Cappadocia, Turkey

My plans to visit the rest of Turkey were boosted by the news that Chris and Jess would be on their way to Istanbul to join me and at 6pm I left the hostel to pick them up from the gigantic bus depot in the city. We eventually found each other and headed south east to central Turkey. The first job though was to negotiate the crazy roads of Istanbul. It was midnight before we cleared the city - a staggering 6 hours after leaving - but soon the road became eerily quiet as we raced through the night to Cappadocia, passing the huge salt-lakes on the way through in the early hours.

15 hours of solid driving later and we were at our campsite in Goreme. Panorama Camping might be my favourite site yet, run by a cheeky-chappy called Ahmed (also known as his alter-ego, the rich and charismatic "Milano Alfonso"). We got electricity, a nice space, a great view, a bar, internet, and a swimming pool - all for a negotiated bargain price of £5 each per night. Sleep was not yet on the agenda though, first a well-deserved beer and a relaxing swim!

Cappadocia is a phenominal place (think Flintstones but based on the moon) with huge rock spires and cones which have been naturally formed by volcanic activity and then shaped by erosion. These chimneys and cliff faces have then been turned into churches, monastries and living quarters by a number of by-gone civilisations. It is truly a breath-taking sight to see and extends over a vast region.

In the afternoon, I took a trip around Goreme and the Open Air Museum in the town. The museum is a cluster of little church caves which have been painted inside to varying degrees from primitive red geometric patterns to full-scale biblical depictions. As nice as it was, the huge busloads of tourists made cramming into these tiny buildings a bit of a stressful experience. We also later found out that once you get off the beaten track a bit, there are equally impressive sights which can be viewed for free.

In the evening we sat in the campsite bar for a few beers and to chat with Ahmed before, eventually, I crawled to the comfort of my bed just 43 hours after waking up the previous morning! It was not a long lie-in though as we were advised to get up at 5.30am for one of Cappadocia's most stunning sights. In the early morning every day, between 50 and 100 hot air balloons acend over Cappadocia as the sun comes up. The perfect viewing spot for this is right outside the van. It is a fantastic sight and one that will live long in the memory.

Right behind the campsite stands one of Cappadocia's many picture-perfect sights - The Love Valley. The name of the area might seem a little mystical, that is before you view the shape of the rock formations (see the pictures below if you can't work it out already) which tower over the sandy plains.

On the way back from the valley, we spotted a ruined settlement nestled high in the cliffs in neighbouring Uchisar and decided to check it out. It was a great decision and turned out to be my favorite part of the region. Climbing the various ruins and abandoned archways eventually brings you to a little church framed by the hillside and decorated inside with a few faded paintings.

Surrounding the church are loads of cave buildings linked together like a big children's playground in the cliff face and this stretches right up to the top of the hill with it's panoramic views of the plains beyond. The whole thing was like walking through a level from Tomb Raider.

We finished the day off with a great meal in town. Always a sucker for something unusual, I ordered a sort of chicken stew which is heated in embers and cracked out of it's throw-away clay pot in front of you with a hammer. It tasted pretty damn good too. It was dark when we returned to camp but it gave us another wonderful sight in the form of the golden lights of the inhabited chimneys flickering in the dark.

In the morning we set out on the long trip to Pamukkale but we still managed to squeeze in enough time to visit the underground city of Kaymakli (one of a few underground cities in the area). The city was home to around 5000 people who lived underground in a series of basic rooms and tight passageways. During times of siege, the entrances were blocked off with big boulders to protect the inhabitants and lock them away inside.

While there are parts of this 6-level deep city which are clearly tourist friendly routes, it is also possible to lose yourself off the beaten track down pitch black narrow passages and turn up in some random little space which is barely seen by the majority of the crowds. It was a fantasic way to round off Cappadocia and we started up the van in high spirits for another long drive.

With the sun shining, windows down, great company, and Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run" firing out of the stereo, life on the road can be pretty damn good sometimes!