The Cube

I feel activities in Cappadocia are very early morning based - getting on a hot air balloon or viewing hot air balloons. I landed in Kayseri Airport at 2ish am, my call time for hot air ballon was at 5:20am and I also woke up on my 3rd day at around 6am to view hot air balloons. 

Call time for hot air balloons varies depending on sunrise. My pick up time was at 5:20am. After being picked up from the hotel, I was brought to the front of their shop to wait for fly/no fly decision. In the meantime, we were given a breakfast pack. Breakfast pack included a tetrapack drink, a water bottle, a bun and a couple of snacks like nuts and pretzels. 

When they got the decision, the driver brought us to the hot air balloon starting point. 

As mentioned previously, I booked this via the hotel. The hot air balloon company I was with was Air Kapadokya. It was a classic sunrise flight of maximum 24 people. In my compartment was a solo male traveller, a couple, 2 friends from Korea and me. There were 4 compartments in total. Our flight went on for a total of 1 hour 5 minutes. We pretty much have to climb into the basket, it wasn't hard and there were many people there who would give you a hand if you need help. I was second closest to the burner. The pilot gave us a briefing on landing position of crouching down facing inside of the basket before the balloon took off. 

It was slow so it wasn't scary to me. Plus I'm short so the probability of me falling off the basket is small. My fear is more of quick moving in the air thing like roller coater rides or any free drop rides for the matter. I guess I dont have fear of heights but more fear of falling. 

Flight started off before sunrise, the pilot brought us low to the valley and passed Devrent Valley (or also known as Imaginary Valley) which I didn't get to the day before. 

We waited for sunrise on the hot air balloon. Thankful for a good weather day for being able to fit in a hot air balloon ride. I wanted to do hot air balloon in Cappadocia even though I well aware that many other places also offer hot air balloon rides. 

There were a lot of coordination work to land the hot air balloon. I could see a truck 'chasing' our hot air balloon as the pilot were looking for a place to land. On descending, the balloon basket hit some branches and the pilot very casually said, "No problem" and proceeded to pull out the branch that was stuck at the basket. We landed successfully and the ground staffs coordinated our climbing out of the basket. We had a round of champagne drink and were handed our 'flight certificate' before the driver sent us back to our respective hotels. 

I had breakfast again in the hotel and waited for my green tour pick up at about 9:30 am. I decided to do the Green Tour as the places covered in this tour were further away. 

I paid TL 815 for this tour which included lunch and paid in cash directly to the tour company. I was picked up at about 9:30 am and brought to their office for payment before our first tour stop. The tour ended around 6ish pm and covered Göreme Panorama, Derinkuyu Underground City, Selime Cathedral, Ihlara Canyon, Pigeon Valley and Onyx Art Factory.  

We were brought to a viewpoint to see Göreme while the guide briefed us some information around Cappadocia and Göreme. 

Derinkuyu Underground City is the biggest and deepest underground city in Cappadocia and visitors can descent down seven levels and could look up the ventilation shaft to see how far down one is. Many sections are open for visits including stalls, storages, church, kitchen and other sections. It was underground and a stop for many tour groups making this place fairly crowded. We were behind this Korean speaking tour group and continued to see them along our tour! I could even recognise the Korean speaking tour guide because we bumped into them so often and of course all the tour guides are friends. 

Selime Cathedral is the largest and most elaborate rock-cut complex in Cappadocia. This religious structure was believed to be built in the 900s and covers an enormous kitchen, halls, church and courtyards. 

I landed in Kayseri Airport at about 2:45am. I chose not to check in my luggage in case it takes too long to be out and of course, I travelled light enough to have this option. I prebooked a pickup shuttle via getyourguide from the airport to hotel. Unfortunately most shuttle companies end their service by midnight but I managed to find one. However, because it was a shuttle service, we would need to wait for everybody in the same shuttle before departure. It took about an hour or so from the airport to Göreme. By the time I got to the hotel, it was around 4:45 am. 

I walked towards the hotel and the door was closed. There were lights but I didn't see anyone initially. I tried to push open the door but it was quite tight. Then I noticed someone sleeping at the couch. I wasn't sure how long I need to wait if I didn't wake him up so I knocked on the door softly because I also didn't want him to wake up in a shock. 

He woke up not long after I knocked and check-in was fast and painless. He told me later that he made it fast, I must've looked very tired. Oops. He also told me that his alarm was set at 5am anyway for hot air balloons pick ups! I felt less guilty in waking him up. 

I know it is comparing apples and oranges and they are not like for like but this was my favourite stay in Türkiye. I enjoyed conversations with the staffs in the hotel, they were friendly and not imposing. It was comfortable and not once I felt that I was making an effort to engage in a conversation. 

Things to do 

I'm sure if your mode of transportation is driving or you are not doing any long walks in the valleys or keep on making a wrong turn like me, you would be able to cover more grounds. I didn't book for the hot air balloon on my first day under advice of the hotel owner, Ali, in case of any delay in arrival. A sound advice, I didn't expect it took about 2 hours to arrive at the hotel. 

In the gist, I walked to some attractions included in the Red Tour on day 1, signed up for the Green Tour on day 2 plus hot air balloon and visited another one on day 3. 

The famous Red Tour (if you sign up to one) includes Uçhisar Castle, Göreme Open Air Museum, Çavuşin, Avanos, Paşabağ, Devrent Valley. 

I set the alarm for breakfast so I got a couple of shuteye and decided not to sleep the day away. On day 1, I did Göreme Open Air Museum, Çavuşin, Paşabağı and Love Valley. Decision was mostly based on geographically concentration rather than any clever logic. Note that I went to Paşabağı and walked passed Paşabağ but did not hike within it because I thought they were the same when I was there! Such a noob but Paşabağı was beautiful. 

This is a Unesco World Heritage site which houses cluster of monastic Byzantine artistry with cave-cut churches, chapels and monasteries. The open air museum was about 1.5km walk from the village center and entrance ticket was TL150 at the time of my visit. This was the most crowded site I visited in Cappadocia. 

Leaving Göreme Open Air Museum, I walked to Paşabağı via Çavuşin. View was amazing but it was warm and I did feel like I walked for a long time and met 2 other couples walking, one in front of me and turned into Paşabağ which I didn't realise at that time and another walked in the opposite direction. Midway walking, someone riding on ATV slowed down and offered me a ride to Çavuşin. I declined, said my thank-yous and continued walking. 

After a long while, I reached Çavuşin which sits in between Göreme and Avanos. In the main valley area, unmissable is a cliff where a cluster of abandoned houses were carved into. 

Paşabağı was in between Çavuşin and Avanos, and situated halfway along the road to Zelve. According to myth, Paşabağı was named so due to a monk who retired to this valley to retire and live a spiritual lifestyle. He lived at the top of a high column. 

I find the price gap between the reference I found online versus the actual price when I was in Türkiye are very different. I don't know if it was covid-19, inflation, time when website was updated versus time of my visit (early October 2022) or because I have very poor haggling skills but it was across many things, or all the above - entrance fees, hot air balloons, sim cards, food.

According to this website, in 2022, it is expected to be €140-190 per person in March, €170-200 per person between 01 April - 31 August, and €190-240 per person between September and October. I am still perplexed as to why it is most expensive in September and October as October is said to be shoulder season. Haha. I have must lost the plot.