Soaring High in Cappadocia

One of the most anticipated parts of the trip was arriving in Cappadocia. If you have seen any recent Instagram influencers posting these epic sunrises over the most beautiful landscape while hot air balloons are in the background, then YES this is the place I wanted to see. What can I say these pictures “influenced” me! But I was in for a surprise when this one night stay truly made us both wanting to come back to plan a much longer visit. Cappadocia, also known as ‘land of the beautiful horses’, is a magical place that you should visit at least once in your life! Cappadocia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a historical region located in Central Turkey. It is mostly known for its moon-like landscape or as the land of whimsical fairy chimneys and peculiar rock formations. YES, I got to sleep in cave fairy chimney, while seeing a sunrise with hot air balloons… is this even real life?

How do I get here from Istanbul?

If you read our last blog, this was stop two for us on our last adventure. We flew from Istanbul to an airport in Kayseri. The flight was only an hour and twenty minutes and we used Turkish Airlines. Your weight limit for your baggage is about 45 pounds, so please consider this if you are not a light traveler or if you decide to purchase a lot of rugs in Istanbul. The cost of this flight for two people was 1.431,96 Turkish Lira, which equates to $143.

Once we arrived in Kayseri, we had to get a rental car to drive to Göreme. We thought planning ahead and renting a car from eren rentacar would be the smart thing to do. However, we do not recommend this method at all. The car rental place ended up coming way too soon to the airport while we were still in the air, and since we were not physically at the airport, they left. When we arrived, they explained they waited for hours and there were not any cars left. We had to go back through security to purchase a car from the car rental stores that are in the airport. They were SO NICE, ACCOMMODATING, and CHEAPER. When you arrive to this airport, just stop by one of these stands instead for a much easier experience. The cost of the car rental plus insurance was $15.

The drive from the airport to Göreme was about forty-five minutes. Keep this in mind when needed to drive back to the airport to catch your flight. The route was a super easy drive. Additionally, a cool fact is that now you are in Asia, so if you want to mark off driving on a different continent, you can achieve this goal on this trip.

Where did we stay?

The town of Göreme is the historic center of the region and is where most tours will start as well. Göreme is also the place where you have one of the best views over the hot air balloons in the morning! And we stayed at the most incredible cave hotel. In fact, the name of the hotel is Panoramic Cave Hotel! The room we stayed in was the Fairy Chimney Suite for $90 and that included the most incredible breakfast. The owner of the hotel, ZaZa, greeted us as we arrived and instantly made us feel like family. This was in fact his childhood home growing up and he even explained that all the details of the cave that we stayed inside was hand carved by himself and his family. The view overlooking the city from this hotel is far to beat. I truly felt like an enchanted fairy goddess when exploring their gardens and overlooking the town of Göreme. It truly was an experience that could not be repeated anywhere else in this world.

What food did we eat?

Even though we only had one night in this incredible town, we still experienced incredible food. While walking around this enchanted town at night, we stumble upon a restaurant called HARUNA. The restaurant caught our eye from the streets because it was sitting up high, with lots of lights, and appeared to be terrace seating. It in fact was an open-air terrace with fireplaces that perfectly complements the beautiful backdrop of fairy chimneys and spectacular view of Göreme landscape. It was magical, and as mentioned before very reasonably priced.

I had to try the Lahmacun. Visualize a very thin crust with the freshest ingredients on top. The picture below was listed as an appetizer and cost $4 USD. It was delicious! Along with the fresh pita bread, I was in food paradise. Rusty got Testi Kebab. Testi Kebab is a meat and vegetable dish slow cooked in a sealed clay pot. The clay pot is brought from the oven to the table side, and with a flourish, the waiter breaks open the clay pot for all the tourists to enjoy.

The next morning after our morning adventures, we got to have the most iconic Turkish breakfast at the Panoramic Cave Hotel, made by the family that owned it. Turkish people love food and consider breakfast to be the most important meal of the day. For that reason, a classic Turkish breakfast, better known as “kahvalti,” is truly a sight to behold. A classic Turkish breakfast is generally comprised of black and green olives, cucumbers, cured meats, dips and sauces, eggs, fresh cheeses, fresh tomatoes, fresh-baked bread, fruit preserves and jams, honey, pastries, and sweet butter.

Additionally, along with those tasty treats, no Turkish breakfast is complete without plenty of freshly brewed black tea. As you can see by the picture, I loved all the fresh ingredients. I wish I could start every morning off like this.

How did we get these incredible pictures?

We had the opportunity to partner with an incredible local photographer, Hakan Erenler! Check out his work on Instagram @hakanerenler_photography to see some of his other work. Hakan and his team arrived at our hotel at 5:30AM to pick us up for us to get to the most perfect spot when the sunrise and hot air balloons would be rising. He then took us to the most incredible caves where I even got to mark off my bucket list of riding a camel. For other people who are interested in booking with Hakan you can message him on his Instagram page. He is super talented and the spots he takes you is almost like a private tour in itself of this incredible city. There were so many moments during this photoshoot Rusty and I had to pinch ourselves to see if this truly was real life we were experiencing!

Fairy Magic Forever

As much as I wished we had more time in this amazing city, I did manage to stop by a quaint gift shop and buy the cutest and most-detailed Turkish lamp. We drove back to the airport to catch out flight back to Istanbul where we would begin our journey to Greece! However, the fairy magic from this city I believe will stay with me forever. It truly was magical! There is no other way to describe it!

Detailed Itinerary

· FLIGHT: Book with Turkish Airlines when flying from Istanbul to Kayseri Airport. It was cheaper to fly back to Istanbul before going to our next destination which was Greece. Total cost for a round trip ticket for two people were $143.

· RENTAL CAR: It’s a small airport and form our experience we recommend just renting from the car rental places inside the airport. Total cost for rental with insurance was $15.

· HOTEL: We stayed at the Panoramic Cave Hotel. Rusty did get us the suite so we could truly experience being in a fairy cave. You can stay at cheaper places. But based on this room, the views, and the food, it’s worth the $90 to stay here in our opinion.

· FOOD: We only had one other meal outside of the breakfast. We ate at an incredible restaurant and the total costs with drinks was $20.

· TOTAL COST FOR TWO PEOPLE EXTRA STOP IN TURKEY TO CAPPADOCIA: $268