Fields<\/a>

<\/br>Fields of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Valleys<\/a>

<\/br>Valleys of Cappadocia and Balloons<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"River<\/a>

<\/br>River K\u0131z\u0131l\u0131rmak Flowing through North Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia before Nev\u015fehir<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Overlooking Valleys of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Overlooking<\/a>

<\/br>Overlooking Town of Uchisar<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Valleys<\/a>

<\/br>Valleys of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Overlooking Valleys of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Trees<\/a>

<\/br>Trees in Cappadocia Valleys<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Overlooking Valleys of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Overlooking Valleys of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons over Cappadocia Valleys<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloon<\/a>

<\/br>Balloon Overlooking Valleys of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Valleys<\/a>

<\/br>Valleys of Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons Landing<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tractor<\/a>

<\/br>Tractor Pulling Landing Platform<\/p><\/div>
\nOur pilot tried to land our balloon on this tractor, but the winds and residue speed of our balloon made him try twice before we were safely on the ground.
\n

\"Balloons<\/a>

<\/br>Balloons Landing in the Field<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flame<\/a>

<\/br>Flame Burst in Balloon<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flame<\/a>

<\/br>Flame Burst in Balloon<\/br>I modified this picture so that the flames look prominent.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cords<\/a>

<\/br>Cords at the Side of Balloon<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Deflation<\/a>

<\/br>Deflation Port Open<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Crew<\/a>

<\/br>Crew Deflating Balloon<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Our<\/a>

<\/br>Our Deflated Balloon<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Our<\/a>

<\/br>Our Deflated Balloon<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Crew<\/a>

<\/br>Crew Folding Balloon<\/p><\/div>
\nAfter landing there was Champagne celebration and certificates being distributed, and everyone took their photos with our pilot Ali, which for privacy reasons I won\u2019t post here.
\n

\"Toast<\/a>

<\/br>Toast Towards a Successful Flight<\/br>Since I don\u2019t drink alcohol, I picked orange juice.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nAfter that we were ferried back to our hotel, enjoyed our second breakfast of the day, (my parents even caught some more sleep) and then at 10 o\u2019clock we were picked up for the green tour.
\nI remembered that the travel agency guy offered the green tour for 90TL per person, which was reasonable in my opinion.
\n

\"Hotel<\/a>

<\/br>Hotel Interior<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

The first stop of the Green Tour was G\u00f6reme Panorama, same as the Red Tour. So I will skip it here.
\nFrom G\u00f6reme Panorama it was a 75-minute ride to the first stop on the green tour, Selime Monastery, which was a giant cave “city” above ground and in much better shape than \u00c7avu\u015fin Cave Village that we visited the previous day.<\/p>\n

\"Mount<\/a>

<\/br>Mount Gemril in South Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Mount<\/a>

<\/br>Mount Gemril in South Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Hill<\/a>

<\/br>Hill South of Kuyulutatlar<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South-West Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South-West Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Village<\/a>

<\/br>Village of Gaziemir<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Country<\/a>

<\/br>Country Road in South-West Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Caves<\/a>

<\/br>Caves of Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Caves<\/a>

<\/br>Caves of Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Selime<\/a>

<\/br>Selime Monastery against Nearby Forests<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tunnels<\/a>

<\/br>Tunnels Leading up to Selime Monastery<\/br>It\u2019s said that this tunnel use to be camel-passable.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Trees<\/a>

<\/br>Trees along Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Footholes<\/a>

<\/br>Footholes on Selime Monastery Rocks<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Forest<\/a>

<\/br>Forest before Yaprakhisar Village<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Kitchen<\/a>

<\/br>Kitchen in Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Vintage<\/a>

<\/br>Vintage Facilities<\/br>My memories are really fuzzy about this part, and could be wrong about their functionalities.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Furnace<\/a>

<\/br>Furnace in Selime Monastery Kitchen<\/br>My memories are really fuzzy about this part. Maybe the branches were put there just to warn people from falling through the holes.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Kitchen<\/a>

<\/br>Kitchen Window Looking Out of Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Chapel<\/a>

<\/br>Chapel in Selime Monastery<\/br>My memories are really fuzzy about this part, and could be wrong about this room\u2019s functionalities.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Passage<\/a>

<\/br>Passage between Rooms in Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Church<\/a>

<\/br>Church in Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Looking<\/a>

<\/br>Looking Out of Selime Monastery Window<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Details<\/a>

<\/br>Details of Selime Monastery Church<\/p><\/div>
\nIt seemed to me that the church had been set ablaze in some wars or conflicts, and one can clearly see the burns left.
\n

