The Magic of Cappadocia

Cappadocia is a region located in central Turkey.

It is known for its otherworldly landscapes and rich history. This unique destination is characterised by its surreal rock formations, called “fairy chimneys,” which have been sculpted by centuries of volcanic activity and erosion.

Cappadocia also boasts a network of underground cities, open-air museums, and hot air balloon rides that offer breathtaking views of the region’s lunar-like terrain.

It’s a place where history and natural beauty converge, making it a must visit destination for travellers seeking a one-of-a-kind experience.

Cappadocia had certainly been on our radar for a long time. We had planned in advance that we were going to go when our friend Louise was visiting us, she was also very keen to visit Cappadocia.

It is the place that everyone in the van life community aims to get to.

Selime Cathederal and Ihlara Valley

Our first stop in the Cappadocia region was Selime Cathedral and Illhara Valley. We already had our park up which had been recommended by Simon and Allyson, who we had met in Side.

We shared this with our friend’s Steve and Elisa and they were going to meet us there. It was a lovely park up, they arrived about 10 minutes before us and we managed to get an excellent spot.

The following day we went to see Selime Cathedral, Ilhara Valley and did what must have been about a 10 kilometre hike.

Selime Cathedral

Selime Cathedral, is also known as Selime Monastery and is located in Ihlara Valley.

Here’s a brief history:

Early Origins: Selime Cathedral was carved into the soft volcanic rock Selime by early Christian monks, who sought refuge in Cappadocia to escape Roman persecution. The monastery is said to date back to the 8th or 9th century BC.

Religious Significance: The cathedral features a central nave, side aisles, and various chambers, including a narthex and a baptistery. It’s adorned with beautiful frescoes that depict scenes from the Bible, making it an important religious site.

Architecture: What makes Selime Cathedral truly remarkable is its architecture. The structure is entirely hewn out of the rock, and its massive columns and domes are carved from the natural rock formations. It’s often compared to a cathedral carved by giants.

Historic Importance : Over the centuries, Selime Cathedral witnessed various periods of history, including the Seljuk Turks and later Ottoman rule. It remained in use for worship and monastic life until the decline of the Byzantine Empire.

Here are just a few photos. It was so difficult to choose which photos to post and you will see this is the case with the whole of Cappadoccia as no amount of photos can really describe it or do it justice.

Ihlara Valley

The Ihlara Valley is a canyon which is 51km long and up to 150 metres deep. The landscape is spectacular and was formed thousands of years ago. This deep canyon, formed by the Melendiz River over millions of years, is renowned for its stunning scenery. The valley is lush and green, with towering rock formations and steep cliffs.

Historians have also uncovered human dwellings and cave churches which led them to believe that the valley was home to large communities of people for many centuries.

There is 14-kilometer-long hiking trail follows the river and passes by many of these historic churches and chapels.

There are many hiking trails and the one we did included Selime Cathedral. There was a small cost to enter the cathedral and do this trail.

At the end of our walk in the town of Ihlara we stopped for a late lunch

Both Selime Cathedral and Ihlara Valley are not only significant historical sites but also showcase the incredible ingenuity of ancient civilizations in carving and adapting to the unique landscape of Cappadocia.

I think we walked around 10km that day but it was definitely worth it, such an amazing place to visit.

Love Valley

The following day we moved to Love Valley

Love Valley is probably the most well known part of Cappadocia. It’s one of the places all the balloons take off from at 5am.

We arrived in Love Valley around lunch time. Today was gonna be a rest day after all the walking we did yesterday

It is a very difficult place to describe. The landscape is unique and very distinctive.

Our park up was right by the edge of an enormous valley that looked like something on the moon! Complete with lots of fairy chimneys as described at the beginning of this post.

Carved by nature’s hand, this valley is a geological wonder, characterised by the phallic-shaped rock formations that have earned it the name of Love Valley.

The history of Love Valley is deeply rooted in the geological processes that took place millions of years ago. The distinctive rock pillars and fairy chimneys were formed through the combination of volcanic eruptions and subsequent erosion. Over time, wind and water sculpted the soft volcanic tuff into the remarkable shapes we see today.

Just along from our park up there whole area set up for tourists. We did go for a wander up there to have a look. Here are a few of the photo’s we took.

Love Valley is a popular destination not only for it’s unique landscape but also for it’s many hiking trails and hot air balloon rides, which take place in abundance at sunrise every morning subject to conditions.

The Balloons

I think the balloons are probably the main attraction for a lot of people that visit Cappadocia. They take off at sunrise around 5am as long as conditions allow. There are a number if different places that they take off and land from, again depending on conditions.

In the vanlife community it often seems like Cappadocia is the place everyone is heading to, almost like ‘The ultimate place’.

We had all decided not to go up in a balloon. The cost varies from €180 each to €350 each. We have been in a hot air balloon before in Cornwall, it was a wedding present, and Louise has been in a hot air balloon before in Egypt so for us this was also contributory in our decision not to.

Waking up and seeing the balloons all go up at sunrise was just magical, again very hard to describe but possibly even more magical then going in the balloon itself.

After seeing the balloons we had breakfast and made some sandwiches to go hiking in the valley. After getting up so early it felt like lunch time around 10am

We went looking for a proper hiking path but we definitely ended up going off piste a few times.

When we first set off we had 2 of the stray dogs we had been feeding followed us, or maybe they guiding us? We weren’t quite sure!

Here’s a few photos from our hike.

The hike takes you to Uçhisar Castle. I think officially following the trail from Love Valley it should be around 4.5km but that fact that we went off piste made it at least 8km for us!

We were happy to reach the castle.

We didn’t go right up to the castle as we were all tired and hot and it was a long walk up the hill. Instead we went to the town of Göreme and treated ourselves to some beers!

Once you get to Uçhisar you are in Pigeon Valley. It probably took us around 45 minutes, to get to Göreme.

Once you get to Göreme you realise where everyone who is not in a van hangs out! There are hotels, restaurants, shops, tourist information and places where you can book balloon rides and other activities.

There is also an airport at Cappadocia if you are staying somewhere else in Turkey but want to come and experience the magic of Cappadocia as well.

After our beers we opted for getting a cab back, we were all exhausted after 2 days of hiking probably 15-20km in total and of course getting up at 4.30am.

We all had an early night and slept really well. We were up again at 4.30am to see the balloons again.

Balloons, Love Valley on 2nd Day

The following morning there seemed to be even more balloons and we had quite a few that landed quite near us too. If it was possible it seemed even better than the previous morning.

Red & Rose Valley

After breakfast we moved to Red and Rose Valley, which is over the other side of the valley.

Rose Valley and Red Valley are famous for their red-rose coloured rocks and ancient cave churches, although not quite as famous as Love Valley for it’s phallic shaped rock formations.

Red valley is named as one of the best sunset viewpoints in the region.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing it was very peaceful and definitely quieter than Love Valley.

Once again we all had an early night and we were up at 4.30am for the 3rd morning in a row.

This time we had lots of balloons taking off right near us.

After seeing the balloons take off around us at Red and Rose Valley we had some breakfast and decided to only go for a very short hike.

We were all tired after 3 days of getting up at 4.30am and all the hours we had been hiking! Steve said his knee was bothering him a bit, an old injury I think.

Steve and Elisa decided to stay 1 more night but we needed to move on. It was now Friday 9th June and we needed to get Louise back to Antalya for Sunday evening as she was flying on Monday morning. We were quite a long way from Antalya.

We decided to head straight down to the coast which is where our next post will start.

This has been a really long post, but honestly it is impossible to describe the magic of Cappadocia. We hope you have enjoyed it.

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