After a beautiful and long drive through one of the Turkish plateaus, we suddenly arrive in Cappadocia.
Suddenly?
I knit, look up and suddenly see these sand cones typical of Cappadocia. They are also known as fairy chimneys. The tufa landscapes are simply world-famous and we fell in love with them years ago. You could really call it a fairytale landscape. And since we (or I?) are endowed with a fertile imagination, I see fairies and goblins everywhere, Peter Pan flies around the corner here, Tinkerbell uses the updraft there.
Okay, I realise Gerd only sees tufa landscapes, I must have magic glasses.
The "fathers of Cappadocia" are the volcanoes Erciyes Dağı, Hasan Dağı and Melendiz Dağı, which erupted some 10 to 30 million years ago and spread tuff ash across the region. This ash was deposited in layers of varying strength and was shaped by erosion. This created the characteristic tuff pyramids that still characterise the landscape of Cappadocia today. The erosion process is still active, resulting in the formation of new chimneys. In some areas, rock formations collapse due to human intervention and the effects of the weather, revealing spectacular sections of the landscape.
We take a look at a corner that is still unknown to us, the Selime Katedralı, a monastery complex from the 8th century. Directly opposite is a Seljuk door. But we don't know what it is. But it looks pretty. We take a look at the cathedral, which doesn't look like one at all. Drink the best Çay and Turkish coffee again, recover from the long overland journey in our Felix and think about what to do.
Another Balloon ride? One of the underground cities visit? Or would you prefer to laze around Göreme go hiking, maybe eat a Katmer every now and then and take care of our dirty laundry?
No sooner said than done. Hangovers, laundry and lazing around won out over the excursions. No mean feat, we were already here in 2021.
Thanks to travelling friends in the distance, we end up at a great spot near the Liebestal in the evening. They call everything here that for us tourists, and when we see the Liebestal in the morning, we realise the reason for the name. I look out of the window at around 7 a.m. and they are flying all around us, hundreds or maybe just a few hot air balloons. Very quietly. Some low in the gorges, others high above this dreamlike landscape of Cappadocia. I rush out and can't get enough of it. Gerd, our late riser and lazy bum, stays in bed, opens all the windows and enjoys the panoramic view directly from his bed. Which of us had the better idea? That remains a moot point.
We stroll through our beloved, almost deserted Göreme, which is just recovering from a rush of tourists at the turn of the year. We reminisce, dry our washing in the car with the heating on, because we have caught the only two rainy days that Göreme has all year. Sitting in our Felix high above the marvellous landscape, reading, looking out again and again. Enjoying.
It's just nice not to have to do everything (we don't have to, but the thought always travels with us) and just have everyday life. Everyday life in one of the most beautiful places we know. Okay, among all the other beautiful places in the desert, in Scotland, in Switzerland, in Tunisia, in Ireland. Oh yes, and there are also the most beautiful places for us in Scandinavia.
A world full of the most beautiful places. We can leave it at that.
Merci for "travelling with us
We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.
Do you think our travel experiences might be of interest to others? Then you can share the Share post quietly. By e-mail or however you want to do it.
In addition, if you haven't already done so, you can use our Newsletter subscribe. Here you will receive all our experiences in your mailbox whenever we publish something new or once a week on Fridays: live-pur.ch/newsletter
We are also very happy to hear your views, your tips or your questions. Just comment on the post!
