Underground and Caves (Day 9 of the World Trip)

09/13/2019

The first night at our Cave Hostel was great. The bed was comfortable, it was neither cold nor hot, and it was dark and quiet - attributes that have not been fulfilled in every accommodation so far ;-)

For breakfast, we had a large cup of tea, a basket of 6 (*-*) small rolls, and a plate with cucumber, tomato, feta cheese, a boiled egg, butter, jam, honey, and Nutella spread - we were in paradise :D The other guests here are international - British/American (I couldn't determine the accent clearly, so probably more American^^), Spanish, Korean. They are all around our age, which is not surprising since it's a hostel with shared bathrooms and no luxury ;-)

After breakfast, we met with Jonas' dad to go to Kaymakli, one of several underground cities in the area that were created during the persecution of Christians. The rock here, as you can see in the photos, is very brittle (pumice?) and it was thus possible to build a huge tunnel system that connects several underground cities. Quite clever! As expected, Kaymakli is a tourist attraction and has a huge parking lot for tour buses. Fortunately, we arrived there around 9:30 a.m., so there was only one tour group there! Yay!

Of course, on the way from the parking lot to the actual city, you have to pass countless stalls selling things, but at least we weren't approached/bothered^^ The entrance fee was slightly higher compared to other attractions at 42 TYL per person (only 7€, but quite decent for Turkey...) but okay, I guess they can charge that here, considering that other typical attractions like a hot air balloon ride in Göreme cost 150-250€ per person!!! :O

Well, the underground city itself was honestly pretty cool. Since the Asian tour group was still getting an introduction, we had the entire facility to ourselves for almost 20 minutes and could explore some of the rooms off the main path. Without a guide, we had no idea what exactly we were seeing, but there was occasionally a sign :D But that didn't matter. Exploring the labyrinth itself was exciting enough. Some corridors were super narrow, others were really low, so you could only crawl through... Definitely not suitable for every group of people, but it was really fun to fool around. When the tour group caught up with us and took 1,000,000 selfies in Asian style, we finally took our chance and squeezed past them to have some peace and quiet :D

When we left the underground city, which is also a World Heritage site, several other tour groups were coming towards us. I can imagine how much fun it must be to visit the sight when you constantly step on each other's feet and can't even take photos without random people in them.

Even though we only stayed there for about 30-45 minutes, we found it really worth seeing and would recommend it to others, but only before 10 a.m. (before the tour buses arrive) and only if you always keep track of the main path so you don't get lost :D

By 11 a.m., we were already back in Göreme and decided to go hiking. The original plan was just to stroll and explore the monoliths and caves built into the rocks away from the paid Open Air Museum. But after about 100 meters, Jonas naturally sprinted up the first hill and his dad and I climbed after him... By chance, we ended up on the Rose/Red Trail and followed it. At that point, I already knew that it wouldn't be just a leisurely walk and I panicked a bit when I realized that we only had 1 liter of water per person and 7 chocolate cookies as provisions :O :D But okay. The scenery was really cool and the temperature here in Göreme is also very pleasant (about 25°C) for hiking :)

In addition to some photo spots, there were also some very interesting interpretations of a hiking trail :p We were in the valley and wanted to climb up to the ridge since there was a car parked there, so we were sure that it was possible to climb up. That was the first time during this hike that we were sure of something that wasn't actually that certain, but well, it honestly made the whole thing even more exciting! :D Whether through scrub with prickly burrs or short, steep paths that we could only crawl up, everything was there :D

In the abandoned caves themselves, we also found an old church with wall paintings and a dwelling where you could theoretically climb up to the second floor. Jonas was close to doing it, but it was unclear how to get back down, so reason prevailed over adventure lust ;-) The former inhabitants had carved steps and handles into the rocks to use them as a ladder/stairs. The system was really clever! After a short chocolate cookie break,

When we reached the top, we realized that someone was watching us from below. We don't know if he was waiting to call emergency services if necessary or if he was just interested or curious. Since he kept staring, I waved friendly at him and Jonas' dad explained that we had climbed up here. The guy called back, "I saw that," and that was it :p

This was followed by a section on the ridge, which is also used as a road for the countless quad tours here, so we only saw about 1.5 meters high hills on the left and right and no real view, but okay. The "boredom" (which was also okay to catch our breath...) was interrupted by a real boulder that smiled at Jonas :D I was too afraid to try it myself, but Jonas was motivated and did it easily. We could have probably left him there for a while without him noticing that we had moved on :D I also have the feeling that we might have to pass by there again (have to :p) so he can have a bit more fun ;-)

After the short bouldering session, I wanted to go around the next valley, but Jonas and his dad were convinced that we could also go down into the valley and cross it at the bottom. First, we ended up at a dead end (haha!) but then Jonas finally found a real path. Unfortunately, it started with a maybe 3-5 meter (I'm really terrible at estimating^^) section that was super steep. So I squatted down and crawled through it. Jonas' dad said he wasn't flexible enough for that anymore and went backwards on all fours. Jonas himself was wearing sneakers without profiled soles and could sometimes "surf"... :D

Eventually, we reached the bottom of the valley and our path led us further and further into the undergrowth. Of course, I doubted the meaningfulness of this path several times, but in the end, Jonas was right! After walking past bushes and small apple trees for a few minutes, we arrived at a canyon/gorge (I don't know exactly what to call it, see photos ;-) ) where we had to support ourselves on both sides to overcome the differences in altitude. It was simply a path between two rocks, but it was covered with small stones. You had to be pretty sure-footed, but it was the coolest part of the whole hike!!!

Eventually, we reached another quad road, and from there, we walked another half hour back to Göreme's city center.

There we briefly separated to freshen up (later we'll eat again! Yay!) and Jonas and I treated ourselves to an ice cream on the way to the hostel. It costs 10 TYL per person here (just a little reminder: it was only 2 TYL per person in Halfeti, but okay), but I didn't care in that moment. For the little walk that turned into a 3.5-hour hike, you had to reward yourself ;-)

Back at the hostel, it was just about showering and chilling, which is also interesting here with the showers. As mentioned, there are shared bathrooms, but in the form of individual rooms. Each room has a toilet, a sink, and a showerhead on the wall. In the corner, there is also a squeegee, and well. When showering, you flood the entire room including the toilet, and the next person enters a completely wet room. It sounds more dramatic than it actually is :D It's actually completely uncomplicated and practical :)

Soon we'll have dinner (I think) and maybe the men will want to smoke shisha in the classic Turkish way.

Oh yeah - and an update from yesterday :D :D :D

The "honey melons" apparently are pumpkins... Well, biology was never my strongest subject ;-)