The Land Before Time: Tome XII - Cappadocia, Göreme Panorama, Derinkuyu Underground City, Ihlara Valley

Public transport is literally non existent in Cappadocia. Unless you rent a car/taxi, it's always better to engage a day tour to get around the places of interest. We went for a 'Green Tour' which brings us to places around Southern Cappadocia, along with other tourists from around the world like Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, Oman, etc.

The Göreme Panorama which overlooks the fairy chimneys and the surrounding lunar landscape.

Mt. Erciyes, the highest mountain in Cappadocia with 3900+ metres.

It's a nice place to trek, but easy to get lost due to the lack of prominent landmarks and clearly defined routes.

The 'ice-cream' terrain at the foreground and a plateau at the background.

The prominent Uçhisar Castle can be seen at the distance.

It's a nice photography spot but don't fall!

After an hour journey from Görem, we reached the Derinkuyu Underground City.

Derinkuyu Underground City is one of the several underground complexes across Cappadocia, and is the largest excavated underground city in Turkey. It can house up to 20,000 people.

Derinkuyu was used to shelter citizens during raids, and has a lot of amenities like wine presses, kitchen, stable (yup for horses), wine cellars, storage rooms, etc.

Just to illustrate how narrow and low the tunnels are. It was really physically demanding to explore the chambers and everyone was panting as they moved from one level to another. Luckily Asians are small enough, the Westerners had a much harder time hehe.

The tunnels between the chambers are minimally lighted, and walking through some pitch-dark portions requires groping the walls.

Our kind, friendly tour guide introducing the underground city. =) Halfway through there was a blackout...oops.

The place was actually quite packed with tourist groups and I managed to find an empty section to snap. =)

Despite all the strenuous movements, the environment was very very comfortable and cooling (around 20 degC). Caves provide a natural air-con environment due to heat insulation from the outside. During summer it shields from the heat and during winter it provides a warm hideout from the cold.

Next stop - Ihlara Valley. Don't underestimate the scale of this map. The entire length of the valley is about 15km and it takes 7 hours to trek through.

Snow-striped mountains in the distance!

Ihlara Valley looks really deep indeed.

The high rugged cliffs makes the valley pretty intimidating.

Descending into the Valley. There are several rock-cut churches along the valley.

Fortunately we are not going to trek the entire distance. Just a 20-30 min trek through a short section before arriving to our lunch site.

Can you spot the letters 'IHLARA' formed by small stones? How interesting =)

One of the rock-cut churches in the Valley. The murals are still quite well-preserved.

Melendiz River running along the Valley. So tranquil.

Resting on a platform built on the river. Cool!

The Korean family in the tour group is quite sportive and takes enthusiasm in every activity, especially the father, whom I feel behaves like Psy lol. (Btw at that time Psy is not internationally famous yet) 

Along the valley cliffs you can spot many holes here and there, signifying the location of a church or probably some hideout.

Pigeon holes haha. Birds will love it here.

The restaurant at the end point of our trek. Really got ambience hor?

The ambience is good, but the food is so-so only. The meat and rice is dry and not succulent.

Thanks to the Korean family, the atmosphere of the tour group was more lively. Even the tour guide knows a bit of Korean words, showing how Korean culture has spread throughout the word (even before the Psy era).

The Green Tour continues in the next entry!

The Land Before Time: Tome XI - Cappadocia, Göreme

Our next destination is the one of the highlights of Turkey, strongly recommended by most tourists - Cappadocia. Cappadocia is a huge region that spans central Turkey, and is famous for its unique (can be creepy for some) landscape and intriguing rock formations. Some label it as 'moonscape' because it feels like you're in some outer rock planet. Ah yes, Star Wars is filmed in Cappadocia.

Our cave hotel in Göreme, one of the several small towns in Cappadocia. Staying in a cave hotel is a must-do for all visitors in Cappadocia! This is definitely the most unique hotel I've ever lodged in. By the way my room is at the bottom right door hehe.

This cave room is really cut out from a rock. And it's really cooling as the summer heat from the outside can hardly penetrate these rocks.

View from the top of our cave hotel. Unique landscape isn't it?