\"Opening<\/a>

<\/br>Opening in Selime Monastery Ceilings<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Selime<\/a>

<\/br>Selime Monastery Cathedral<\/p><\/div>
\nAbout this so called “Cathedral”. While I was visiting in Oxford, I remembered how the locals prided themselves of people of a decent city as compared to the country bumpkins of Cambridge, just because Oxford had got Christ Church Cathedral and Cambridge didn\u2019t, and thus Oxford is a genuine city while Cambridge barely qualifies as a town. So the word “cathedral” matters, and not every worshipping place qualifies. But in this Selime residence, there were a chapel, a church, a cathedral right next to each other, but the weight that the word “cathedral” should carry was nowhere to be found. <\/p>\n

But back to Selime Monastery, I could see the magnificence of this rather humble “Cathedral” from its ruins, to be fair.
\n

\"Selime<\/a>

<\/br>Selime Monastery Chapel<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Selime<\/a>

<\/br>Selime Monastery Chapel<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Rooms<\/a>

<\/br>Rooms of Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Caves<\/a>

<\/br>Caves and Rooms in Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Caves<\/a>

<\/br>Caves and Rooms in Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Stairs<\/a>

<\/br>Stairs in Selime Monastery Passage<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Concaves<\/a>

<\/br>Concaves in Selime Monastery Walls<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Caves<\/a>

<\/br>Caves and Passages in Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Caves<\/a>

<\/br>Caves and Footholes of Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Caves<\/a>

<\/br>Caves and Cone Rocks of Selime Monastery<\/p><\/div>
\nAfter that it was a short drive to Ihlara Valley.<\/p>\n

The Ihlara Valley is a 14km long valley, and we would walk a small portion of it.
\n

\"Overlooking<\/a>

<\/br>Overlooking Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Overlooking<\/a>

<\/br>Overlooking Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Turn<\/a>

<\/br>Turn of Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Overlooking<\/a>

<\/br>Overlooking Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Overlooking<\/a>

<\/br>Overlooking Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Detail<\/a>

<\/br>Detail of Fresco on Daniel Pantonassa Church in Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Fresco<\/a>

<\/br>Fresco on Daniel Pantonassa Church in Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Fresco<\/a>

<\/br>Fresco on Daniel Pantonassa Church in Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Fresco<\/a>

<\/br>Fresco on Daniel Pantonassa Church in Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\nMore information about Ihlara Valley and Daniel Pantonassa Church can be found at http:\/\/www.goreme.com\/ihlara-valley.php<\/a> .<\/p>\n

From then on we walked North in the valley, among trees and brushes, with majestic rock hills on both sides of us.
\n

\"Creek<\/a>

<\/br>Creek and Turkish Flag Along Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Creek<\/a>

<\/br>Creek Along Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Trees<\/a>

<\/br>Trees in Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Giant<\/a>

<\/br>Giant Cave in Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

<\/br>Cliffs of Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tiny<\/a>

<\/br>Tiny Farmland in Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

<\/br>Cliffs of Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Halfway through the walk we arrived at some shops where we were given 20 minutes of rest. It happened to that lots of ducks were swimming around that area, and people were feeding the ducks from some restaurant-owned recreational wooden booths built on the creek.<\/p>\n

\"Ducks<\/a>

<\/br>Ducks in Ihlara Valley Creek<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sole<\/a>

<\/br>Sole Duck by Ihlara Valley Creek<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Recreation<\/a>

<\/br>Recreation Booths at Turn of Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Ducks<\/a>

<\/br>Ducks in Ihlara Valley Creek<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Duck<\/a>

<\/br>Duck in Ihlara Valley between Restaurant Chairs<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

<\/br>Cliffs of Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Hills<\/a>

<\/br>Hills on Side of Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

<\/br>Cliffs of Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Creek<\/a>

<\/br>Creek Along Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Trees<\/a>

<\/br>Trees Along Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

<\/br>Cliffs of Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

<\/br>Cliffs of Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Creek<\/a>

<\/br>Creek Along Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Creek<\/a>

<\/br>Creek Along Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

<\/br>Cliffs of Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

<\/br>Cliffs of Ihlara Valley with Caves and Pigeon Holes<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cliffs<\/a>

<\/br>Cliffs of Ihlara Valley with Caves and Pigeon Holes<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Pigeons<\/a>

<\/br>Pigeons Flying over Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Pigeons<\/a>

<\/br>Pigeons Flying over Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Then we exited Ihlara Valley, and right on the exit of Ihlara Valley there were some restaurants. We had our lunch in one of them.<\/p>\n

