Kappadokien (Day 7 + 8 of the world trip)

11th + 12th September 2019

Yesterday was a pure travel day. We had breakfast at the hotel (there was even chocolate spread!)

Shortly before Kayseri, we saw the first melon plantations, which looked really funny with all the yellow dots :) When we arrived in Kayseri, we were initially shocked by how huge this city is, in the middle of nowhere. It only has 1,100,000 inhabitants, but the outskirts were occupied by huge, standalone, narrow skyscrapers that we would have expected in India... Our AirBnB apartment cost €16 per night and was in a complex with several apartments that are apparently used by students. The apartment was absolutely fine for the price and the location (5 minutes walk to the city center). After checking in, we only went to the city for a short meal due to the long drive. Ironically, we went to a food court in a mall to save our stomachs, where we ordered pizza and burgers :D An interesting choice of "saving our stomachs," but effective. No one had any problems afterwards ;-)

This morning we went to Kayseri again to visit the castle, but unfortunately it was closed due to construction work... I also complained because we hadn't had breakfast yet (except for a banana^^) and after strolling around for a bit, we were waved over by a café visitor who recommended the local bakery to us. We went in and watched the woman baking. It looked really inviting, so we ordered three portions of a mixture of puff pastry and crepes. We had honey with it and the men had ayran - all in all, it was super affordable for 19 TYL :) And it was delicious too ;-)

Back at the apartment, we packed up and then drove to Göreme, 70km away, the "center" of the Cappadocia region, at least for us. We will stay here for 4 nights to explore the rock formations and valleys with monoliths, as well as the typical cave dwellings.

We arrived in Göreme and there was a slight disappointment because the city is very touristy. Russians, Chinese, British - you can find everything here, so the city center consists almost exclusively of souvenir shops, cafes, and tour providers. But Göreme itself is really pretty and the nature around it (as far as we can tell after the first day) is just as beautiful! :)

Since Jonas' father spontaneously decided to continue traveling with us, we looked for accommodation for him by him simply asking hostels and hotels for a room. Unfortunately, all the ones he asked (probably about 10) were already fully booked or only had shared rooms, so he had to look for something in the surrounding cities.

Jonas and I decided to take a walk, "wildly," and were pleasantly surprised. We only met two people and could do proper photo sessions :D On the other side of the valley, we could see cafes and countless tour buses with people. The buses apparently don't come to our side, so you have to walk uphill yourself, which might discourage some tourists ;-)

Oh, and our hostel is really cool. It's a cave hostel, literally built into the rock, with a small windowless room and wall paintings. I think we can spend the next few days here.

But first, (hopefully) we're going to have something to eat. Can't believe I'm thinking that after the abundance at Mehmet and Fatma's... :D