We disembarked the Noordam at 7 am to meet our airport transfer provided by EFENDİ Travel. Let the Cappadocian adventure begin! The driver was a little late (10 min) but then he stayed with another family who were waiting for their driver for another 10 – 15 min wile we were in the van. It was a little bizarre but we hoped he knew his time limits to get us to the airport on time!
And as it was, he did! We arrived right at 8 am after a 25 minute drive along the coast. We got checked in and then began the long wait until take off at 10 am. For Carlos it was even longer since he had taken an advil cold & sinus to ward off a potential cold and it is *possible* that I told him the wrong colour to take and he took a night pill instead of a day one. As such he was sleep walking the whole time! In fact, the plane ride for him was literally just boarding and getting off! Lucky guy! We were on Turkish Airlines and were served a cheese and tomato sandwich and yogurt during the one hour flight. Memories of the old days of flying!! 🙂 The landing was a little strange – lots of banking – but we made it safe and sound.
In Kayseri there was a van waiting for us to whisk us away to the fairy land of Cappadocia. We were staying one hour away in Göreme, which is the touristic centre of the region. Our hotel, The Kelebek, was paradise! In fact, we weren’t even sure we were going to be able to drag ourselves away to explore the area! We stayed in rooms 5 and 6 which are in the very tip top of two fairy chimneys! Wow! The rickety steps and shared bathroom at the bottom of said steps, were just a small price to pay for the unique experience. FYI – rooms 4 and 7 are lower down in one of the chimneys so less stairs and ensuite bathroom!
In the hotel there is a pool (refreshingly freezing), restaurant/bar, computers for use, a hamam Turkish Bath, and just about the nicest staff you can find anywhere. Once we got settled in, we arranged our few activities for the upcoming days, most notably a dawn hot air balloon ride followed by an organic breakfast in one of the valleys.
All that planning gave us quite the appetite so we indulged in some sish kebabs and köfte (meatballs) at the hotel. And a large Efes beer of course. The food was delicious and made all the better with the panoramic views. Next was my downfall of the day – a siesta! I only wanted 15 minutes….but it turned into TWO HOURS! Insane! So that was the day pretty much gone! Not sure what everyone else did! Haha!
So to close the day officially, we went up to Sunset Point on the other side of town to take in the views and have a bit of a walk. The sun sets behind Göreme so the light over the red and rose valleys and everything in between is lovely and rosey as the sun goes down. There were some people up with us on the ridge but it wasn’t crowded by any stretch of the imagination.
Afterwards we wandered back through town and stopped at a patio for some rehydration (again Irish-style). As we sat there watching all the delicious looking food pass us by, we finally caved in and ordered a pide (pizza-esque flat bread) and a local specialty of a meat stew cooked in a clay pot and then the top is broken off to serve the yummy goodness inside. All finished of course with a cup of tea!
By now it was time to climb into our fairy chimneys and settle down for a short sleep before our balloon flight – bus leaves at 5 am!!