\"Wooden<\/a>

<\/br>Wooden Tent on Ihlara Valley Creek<\/br>They operated as sort of more premium restaurant than the ones our tour group had lunch.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Unlike yesterday\u2019s buffet lunch, today the menus were fixed, and our guide had taken our orders (from 5 dishes) during the previous van ride. I guess the discrepancy in catering standards would largely balance the additional fuel cost of driving the distances and keep the quotes of red and green tours similar. <\/p>\n

\"Soup<\/a>

<\/br>Soup before Lunch<\/br>Overall, I have a phobia about soups that\u2019s not transparent. I don\u2019t know what this soup was made of and I didn\u2019t like it.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Salad<\/a>

<\/br>Salad in Lunch<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"My<\/a>

<\/br>My Lunch<\/br>Chicken and rice, which was decent given what a low-cost restaurant we were in. I thought in a normal Turkish restaurant one could have this for like 10TL.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Table<\/a>

<\/br>Table where We Sat in Lunch<\/br>The tables and chairs were rather make-shift.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

There were I think 2 waiters, 1 boss and an unknown number of cooks in this nameless restaurant, serving at least 5 vans of people, so they were kept rather busy. Although what they did (delivering dishes, taking away empty plates, that\u2019s all) could be easily automated by machines, I don\u2019t think such low-cost restaurant would consider buying one.<\/del><\/p>\n

\"Riverside<\/a>

<\/br>Riverside Restaurant where We Had Lunch<\/p><\/div>\n

After that it was a 40-minute ride to Derinkuyu Underground City, largely on the same route that took us here.<\/p>\n

\"Trees<\/a>

<\/br>Trees along Ihlara Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South-West Cappadocia<\/br>The clouds were casting some beautiful shadows on the mountains.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South-West Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South-West Cappadocia before Rocky Hills<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South-West Cappadocia before Rocky Hills<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South-West Cappadocia before Rocky Hills<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands and Hills in South-West Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands and Hills in South-West Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South-West Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands before Village of Sofular<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South-West Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South-West Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Hill<\/a>

<\/br>Hill in South-West Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Farmlands<\/a>

<\/br>Farmlands in South Cappadocia<\/br>Those plastic bags should have something to do with pollination.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nDerinkuyu Underground City was the largest underground city discovered in the Cappadocia area. I called Selime Monastery a giant cave “city” above ground, and similarly Derinkuyu Underground City a giant cave “city” beneath ground.
\n

\"Derinkuyu<\/a>

<\/br>Derinkuyu Underground City Ventilation Shaft<\/p><\/div>
\nBefore entering the Derinkuyu Underground City our tour guide gave us a brief description of the underground city near this Ventilation Shaft (that I would otherwise definitely miss). I took the previous picture placing my cell phone on the metal net on top of the ventilation shaft.
\n

\"Derinkuyu<\/a>

<\/br>Derinkuyu Underground City Passage<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Derinkuyu<\/a>

<\/br>Derinkuyu Underground City Passage<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Derinkuyu<\/a>

<\/br>Derinkuyu Underground City Passage<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Derinkuyu<\/a>

<\/br>Derinkuyu Underground City Passage<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Derinkuyu<\/a>

<\/br>Derinkuyu Underground City Hall<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Concaves<\/a>

<\/br>Concaves in Derinkuyu Underground City<\/br>I thought they were used to store torches, candles, stuff like that.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Stalls<\/a>

<\/br>Stalls in Derinkuyu Underground City<\/br>If I remembered correctly.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nThe first level of the underground city was primarily used to keep animals, as the tour guide told us that the animal sounds could alert the people beneath of an enemy invasion.
\n

\"Wine<\/a>

<\/br>Wine Storage in Derinkuyu Underground City<\/br>If I remembered correctly.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Rooms<\/a>

<\/br>Rooms in Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Derinkuyu<\/a>

<\/br>Derinkuyu Underground City Passage<\/p><\/div>
\nFrom there it was a hideously<\/del> long decent to the core of the underground city. The passage was narrow and cramped. Since it could only afford one-way traffic, we used the primary way of yelling as semaphore.
\n

\"Circular<\/a>

<\/br>Circular Stones as Tunnel Blockage<\/br>So that the whole underground city could be cut off from outside invasion by moving such a stone to block the tunnel.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Tunnel<\/a>

<\/br>Tunnel Leading Deep Down Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Stairs<\/a>

<\/br>Stairs Leading Deep Down Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Moss<\/a>

<\/br>Moss on Rocks<\/p><\/div>
\nDown there it looked more like a functioning city, with more open spaces (although some areas were off visitor limits). My most fun was finding those ventilation shafts and looking up\/down from them.
\n

