We stayed 2 nights in Cappadocia, this is one of the highlights in Turkey I would say.
One of the reasons Cappadocia has become so popular is because of the hot air ballooning, but it has to depend on the weather strictly.
If you are traveling to Cappadocia, one of the must-do is the hot air balloon ride. From the top, you can see the fairytale scenery, cave dwellings, and all the remarkable rock formation from the top.
However, catching a hot air balloon in Turkey isn’t cheap. The ride is about an hour and it cost about USD200. Compare to our Egypt hot air balloon, this is a lot more expensive. The thing different about the hot air balloon ride in Turkey is, that the hot air balloon finished and landed at the back of the truck. While the hot air balloon in Luxor landed on the ground.
You certainly need some skill to land the hot air balloon in the back of the truck, or else the basket may flip over.
2 days in Cappadocia is still not enough, I think you need a week to cover the whole place. There are many things you could do, lot of hiking trails, exploring the cave and valley, hot air balloon, and the Goreme open-air museum.
Goreme Open-Air Museum is the top attraction in the region, this place is big, you will find many churches carved into the famous Cappadocia stone.
With a stunning view combined with the snow, the site is pretty much a small village carved out of stone, complete with everything you would need to live, so you find a little bit of everything, from stables to churches to kitchens.
Inside you still find frescos on the walls of some of the churches.
I would say this is like a hobbit village which you can spend 1 to 2 hours here exploring.
The guy who is dressed in the traditional Turkish attire and playing fun tricks with me when I ordered an ice cream from him.
Later in the evening, we went to a cultural show, it takes about 2 hours to watch all kinds of cultural performances, including the Belly dance and the Turkish folk dance.
Turkish food
Turkish beef stew
Desserts
Pottery making
Carpet making
Final thoughts:
The name Cappadocia derives from the Persian word which means the land of beautiful horses in ancient times.
There are as many as 600 churches carved from the soft Cappadocian rock and some of these churches date back to Medieval times and display beautifully painted frescoes, which have retained an amazing color on the wall.
