Travel Highlights

Goreme

Göreme is an unparalleled example of harmony between humanity and nature. To this day, people still live in rock dwellings or use them as storage, demonstrating a profound respect for the volcanic soil and its history. The village of Göreme, with its rock-cut houses, also boasts rock-cut restaurants and hotels, a scene that amazes all visitors. The city's natural boundaries are defined by the surrounding high rocks and fairy chimneys. It's a place of incredible natural treasures.

At 12:00 PM, we drove from Ankara to Cappadocia. The drive took 4:40 hours, with a stop at Lake Tuz. There was another hiccup along the way. The Google Maps map of Lake Tuz was different from the one advertised to tourists, so even though we knew there was a sign, we missed it. The lake is so large that we kept driving along it until something felt off. We couldn't see the lake anymore, but we couldn't give up, thinking, "How could I have come all this way without seeing the vast expanse of the lake?" So we turned back and found a gas station, but we couldn't speak the language, so we had to use Google to translate. Fortunately, there was a young man at the gas station who helped us and told us that we had to drive back 40 kilometers to get where we were going. We had already driven that far, so we had to turn back. As the saying goes, if you work hard, you will see it in the end. It was so beautiful and worth it.

Goreme Open-Air Museum

This so-called open-air museum is a group of outdoor rock-cut churches located in the mountains near Goreme. While the name might suggest a museum showcasing unusual rock formations, it's actually a collection of Eastern Orthodox rock-cut churches. Frescoes depicting various biblical figures adorn the rock walls of the Goreme Open-Air Museum. The complex comprises approximately a dozen churches of varying sizes, along with ancient refectory halls and tombs carved into the mountainside. These rock-cut churches were built by local Eastern Orthodox Christians starting in the fourth century AD. Due to its remote location, the religious murals in this area are difficult to discover, leaving many intact remains from the Iconoclasm era (8th-9th centuries AD). This makes it a worthwhile attraction for Christians. The Goreme Open-Air Museum was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. It's recommended to rent an audio guide to view the murals to better understand their meaning, otherwise you'll just be passing through. Furthermore, this is a large rock-cut city, with all the buildings carved out of the rock, a truly unique sight.

Our car was parked in the parking lot below, and we walked along the way to the museum entrance, passing vendors offering camel riding and hot air balloon photography.

The rocks are carved into caves that can be used as churches.

The geology here is the limestone deposits left behind by the volcanic eruption of nearby Mount Erciyes. The texture is soft and easy to dig. After the locals discovered this property, they used local materials to excavate a variety of buildings.

The cave is very dark, and the camera can only be used in Auto mode to shoot, so the grain is a bit rough.

The scenery of the Göreme Open-Air Museum is very unique. There are many holes on a large rocky mountain, which are rooms created by excavation.

This is their kitchen and dining room. The ceiling is smoked black and there are holes in the wall for storage.

The circular hole in the ground is where the stove is placed.

Karanlik Dark Church

This dark church is located in the ancient monastery complex of Goreme (an open-air museum), illuminated by a single window. The church in Goreme, Turkey, dates back to the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Christianity was introduced to the region early, with St. Paul passing through on his way to Ankara. (The following photos were downloaded from the internet)

Emit Cave Cappadocia Hotel

We stayed at a Cappadocia cave hotel for three nights. Because these hotels are advertised as cave hotels, any room with a decent size can cost hundreds of dollars. However, from my observation, there are no real cave hotels here. The so-called caves are artificially constructed around natural rock formations with domes, walls, and other structures that mimic caves. They're all just gimmicks, so there's no need to spend a fortune on fake caves. Our cave was smaller, so it was cheaper, but still a bit cramped. Breakfast was also very simple. They like to display a lavish display, with all sorts of jams and creams. It was all showy, but it didn't work. In the end, it felt like there wasn't much to eat.

We dined at the restaurant attached to the Sultan Cave Suite, our hotel. The restaurant itself is quite famous (though a bit pricey), ranked 17th out of 105 restaurants in Goreme on TripAdvisor. We ordered Cappadocia's famous clay pot cuisine. It was delicious, but the portions seemed a bit small.

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