Another view from the top of our cave hotel. Those rock spires protruding from the ground are affectionately called 'Fairy Chimneys' haha.

More fairy chimneys as we set out to explore the vicinity. These formations, technically called hoodoos, are formed due to differential weathering of the rocks. The softer rock below is easily eroded compared to the harder rock at the top. They are formed in a similar manner as the Queen's Head in Taiwan's Yehliu.

This hump of rock is actually a church?!

More of Cappadocia's strange landscape to showcase. Tons of fairy chimneys can be seen.

It was a long trek out before we reached Zemi Valley, one of the numerous valleys in Cappadocia. Would really love to trek through the valleys if not for the lack of transportation. We wouldn't want to get stuck in the wilderness when the sky goes dark. 

Awing at the landscape from Zemi Valley.

Oh you can actually explore the valleys on horses/ponies.

Encountered some bare trees hung with broken pots and the Blue Eye...creepy....

Sword Valley I think. There are so many valleys here I can't really identify them haha.

At the far horizon you can spot a huge protruding rock. That is Uçhisar Castle, a prominent landmark that can be seen throughout Cappadocia.

The reason for Cappadocia's surreal landscape is due to intense volcanic activity in the distant past.

The sun is setting soon, but I can't help to admire the terrain of Cappadocia...

Came across a carpet store near the hotel. Do you sell magic carpets??

Dinner at our cave hotel! Sumptuous and worth-for-money compared to outside eateries. The meat (can't remember what meat) was really delicious.

View after sun has set. The minaret is still illuminated brightly =)

Stay tuned to the next few entries for more of the interesting landscape and terrain of Cappadocia!

The Land Before Time: Tome X - Pamukkale, Hierapolis

That's right!!! I'm going snow skiing!!! Yippee!!!

Wow...There is even an igloo for us to take shelter!

The scenic view on top of the ski resort. Hey wait something doesn't look right... Swimming pool + snow??

Hey this isn't snow! But it's white, feels hard, and flows?!

Mystery revealed...all these snow-like whitish stuff is actually carbonate salt! Anyway how can there be a ski resort operating under such sweltering heat?

Pamukkale means "cotton castle" in Turkish, but no matter how I see, it really looks like snow. Do you feel cold just by looking at this picture? Haha. There is even a pool to dip yourself into.

Proof that all these whitish stuff are indeed carbonate salts. Look at what I dug up from the pool....eeeeks. Looks like a pool of calamine lotion.

Visitors have to take off their shoes when ascending this cotton castle, because the entire slope is flowing with spring water. 

Sometimes you have to wade through the pools, known to have medicinal properties...

...Or you can just sit down here carefreely and soak your feet in the flowing stream.

Splendid view at the top of Pamukkale!

Icicles haha...

Ooooooooooo... =)

Heard that the springs in Pamukkale is slowly drying up year by year, and travertine pools are disappearing. =(

Hot spring pool. For people who don't wish to soak in calamine lotion.

There is still so much to explore at the top of the cotton castle. These are the ruins of Hierapolis, an ancient Greek/Roman city.

Wow this is a really huge theatre!! Ok...I promise there won't be any more theatres in the subsequent entries haha.

This is what you get for going off the beaten path. Getting beaten by the long grass.. -___-

Hierapolis is another huge city. There are still remains of bath houses, temples, recreational areas, etc.

The place is really big...but we have time to kill while waiting for sunset.

By this time I'm already quite saturated with ruins. I had been seeing ruins for the past 2 weeks since Egypt haha...

Waiting for sunset...

As we were waiting for sunset, a Turkish family approached us excitedly for a group photo. Their excitement seems like it's their first time coming across yellow-skinned Asians lol.

Finally the sunset we have all been waiting for. The little black dirt on the top right is actually a parachute!

Simply beautiful. The travertine pools really complement well with the sunset view.

Too bad good things do not last for long =(

If you find the above sunset pictures familiar, this is probably because you've seen them before in my 'Please Wait' sneak previews (4 in total) haha. Finally!!! After one full year of previews haha...

Sunset over...time to descend the cotton castle.

The pools are mostly empty at this time. Good time to soak with privacy, before the sky goes dark of course haha.

夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