travels.of.tara

High on my list for travel to Turkey was the region of Cappadocia, located in the center of the country and known for its unique geological landscape; the entire region classified as a UNESCO world heritage site. Our tour stopped there for 3 nights, staying in the central town of Göreme. 

We arrived just as the sun was setting, worn out after a long travel day that included a flat tire on the side of the highway. (The story of how the handsome mustache men came to save us became a hilarious bonding experience.) Our guide asked if we wanted to go see a sunset view, and we all immediately rallied and shouted “yes!” Our first view of the giant rock formation was revitalizing; we were practically running up the sidewalk to reach the base of the hill to catch the sunset view. The internet tells me we were at Uchisar Castle, which seems to be called the ugly castle, but it was definitely not ugly! It’s something of a cross between a mountain and a large rock with a set of caves and holes people can walk through. Whatever it was, we were loving it, snapping photos and getting excited for the adventure to come. After dinner nearby at a female-led co-op restaurant, we checked into our lovely hotel and got some early sleep in preparation for a very early morning. 

For many international travelers, Cappadocia is synonymous with the famous hot air balloons over the rocky landscape. I can’t believe I almost chose not to do it. I mean, it was $300, and I was in a hot air balloon once before in Mexico City, and later in my journey there’s a place to ride them for maybe 1/4 of the price. But this was something else. It was one of those peak travel and life experiences that I’ll remember forever. Like many tourist attractions, there’s a reason it’s popular. 

Nine of us from our group of 12 got picked up from our hotel at 5:10am, and the van drove us onto a field in the middle of nowhere, right up to the launch site of our balloon, just one amongst over a hundred going up that day. We were handed a small snack bag, and watched our yellow balloon inflate with its fire system blazing and blaring. It was cool, clear, and comfortable weather, still pitch dark. We were only standing there about 5 minutes before we started loading in, which entailed climbing into the basket and swinging your legs over several compartment separators. With all 32 passengers and 2 pilots loaded, we suddenly noticed the ground moving a little. And just like that, we had liftoff!

The adrenaline hit quickly, as the ground smoothly became farther away. The initial view was of other balloons. As we got higher up, we were able to see Göreme below, and then the rocky outcroppings emerged. Everyone was taking nonstop photos and videos, smiles on all our faces, and rotating around so everyone could get front row views. Soon the sun was rising, changing the colors of the landscape and keeping the positive vibes going. At times we went down and dipped into some narrow valleys just above the ground. We saw an influencer posing in a flowy red dress on a vintage car, and the pilot helpfully photobombed. 

The sky was timeless. Eventually we landed by clunking down onto a truck bed, and as the balloon deflated we climbed out onto the dry grass. Following hot air balloon tradition, we cheers’ed with some champagne (actually fizzy non-alcoholic juice here), got a little certificate, and were on our way back to the van. It was truly magical, and we were all buzzing for the rest of our time in the region. 

We explored other major attractions in Cappadocia, including the Göreme Open Air Museum, a UNESCO site where you can get up close and personal with the tall and pointy cave rocks. I learned they were actually developed some thousand-plus years ago into churches, and we were able to enter them and see some of the preserved fresco art and burial sites. It was unique and interesting, and nature-filled enough to stave off my typical boredom by all things religious. Human ingenuity has always amazed.

And the Underground City, a deep cavernous set of tunnels used for protection from invaders, also a UNESCO site. I can’t even remember the history, but I remember the feeling of exploring the deep caves and ducking to descend the narrow stairwells. They were built as one-way traffic, requiring yelling to pass (this was a defensive mechanism). On the way back up there was a horrible traffic jam and we had to stop while crouched down for a minute or two, it was a bit awful and claustrophobic. I enjoyed the caves otherwise, but some folks in our group were not happy with the tight spaces. 

We did a little hike and got up close with many of the rock formations, some which are helpfully described as fairy chimneys. At one roadside stop, we were given 15 minutes to take photos, and I found myself joyfully running ahead of our group to climb the steep hills up to the rocks. One apparently was famous, looking like a big camel or a snail. I loved all the nature exploration. 

And in those two full days we also had some great cultural experiences. We visited a carpet place, where a co-op of women weave and teach visitors about their work while men do the hard sell. They were so beautiful and I learned a lot: about the silk made from mulberry trees, cotton and wool options, the double-loop weaving method. Sadly they were far out of my price range, even when I had an income. Two folks in our group bought nice pieces and it was fun helping them choose and negotiate the price. 

We visited a pottery studio led by a master potter named Galip, a 70-something man who bears a marked resemblance to Albert Einstein. He holds two world records, one for the largest single piece of pottery made, and the other for his weird museum of locks of women’s hair…there was some kind of romantic story involved in how this started but I was just upset by this. Similarly to the carpet place we got to learn how the pieces are made and used, viewed some amazing pottery, and then got the hard sell. Mr. Galip spoke Turkish and French, and at one point I was speaking with him in broken French trying to compliment some of his designs, but was unable to escape the hard sell from the master himself, an awkward but memorable encounter. 

Wandering through the streets in our free time, we found ourselves casually stumbling upon deep cultural experiences from shopkeepers. One taught us a lot about the difference between silk and satin material. One gave us yummy food samples. The “music and art cafe” found our tourmate Jenni playing Turkish instruments with the instruction of the shopworker. Two separate men asked me if I was Brazilian as I passed their shops, which I will be thinking about for the rest of my life. 

And then a few of us went to see the whirling dervishes! I had seen them on tv once and always sort of heard of them, but didn’t really know what they were. Well, they are from Turkey, and their spinning around isn’t a dance performance, but rather a devotional ritual dedicated to an Islamic sect led by the teachings of Rumi, a 12th Century poet. The performance itself was just under an hour, and started with some chanting and music and dark silent musings. Soon, the 5 men remove their dark robes to reveal their white dresses with tall hats, and they begin to spin, arms floating upward and skirts flying. This continues for several minutes. As a dancer I was carefully watching their technique: one foot remains relatively in place while the other crosses and pivots around. What stuck out to me was that they weren’t spotting, as dancers are taught to do from an early age to avoid getting dizzy. They just vacantly stared into space. 

The performances are certainly touristic today, but they are also serious and devotional, a unique mix. A few days later, we visited Rumi’s gravesite and religious complex in Konya, where we learned that Rumi’s son was the one who turned his spiritual writings into a religious sect. This is why you may have heard of Rumi as an ancient poet and perhaps not as a religious leader.

We had some lovely group dinners together after our wonderful adventure days in Cappadocia. One night led to drinks on the hotel roof with the four solo women, lots of wine and bonding with the rocky scenery in the background. Another night was a lovely home-cooked meal at a woman’s home who partnered with our tour company. One dinner turned into karaoke at a restaurant, and I strongly yelled for no videos as I found myself doing the rap part of Empire State of Mind with a stray New Yorker I found in the restaurant. Perhaps a little out of character for me to be so bold, but I had such high energy and was in a great mood. The wine in Turkey was not my favorite, especially compared to the Greek dry whites I enjoyed, but they sure did the trick in helping me have a nice time!

All that, and it was really just two days. Cappadocia was lovely, perhaps my favorite stop on the tour. On our departure morning, I woke up at 6am and headed straight for the roof in my pjs. As the sun rose, I enjoyed the cool air and up-close balloon views for the last time, thanking Cappadocia for a wonderful time.