\"Rooms<\/a>

<\/br>Rooms in Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Rooms<\/a>

<\/br>Rooms in Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Passages<\/a>

<\/br>Passages in Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Passages<\/a>

<\/br>Passages in Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Looking<\/a>

<\/br>Looking up Ventilation Shaft from Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Passage<\/a>

<\/br>Passage into Derinkuyu Underground City Graves<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Circular<\/a>

<\/br>Circular Stones as Tunnel Blockage<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Looking<\/a>

<\/br>Looking up Ventilation Shaft from Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Looking<\/a>

<\/br>Looking down Ventilation Shaft from Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Looking<\/a>

<\/br>Looking up Ventilation Shaft from Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Rooms<\/a>

<\/br>Rooms in Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Flowers<\/a>

<\/br>Flowers outside Derinkuyu Underground City<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

We stayed for about an hour in the underground city area. Next stop of the day was Pigeon Valley, another photo opportunity shared with the red tour. From Derinkuyu Underground City to Pigeon Valley it was a 30-minute ride.
\n

\"Mount<\/a>

<\/br>Mount A\u015f\u0131kl\u0131 in South Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Light<\/a>

<\/br>Light Falling through Clouds<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Light<\/a>

<\/br>Light Falling through Clouds<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Traffic<\/a>

<\/br>Traffic Intersection outside Uchisar<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Pigeons<\/a>

<\/br>Pigeons at Pigeon Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Pigeon<\/a>

<\/br>Pigeon Valley and Uchisar Castle<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Pigeon<\/a>

<\/br>Pigeon Flying over Pigeon Valley<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"U\u00e7h\u0131sar<\/a>

<\/br>U\u00e7h\u0131sar Castle and Pigeon Valley<\/p><\/div>
\nThe final stop of the day was an onyx factory and store outside Uchisar. Since I wasn\u2019t interested in stones, I didn\u2019t pay any attention to the pitching of their stones. It was a short 15 minute stay before we were dropped off at our respective hotels.<\/p>\n

We took some rest in our hotel rooms, until it was quarter to seven and we decided to head out and watch the sunset.
\n

\"Aktepe<\/a>

<\/br>Aktepe under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\nThe best place to watch sunset (and sunrise) in G\u00f6reme was on a hill to the east of the town. OpenStreetMap marked it as “Sunset Point”, but I didn\u2019t find it on Google.
\n

\"Goat<\/a>

<\/br>Goat in G\u00f6reme<\/br>Surprised that some farmer still kept herds in such town center.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cave<\/a>

<\/br>Cave Hotels in East G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\nFrom there it was a breathtaking sunset against the rocks and caves of the Cappadocia region. And yes, I photoshopped the photos to make them more breathtaking.
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Town<\/a>

<\/br>Town of G\u00f6reme Under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset Glow on Clouds over Cappadocia<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Aktepe<\/a>

<\/br>Aktepe under Sunset Glow<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cappadocia<\/a>

<\/br>Cappadocia and Aktepe Under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Uchisar<\/a>

<\/br>Uchisar Castle under Setting Sun<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Town<\/a>

<\/br>Town of G\u00f6reme and Aktepe Under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset Glow on Clouds over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Aktepe<\/a>

<\/br>Aktepe under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Sunset<\/a>

<\/br>Sunset over G\u00f6reme<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Uchisar<\/a>

<\/br>Uchisar Castle under Setting Sun<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Cappadocia<\/a>

<\/br>Cappadocia and Aktepe and G\u00f6reme Under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Town<\/a>

<\/br>Town of G\u00f6reme Under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Town<\/a>

<\/br>Town of G\u00f6reme Under Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Uchisar<\/a>

<\/br>Uchisar Castle under Sunset Glow<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Lights<\/a>

<\/br>Lights of G\u00f6reme after Sunset<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Lights<\/a>

<\/br>Lights of G\u00f6reme Town<\/p><\/div>
\n

\"Part<\/a>

<\/br>Part of My Dinner<\/br>Grinded meat mixed into two thin films of bread, which was sort of like Pizza but much softer.<\/span><\/p><\/div>
\nWe stayed there until the sun’s fully down, and the lights of G\u00f6reme town were on.
\nAfter that, we finished dinner in a local restaurant. End to an eventful day.
\nEND<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The second day in the beautiful Cappadocia region. The plan of the day was to take the signature hot air balloon ride for an aerial view of the spectacular landscapes of Cappadocia, and then take part in the… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2272"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2276,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272\/revisions\/2276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.huangyizhou.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}