Goreme National Park is quite large in size and is located around the village of Goreme. In some reviews about Cappadocia they write that it is necessary to spend a week here, but I disagree with that. After a couple of days, the eye becomes blurred and the impressions fade, everything around seems to be the same type, unless of course you are an amateur speleologist. We had enough and 2 days of excursions in Cappadocia. Better to come here again and at another time of the year.
If you are going to Cappadocia, then print out the maps from my post with you: Cappadocia, how to get.
Yes, keep in mind that all the fun is concentrated near Goreme, so you don't have to go anywhere else. Well, maybe only to Derinkuyu to underground cities.
Waking up at 6 am surrounded by dozens of balloons (I wrote about this in last article), we went for a walk. All day, from morning to evening, we spent in the valleys of phalluses, or mushrooms, or tuffs, or outliers, call it what you want. The locals call them «Peribajalars» (tour. Peri bacalar?), which is translated «fairy fireplaces». There are fireplaces of different heights, different colors, but there are a lot of them around. All the valleys are dotted with them. We went around Zeni Valley, Red Valley, Rose Valley, and probably something else. We visited the churches of the time of the baptism of Russia and saw Christian icons on the walls with worn faces. They were erased during the period of iconoclasm.
Goreme National Park
Goreme National Park - Cappadocia
Icons on the walls of a stone temple.
Remains of the temple. Cappadocia.
Passages in the rocks. Cappadocia.
Sometimes travel is so addictive...
People lived in many stone pillars, and in some they still live, or use it as a barn, since many have left plots of land next to this intricate miracle of nature, and where they periodically go as to a summer cottage.
Plots near former houses.
They were emptied after a strong earthquake, and the people moved to ordinary houses. Probably, only inside the towns themselves, such as Goreme, were there really residential tuffs. Most often they are used for restaurants or hotels, which are popular among people who want to taste the charm of the stone flavor..
Old village in Chavushin - 3 km from Goreme.
Near Goreme. House in a cut.
Inside a dilapidated house.
Inside a dilapidated house.
View of the village of Goreme from the window of a stone house.
Goreme - Cappadocia
Goreme village. Tuffs border modern houses.
Hotel in Goreme.
Parking in Goreme conditions.
Local transport.
In the evening of the first day, we were so exhausted that in general we already wanted to continue our journey and leave Goreme. But I still have not seen the symbol of Cappadocia - the remnants with stones lying on top of them. Therefore, the second day I devoted exactly to this.
Goreme village in the evening.
In the morning, we first went shopping in Goreme in search of food, and found a great grocery store right next to the bus station and stocked up on everything we needed. Having eaten to the full, I tried to arrange a photo session for a turtle living not far from our tent, but she always strove to run away from me.
Turtle, our neighbor.
My travel companion was already nauseated by the stones, and he decided to go with me to the first cafe. The rain that started at the wrong time only strengthened his intentions. In splendid isolation, covering the lens with A4 sheets and periodically hiding in stone caves, I still captured the symbol of Cappadocia and Goreme, after which I immediately realized that my mission in the valley of phalluses was completed.
Symbol of Cappadocia
Remains with stones at the top.
As a reward for half a day of rain and my torment, I saw the sky in the evening ... Even, probably, SKY! Shimmering in different shades, and moving with patches of clouds ...
Sky over Cappadocia.
And in the evening, when it got dark, we waited for our orally to sing in order to shoot a video to convey the atmosphere. Oral we affectionately called the towers of mosques. For those who do not know, I tell you that in every city there are mosques with towers, on which loudspeakers hang, from where an Arab song flows, calling people to prayer. Videographers from us are worthless, but try to imagine, evening, Cappadocia, around outcrops and ... prayer ...
Having collected the monatas, we went to the bus station, where a night bus was to be waiting for us. Ankara. But he was not ... On the clock 0.00, there is no one around, and we, feeling like idiots, stand and wait for the bus. Moreover, the departure from a neighboring city, the number on the ticket is worth the previous day and either we were cheated, or 12 o'clock in the morning is considered the previous day. Seeing us pounding into the ticket booth in the hope that there was someone there, a taxi driver passing by took pity on us, and called the main bus station - it turned out that the bus was simply delayed ...
All parts of the story about our independent trip to Turkey:
Route - Kemer - Antalya - Demre (Worlds) - Olympus and Cirali. - Side - Lake Beysehir - Cappadocia - Goreme - Ankara - Adapazarı - Karasu - Istanbul
