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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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: :(
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