Türkiye: Day 1 in Cappadocia - Göreme Open Air Museum, Çavuşin, Paşabağı and Love Valley

Getting to Kayra Cave Suites

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. 

My room in Kayra Cave Suites

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. 

First breakfast in Türkiye. Not pictured was egg to order - I had fried egg for day 1. 

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. 

Day 1 - a somewhat Red Tour

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. 

Göreme Open Air Museum

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. 

Çavuşin

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 (Monks Valley)

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. 

It was another 30 minutes walk to Paşabağı from Çavuşin according to Google maps but probably took me longer due to hot weather and short legs. It is said to be part of tour group route and would be busy. I did not meet anyone in the valley when I was there, but I started late so I was there past noon and I could be also entering from a different entrance. 

I initially plan to continue to walk to Devrent Valley but it was still a trek there and I could only fit in another place. So I picked a place closer to Göreme and made my walk towards Love Valley. 

Love Valley

By this time I was running low of sustenance, particularly water. I popped in one of the shops by the road side to pick up water. The person who attended to me offered to bring me on a ATV ride to see sunset at Love Valley which I politely declined. Then he gave me a bottle of water for free. I tried to pay for the water but he didn't want it. It was my first day in Türkiye, my thoughts were - Cappadocia is a touristy town and Turkish are friendly and generous but skeptical part of me think that there is no free lunch. 

The walk to Love Valley were scenic, as like the rest of the valleys really. I was walking towards Love Valley viewpoint. As all viewpoints are, the walk was going uphill and there were a remarkable number of ATV tour groups passed by me. One of the guide stopped and offered me a ride to the Love Valley. I was sorely tempted this time. It was getting to evening time and I was making my way to the Love Valley viewpoint and the road were steep uphill. By this time I already clocked 30,000 steps at least. According to my fitbit, I hit 40,991 steps and walked 25.77 km on that day.  

However, cautious brain took over and I didn't think the offer extend to bringing me back to Göreme so I also declined this kind offer. The number of times I had to stop walking and step aside were growing. There really were a lot of ATV tour groups heading to Love Valley viewpoint for sunset. I changed my mind and walked towards the opposite direction from the viewpoint to head back to Göreme. 

Then I saw a sign that indicate Love Valley. It was going in to the valley itself and not the viewpoint. I saw someone on a horseback with his guide. Since it was along the way, so I walked into the valley. This was how I ended up walking so much. 

I thought I could walk back to Göreme if I was walking towards a similar direction instead of backtracking my steps but I was so wrong. Connection wasn't available in the middle of the valley. The sun has somewhat set and I wanted to leave the valley before it gets dark. 

What I see when walking within Love Valley

After walking for awhile and I was still in the valley, I saw a few women picking grapes within the Love Valley. I stopped to ask for direction which pretty much just me uttering the word, "Göreme?" and point. They pointed to the opposite direction and said, "Göreme" and the direction I pointed as "Uchisar". Then they offered me the grapes they plucked. 

On speaking with the hotel staff after, she told me Turkish are brought up to always share food. So they saved me from walking to a different town and also offered me food. Shame on me for being skeptical. 

See how wrong I was...

Powered by some grapes, I retraced my steps, little legs worked hard and I was out of the valley before it gets dark. The valley was beautiful at dusk.

I was going to lump all 3 days of Cappadocia in the same post but this was getting too long this was day 1. 

Side note: :( 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/14/turkish-police-arrest-suspect-in-istiklal-bombing

Türkiye: Random things to consider when planning a trip to Türkiye

1915 Çanakkale Bridge from a bus

ATM fees

I had a 6 hours layover between landing in Istanbul Aiport to my domestic flight to Kayseri. I initially booked a flight at 21:40 (on 30th September) giving me a 3+ hours gap but the flight was cancelled. I was rebooked on the next flight, which unfortunately scheduled at 01:25 (on 1st October) so I spent a lot of time in Istanbul Airport, specifically the domestic departure. There was a row of 6 ATM machines and I tried all to check which bank I should use to withdraw cash. 

