Cappadocia is to the landscape photographer what
Jerusalem is to the believer.
Ok, I may be stretching a bit, but you get the idea.
Cappadocia is not a city, but rather a vaguely-defined region in central Anatolia. The town of Göreme is the major activity center of the area. I arrived at Göreme from Konya very late at night, but it wasn't hard to find the "S.O.S." pansiyon up on a small hill overlooking the valley. The fine place, which I can recommend without hesitation, was owned by a couple, Sururi (Turkish) and Lorainne (Canadian). There were plenty of other cheap lodging choices in the town, and the seasional prices of all pansiyons were standardized at US$7 per person per night with private shower, and US$5 without. Undoubtedly a great bargain.
What makes Cappadocia famous is its eerie mushroom-like land formation (sometimes called fairy chimney) and the man-built caves inside. The area is largely made up of tuff, soft enough to be easily carved. Early settlers took advantage of this by digging into the rock to build their homes. Today some of the caves are used for tourists' lodging, although it's now illegal to make new ones. It's a little cool inside the caves, but the rock kept the "room" temperature pretty much constant throughout the year.
More than a thousand years ago the Christians were chased by the Muslims
and settled themselves in the area.
They made some beautiful religious wall paintings, or frescoes,
inside the caves that were designated as churches, and
you can see some in the Open Air Museum in Göreme.
The most impressive frescoes are in
the church Karanlik Kilise,
although you need to pay an additional fee to see them.
You are not supposed to take photos inside the church,
but if you don't use flashes, the attendant may be nice
to you as he was to me.
No less impressive are the two underground cities in the nearby towns Derinkuyu and Kaymakli. The rock-carved labyrinths are large enough to hold hundreds of people (or thousands, depending who you talk to or which book you read), and have excellent ventilation. It is generally thought that the Christians hid themselves underground from the Muslims, but it is not clear whether they built the cities or there were earlier inhabitants.
I spent my first day in Göreme visiting the Open Air Museum
(where I ran into Richard and Mimi again)
and wandering around the valley by myself.
Having realized the immensity of the area and
the less-than-ideal local public transportation,
I decided to join a local tour on the second day.
Our tour guide (who claimed to be only 18 years old)
brought us to the underground city
in Derinkuyu mentioned above and a host of other places.
Although I wish I could stay longer at each place
for photography, at US$22 per person from dawn to dusk,
the tour was not a bad deal.
There are plenty of travel agents around the bus station
in Göreme, and the one I dealt with was New Göreme Tourizm.
The tour price was again standardized.
If you join a tour, make sure they won't lock you up in an expensive carpet
or pottery store as part of the program.
The most important reason for my joining the tour was the Ihlara Valley, which was not very accessible by public transportation. It is an interesting area with lots of bizarre rock formations, a little different from those in Göreme. Part of the movie Star War was filmed there.
We were supposed to go back to Göreme and
see a gorgeous sunset up on the valley, but
the rainy weather destroyed the plan.
I spent a couple more days in Göreme looking for
photo opportunities, before I headed to
Istanbul.
All of the pictures on this page were shot on Fuji Velvia with either 24mm, 50mm, or 100mm lenses, on a tripod.
You may go back to my travel page, or
for others photos I took, check out
my photo portfolio.