Travel days are always tough, but this one was going to be up there with a 9.5 hour bus trip to Goreme in the Cappadocia region. Ugh! I ordered a taxi through the Uber app at 7.00 to give us plenty of time to make our 8.30am bus departure. Our taxi arrived, with a passenger and asked that we wait for 2 minutes while he dropped off the man. Ok, interesting start but we had plenty of time. Our taxi returned and we piled in – the brightest taxi ride ever! His sound system was a mass of colourful lighting in the back seat. I almost put my sunnies on.
We set off with me tracking the route as per google maps. I had taken the address from Flixbus for the bus terminal, which was about a 20 minute drive from our apartment. The sun still hadn’t risen, so we didn’t get to see much on the drive. Now Uber is clever and our driver was following the route google maps gave him to the address Flixbus had given me…all was dark when we arrived at the busstop, and cleverly, Colin checked with our taxi driver that this was the bus station to get us to Cappadocia. Hmmm…our driver said that we couldn’t catch the bus from here. Uh oh.
Our driver assured us he could take us to the correct bus terminal, so we set off, with a new taxi fare, thankful we still had plenty of time. Next thing we know, the car is slowing and our driver is pulling over. Breakdown! and we still had a long way to go to get to the bus.
Cast out of the car (nicely) we stood on the side of the road with our luggage while I ordered another taxi. Yes, it would have been great service if our driver had done it, but the thought didn’t seem to cross his mind. I triple checked that I had the correct address and ordered. Our new taxi arrived and we set off, still with time, but hoping the crazy traffic wouldn’t slow us down too much.
With the sun risen, it was comforting to be able to see where we were when we arrived, and that we certainly looked to be at a bus terminal. Breathing sighs of relief, we checked the departures board and found our bus. The company operates on behalf of Flixbus so it took a bit to find the small signage on the Kamel Koc bus, but we were in the right place, at the right time and even had time to get coffees before boarding.
Our dread at the thought of the long bus trip ahead of us was significantly eased when we sat at our seats. The bus only had three seats per row, so the seats were wider and much more comfortable than the usual bus – definitely geared up for long distance trips. The first few hours travel were pretty and interesting, but once we got over the mountains, the landscape flattened and was rather boring.
It was dark by the time we arrived in Goreme and we had google maps to guide us to the Angel View Suites, our home for the next four nights. It was cold, but most of our walk to the Angel View was uphill, cobblestoned streets, so we kept warm. I had treated us to a spa king suite so we had plenty of room and, like so many properties in Goreme, the décor was stone and cave-like. Keen to make the most of our time, I booked the red tour for the next day and we settled in after a quick walk around town to get our bearings (and Turkish delight) and see what was on offer. We stopped in at a little café where we met an Aussie traveller and ate a good pizza.
Breakfast was included in the room rate, so we had a nice relaxing sleep in and headed upstairs to the breakfast room. I think we were the only people in the hotel as we were served platters of food, so much food that there was no way we were going to eat it all. And most importantly, the coffee was good. We ate gazing out over Goreme, and even got to see a few balloons in the air. We didn’t think we would do the balloons, even though the low season price of 100 Euros was much cheaper than high season.
I messed up on the date for our Red Tour, so we didn’t need to eat breakfast as early as we did as the tour was booked for tomorrow. Keeping track of days and dates is challenging when there is no routine of work, or dance classes or whatever else we fill our days with when not living the dream. But the good news, of course, is that we can adapt and do something else! With the day free to explore we set off to discover Goreme by daylight. It’s a lot colder here and the streets were laced with an icy trim, which also meant we needed to be careful of black ice.
Goreme is rather small with a smattering of fairy chimneys in amongst the myriad of hotels, restaurants, cafes, travel agencies and tourist shops. It’s also hilly once you get out of the town square, but the surroundings are picturesque. There are plenty of cats, but what surprised us more was the number of dogs everywhere. A lot of them are tagged, so I guess that means owners, but they roam freely. You’d expect a lot of dog poop on the streets, but that wasn’t the case – they must make an effort to keep things clean. Not a good look for tourists otherwise.
