After yesterday's "worst vacation day ever," we couldn't have asked for a better follow up day. To just wrap yesterday up, we wound up sleeping for about an hour on the airport seats, then sleeping the whole hour and 10 minutes on the plane to Cappadocia. That's it. But let me tell you something, when we got to Cappadocia, everything from yesterday felt like it was so far away. This place, the people, the vibe here is just peaceful and calming. If it weren't for the fact that I'm exhausted beyond words, this could be one of the best vacation days ever.
We picked up our rental car and got to the cave hotel where the staff couldn't have been kinder or more welcoming. They showed us to our room and I can't even describe it to you. when I say cave, I mean it's dug out from inside of the face of a mountain, with all of the walls from the different rooms, all of the nooks and crannies, all of the ceilings, are the mountain. It's spectacular. Easily the coolest place we ever slept in (and we've slept in a 5 story real log cabin, among other very cool places). There is a hole in the ceiling where they would once use to ventilate the smoke from the fire pit. Jade's bed is where they once made their wine. The giant bathroom is where the animals were kept over the winter, it's just amazing.
Once we were settled in and had a cup of coffee, the owners gave us an itinerary to get us a few hours of sightseeing in and suggested we come back and finish the day with them. Our journey started with a castle carved into the tallest peak in the area. It was so cool, we wound up exploring and hiking all around this place and probably spent too much time here, but we just couldn't help ourselves. I bought a few things from the local vendors, and the people here are seriously so nice.
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| Castle: We need to get to that flag way up there! |
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| What a journey |
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| Made it! |
We moved on and saw some amazing views and cool caves, had lunch and headed back to get some rest.
After I took a nap and we had some more coffee, the next part of our day was with Cem, the owner's son. He took us to one of the oldest caves, a Hittite home carved into a mountain side, and then an ancient Roman Church carved into the same mountain.
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| Ancient church |
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| Jade in front of the oldest house we ever saw. |
Then we went to learn a bit about the millenniums old pottery making that is still happening using the same techniques and materials as in biblical times. Jade event got to try!
We went to do some more sightseeing
until I finally broke. We went home, and I uploaded pictures after a much needed shower while Jason and Jade had a little alone time walking the streets of this adorable town. Afterwards, we went up to the terrace to have a beer and take in the town at night.
Tomorrow morning we are getting up super early (4:30am) for our hot air balloon ride. It's going to be amazing to see this landscape from that vantage point. I just cannot wait!
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