From tripadvisor, last update 28/09/2022 and this website, last update 04/2022 - the banks that doesn't charge a fee are PTT, Halkbank, ING Bank, Şekerbank, Fibabanka, Ziraat Bankası. 

Of the ones in the list, I've only used ING bank. PTT are mostly outside of Turkish Post but I've not used. 

Price references online versus in Türkiye

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. 

I paid €230 for a 60 minutes flight time hot air balloon with maximum 24 people. Breakfast, pick up, landing party with drinks are the norm across all. Post my travel, I think the price should be closer to €200. I booked via the hotel and was with Air Kapadokya Balloons. On hindsight, it is easy to make a booking online by ownself, especially after flight that I learned the more famous companies are Butterfly Balloons and Royal Balloons. 

Sim card

I found from here that Turkcell provides a Tourist Welcome Pack for 149 TL (~AUD 12), which includes 20 GB and 200 calling minutes, and valid for 30 days. This website was last updated in 2020. Turkcell's webpage mentioned that,

As of 08.09.2022, the recommended price of the Tourist Welcome Pack introduction kit has been revised as 349.00 TL. In addition to the opening taxes, 20 TL Radio Usage Fee will be charged to our customers who buy a line with the Tourist Welcome Pack. In addition, the one-time Service Fee at the time of opening will be 151.25 TL.

However, when I walked into a Turkcell outlet in Istanbul Airport on 1st October 2022, I was told the Tourist Welcome Pack cost 600 TL (if my memory doesn't fail me). I remember reading somewhere that sometimes Turkcell outlet in the airport could be more expensive compared to outlets outside of airport. One of a traveller I met told me that she was quoted an even higher price when she walked into a shop in Göreme.

I feel 600 TL (~AUD 48) is a little steep and asked if there is any cheaper plans. The staff whom I spoke to quoted me a 10 GB plan for 480 TL (~AUD 38.50) with validity of 30 days. Still not cheap and a less attractive package definitely. I didn't need the calling minutes and I could manage with 10 GB for 17 days, so I took this. 

Buses

Long distance buses are probably the only one where the fare is consistent with what I found before visiting Türkiye. Obilet.com is the website to look up buses schedule. I found this when I was researching for buses in Türkiye, and this same website was given to me by the hotel staff when I was in Göreme. 

One of the traveller I met during my trip said his attempt to get a ticket from the website was unsuccessful due to card issue but I've not tried. My usage was contained to looking up the schedule and decide which bus I want. I then bought a ticket from the bus station whenever I arrived at the city/town. 

Passport was needed when purchasing a ticket and I was also asked for mobile number. I was told in case of any changes to the bus timing, etc but they usually forgo it when I said I dont have calling minutes on my card. Knowing the word 'otogar' (bus station) goes a long way too :)

Long distance buses were comfortable and some served drinks and snack. I played Candy Crush on one of my rides. Most commuters didn't wear a mask but I usually donned one on public transports. ID checks were very common on buses, we were stopped 3 times on the bus from Denizli to Bodrum (about 4.5 hours).

All the toilets in bus stations charge a fee for entry, ranging from 2-5 TL except one that I don't know where because it was a stop in between Cappadocia to Pamukkale. The 5 TL (~AUD 0.40) one was in Bodrum bus station. 

Public buses that connects Bodrum bus station to central takes credit card. So you tap on using a credit card, and it costs 5 TL (~AUD 0.40).

Water

I used tap water for brushing teeth, etc but only drank bottled water or boiled water. What I didn't expect is that kettle isn't a norm in most accommodations that I stayed in. Only 2 of the accommodations provided a kettle and the ones that provided a kettle also gave complimentary bottled water. Cheapest 1.5L I got was from a supermarket, expectedly, at TL 3 (~AUD 0.25)

Taxis

I don't know how it turned out that I was mostly on public buses or I walked. I only got on a taxi in 4 occasions. Twice the hotel called a cab on my behalf, and twice I approached a taxi driver in a bus station. All 4 times they used the meter voluntarily. I did round up when I paid but the differences were negligable. 