We checked out one of the Indian restaurants for dinner and order lamb and chicken. It was good – not great and definitely not as good as Sherpa Momo, but it was a nice change from the breads of Turkish food. We were the only diners to start with and service was slow and ordinary – we had to ask for glasses for our water – but it wasn’t too expensive. The competition in town should keep prices reasonable; not cheap, but reasonable.
Our second day was loads of fun as we joined our Red Tour. We were picked up on time, and collected our travel companions before setting off. We were joined by three young women who were from Istanbul, so conversations with our bus driver, including explanations and directions were all in Turkish. Thinking the day was going to be a dud, we shrugged our shoulders and settled back to go with the flow and at least get to see the surrounding area.
The driver made a stop in what looked to us, the middle of nowhere. We managed to get the message about 10 minutes…for something, so confused, we stood at the side of the road, thankful the day was only costing 16 Euros each. Then a bus pulled up and a woman got off…hallelulah, she was our guide! And what an awesome guide – great English, dynamic and fun. The day was suddenly looking like it was going to be great value.
Back on the bus, our day plan was explained in both English and Turkish, although the ladies from Istanbul said they were happy for English as they all spoke it to some degree. Our first stop was at Love Valley, which has loads of the fairy chimneys…and the usual photo seats. At least here there is no charge to take your photos. You can do horse rides in Love Valley as well…not included on this tour, but it would be an interesting thing to do.
We began bonding with our travel companions as we helped each other take photos, including some artistic ones our driver set up of the girls from Istanbul using my phone and a group photo as well. It’s a good way to get contact details for sharing the photos. From Love Valley we travelled to Uchisar Castle, unfortunately not to go in, but just to see it from the outside. It’s a huge fairy chimney and could be worth a trip to go inside. Uchisar is not far from Goreme and looks like a nice little town as well. It was here that I asked if the girls would mind if I put their photos on the website, which led to a discussion about the YouTube channel…hopefully they subscribe.
Our next stop was to check out fairy chimneys with particular features that were also once used as a monastery. There are thousands of the chimneys in Kapydokya and they certainly make for a fascinating landscape. We wandered around for a while, clambering up hills and yes, taking more photos. Thankfully it was a gloriously sunny day.
The first of our shopping stops was next…a gem workshop and associated jewellery store, with LOTS of lovely sparkly things. Dangerous…and Colin looked nervous. I checked the price on a pretty bracelet and was surprised that it was only 1000 lira ($50). I quite liked the zultanite, a colour changing stone depending on the light, which is apparently only available in Turkiye and is not exported. Maybe next time.
We went from there to a leather factory and had fun watching a quick fashion show as the models peddled a range of jackets and wraps. Some nice stuff, but phew, the prices! We were told most of the leather is lamb skin which would add to the cost. The staff were friendly and not pushy, but these stops always feel awkward when you’re not buying.
Lunch was back in Goreme at a restaurant we had walked past a couple of times (it’s a small town) so we were curious to see what the food was like. These tour lunch stops can be ordinary to say the least, but this was delicious. We got three courses – lentil soup (my new favourite), salads and bread (of course) then we could choose our main. We went with Ayse’s recommendation which was the kebab meat and it was yummy. All of this was followed up with rice pudding, also delicious.
Our next stop was Ortahisar which provided wonderful views over the town below. Ayse explained that this was a Greek settlement until not long ago, so many of the home have Greek features. It was really cold by this time, but the views were spectacular. We ended up inside the café drinking tea and chatting, getting to know each other better and enjoying the company.
We had another shopping stop, but this one was lots of fun – food tasting. The shop was set up to host small groups and provided a wide range of goodies to try – nuts, Turkish delight of all flavours, chocolate and savoury snacks. You could skip lunch and just fill up on this stop! We didn’t buy anything, but there were lots of tempting choices, and in addition to the food you could buy soaps, cosmetics, perfumes…all whilst listening to your wallet scream in agony.
The shopping stops didn’t end there though. We set off to the pottery factory, where we were going to get a demonstration…by me! Ayse asked if I’d like to have a go, and as I’ve always wanted to try potting, I was delighted to get the opportunity. After being ushered into the demonstration room, I was given a gorgeous garment to put over my clothes as protection .