Cappadocia, Turkey
There are very few places that you visit and you feel like you stepped into some sort of fairytale, but Cappadocia, Turkey was one of those places for me. I had dreamed of visiting Cappadocia ever since I made my first bucket-list at age 14 when I saw a photo on Pinterest of the hot air balloons hovering above the fairy chimneys and cave houses. Standing on top of our Cave House in Goreme, I found myself wanting to pinch myself that I was finally there.
The region was unlike any other place I have ever been or seen in my life. The unreal landscape of the volcanic rock formations, people carved houses, and valleys had us all speechless. The town of Goreme was quaint, but full of culture, amazing food, many small shops, and some of the kindest locals you’ll ever meet.
Because logistically it is very difficult to get to and from Ireland, we were only in the region for two days. We wanted to make the most of our time so we filled our days up with as many activities we could fit in. Unfortunately our hot air balloon ride was canceled due to unsafe wind patterns, so we booked ATV’s, sunrise horseback riding, and a day tour through the Ihlara Valley and the Derinkuyu Underground City.
My favorite thing that we did was probably the sunset ATV ride through Rose Valley. We were able to cruise through the valley and take in the beautiful scenery around us with multiple stops. We ended up at the top of a canyon to watch the sunset. This was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.
We ended the trip with a 430 am wake up for sunrise horseback riding on the last day. This was both beautiful and scary (only because it was my first time riding a horse and I had zero control over my horse), but nonetheless we got to see some beautiful views and even witness a few marriage proposals along the way.
The last thing we did was the Green Tour to Ihlara Valley and the Derinkuyu Underground City. It was important to me to make an attempt to explore the surrounding area outside the town of Goreme, and the safest and easiest way to do so was through an organized tour. We booked the Green Tour which included a full day of activities, entry tickets into the Underground city, turkish delight tasting tour, and lunch in Ihlara Valley. From being able to explore the oldest underground city system in the world, having lunch on a river in Ihlara Valley, and being able to taste traditional Turkish delights, it was a great day. I 100% recommend the Green Tour to anybody who is traveling to Cappadocia.
Although our Hot Air Balloon was canceled, this weekend still goes down as one of the best and most unique weekends of my life. (Besides now I have an excuse to go back one day).