Weather

I opted to travel in October as it was said to be the shoulder season. I was hoping it would be less warm by then but not yet hitting the rainy months. There was only 1 day of rain but it went on/off for the whole day. 

Side note: The only association the photo has with this post is that it was taken from a bus :D

Türkiye & Dubai in 3 weeks

Once upon a time, a friend asked if I want to tag his trip to Istanbul but as things happened, neither of us ended up stepping into Türkiye. That was a good 10 years ago. Not that I didn't try to plan a trip to Türkiye prior to this but at one point it wasn't too safe among other things, so I've never been to this transcontinental country.  

Majority of my 3 weeks leave was in Türkiye, but I decided to extend my layover in Dubai by a couple of days, making the most of flying with Emirates. It cost the same taking a return flight from Melbourne to Istanbul or adding Dubai as a destination at the time of my booking. 

By the time of my travel, there is no additional requirements due to covid-19 needed to both Türkiye or Dubai. I initially wanted to also make a day trip to Abu Dhabi but a negative PCR test within 14 days was still required to enter any attractions, including the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque which was the main reason I wanted to go. As I was looking up information to blog, looks like this requirement has been lifted as of 7 Nov 2022. Next time, I guess. 

I took a domestic flight out of Istanbul the day I landed to navigate the hassle of commuting in out of Istanbul Airport. It was a very long commuting day with a total 20+ hours flight and 7 hours transit from Melbourne to Kayseri but there was an empty seat next to me in the longest leg of the flight. 

Here is my itinerary for 3 weeks (or to be exact 22 days) in Türkiye and Dubai (instead of UAE as I was pretty much only in Dubai, except the desert that I went was located in Sharjah). 

M: morning, A: afternoon, E: evening, N: night

30/09, Day 00 - On flight, arrived Istanbul in the evening, flight to Cappadocia* (Kayra Caves Suites)

01/10, Day 01 - Cappadocia*

02/10, Day 02 - Cappadocia*

03/10, Day 03 - Cappadocia, overnight bus to Pamukkale* (Paradise Hotel)

04/10, Day 04 - Bus to Bodrum* (Pasha Motel)

05/10, Day 05 - Bodrum*, day trip to Kos

06/10, Day 06 - Bus to Selcuk* (Hotel Ave Maria)

07/10, Day 07 - Selcuk*

08/10, Day 08 - Bus to Ayvalik* (Lunaria Guest House)

09/10, Day 09 - Bus to Canakkale* (Sera Palas Pansiyon)

10/10, Day 10 - Canakkale*, day trip to Troy and Gallipoli Peninsula

11/10, Day 11 - Bus to Bandirma, then ferry to Istanbul* (Happy Suite Boutique Hotel)

12/10, Day 12 - Istanbul*

13/10, Day 13 - Istanbul*

14/10, Day 14 - Istanbul*

15/10, Day 15 - Istanbul*

16/10, Day 16 - Istanbul*

17/10, Day 17 - Flight to Dubai* (Excelsior Downtown Hotel)

18/10, Day 18 - Dubai*

19/10, Day 19 - Dubai*

20/10, Day 20 - Dubai* (Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek)

21/10, Day 21 - Dubai*

22/10, Day 22 - Flight to Melbourne

23/10, Day 23 - Arrive Melbourne in the morning

*referring to overnight stay

Side note: I'll go with Türkiye, since this is the country's Turkish name. 

NSW: The Riverboat Postman in Brooklyn

Brooklyn is a town in NSW surrounded by Muogamarra Nature Reserve. It occupies a strip of waterfront along the southern bank of the Hawkesbury River. Best part is, Brooklyn is accessible via train - Hawkesbury River Station. 

I've been to Hawkesbury River once many years ago but didn't do much. Such coincidence that it was also rainy day this round. I still didn't do much this round but manage to catch the Riverboat Postman cruise. The regular cruise runs on weekdays and nowadays I am only ever in Sydney for work without any extension days so it gets a little tricky to get on the cruise. Anyway the last round I was in Sydney, it was a couple of days prior to a Melbourne's public holiday, plus the government announced an additional public holiday due to Queen's demise so I ended up with 2 free days in Sydney for roaming. 

I like the idea of it - getting on a traditional cruise that started the run in 1910. They serve coffee or tea with home-made ANZAC biscuits for morning tea. As the mail delivery cruise is a 3 hour cruise, lunch is included in the ticket and consists of a Ploughman's style plate with shaved ham, cheese, tomato, zucchini, carrot, lettuce, pickled onions, bread roll, pickles, fruit chutney, butter & Italian dressing. 

However on 'execution', I did feel that it's not something I enjoy as a solo traveller, especially since the weather wasn't great that day and I can't spend the whole time outside. Whilst inside the ferry, I was seated with other commuters and felt a little awkward. It is not the issue with the cruise, of course. 

The cruise is actually a functioning riverboat postman and they deliver to settlements of Dangar and Milson Islands, Kangaroo Point, Bar Point, Marlow Creek, Fisherman's Point and Milson's Passage before returning to Brooklyn by about 1.15pm. On the day of my cruise, there was only 1 delivery plus they dropped of a family of 3 who were visiting their family. 

Well, it could be an option if you are after something else that the more usual Sydney attractions. :)

Side note: I should do something before the weekend slips away...

Sydney: 2 days work trip

Room view

Didn't think I was going to be travelling up to Sydney for work again in September but it was a quick 2 days trip. Sometime last year I was thinking of travelling to Sydney for a short break but coincide with a lockdown announcement so I cancelled the trip. This trip so happened to be just before a public holiday in Melbourne so I asked to extend my days in Sydney to wander around. 

I was back to Radisson Blu this round which was great but I moved out on the days I funded my own accommodation. There aren't too many food photos this round as lunch were mostly with the team and very quick affairs as we scoffed down our food before rushing to the next meeting. Here are some though. 

Radisson Blu

Room service

I initially wanted to try INDU dining following a recommendation of a collegue at work. I was working and by the time I finished, it was closed to 9 PM and was a minute passed their last call when I got there. I forgot I am in Australia where there really are not a lot of choices at night. After walking for a bit, I decided to just order a room service. Decided to get steak in pretext of supplement my iron levels and well, I don't cook beef much at home. It was ok. 

Lunch earlier of the day was takeaway Thai food from a food court. All of us got from the same stall because the queue was the shortest but don't go. Haha. 

Lunch and dinner the next were good but I dined with my colleague and pretend to be good, so no photos. Lunch was sandwich from Brooklyn Bridge Deli, which was good but if I wasn't with my colleagues, I would not have gone in because too many people in a small space. :D They also do the 'leave name' policy and they would shout out your name when your order is ready. 

Dinner was at Jimmy's Falafel with another colleague so also no photo. Food was good and portion was huge. We ordered the original pita with chips each and calamari to share, I couldn't even finish the pita. 

Ramen Zundo

World Square

They have a few branches but I went to the one in World Square. I was craving for some tsukemen and read that the one in Ramen Zundo was good. I had Spicy Tsukemen. I think there was an egg but I don't recall if there was any other ingredients as shown on their menu. Possibly not. It was ok, plus I had craving, else ramen is probably more worth it?

Another new place I tried but no photos was Caysorn Thai. I feel that Sydney offers better Thai restaurant and I wanted to try a different place than the usual Dodee Paidang, Chat Thai or Home. Google suggested Caysorn Thai which serves food from Phatthalung, Southern Thai. I am sold :)

I caught up with an old friend there and the food were great! My friend doesn't take spicy food much, and based on recommendation from the waitstaff, we had caramelized pork belly, bai-leng pad kai (sauteed southern green leaf with egg and garlic) and nahm prik kapi (spicy shrimp paste with cha-om omelete) with rice. I will return to try other dishes. 

Dulcet Cakes and Sweets

I've been once in the past to their shop in Quay Street. Now they have another shop in Kinokuniya which is easier to get to for me because I go to Kinokuniya pretty much every time I visited Sydney. Haha. 

Cake and hojicha

Side note: Melbourne Cup PH