Snowy Cappadocia

We had been prepped for a rainy, snowy and cold 2nd day touring with Mustafa. Kahan was looking forward to the snow and I used that as an incentive for him to wake up at 9am and go for breakfast, however he got plenty of it throughout the day. The landscapes at the Pigeon Valley looked even more stunning with the beige brown observation tower and the caves around it popping out of snow covered white slopes- almost out of a fairy tale. The next stop would be fairy tale chimneys- rock formations with mushroom like hats on it formed with thousands of years of wind erosion.

The KEM gemstone store visit captivated me with it’s beautiful silver jewelry in precious stones. Zultanite is a stone local to Turkey which changes color when seen in different light. The color change is way more dramatic in the lab grown stone than the mined ones. We all ended up with jewelry souvenirs, a pair of Zultanite earrings for me and Parishi to share after an intense bargain endeavor by Chintan. While window shopping a few hours later we’d realize we paid at least 3-4 times as much when earrings with larger Zultanite were being sold for $52 at a small jewelry store and around 20 bucks in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Unlike the Populer Leather store visit, we had chosen to ignore the negative TripAdvisor reviews there after all! The lunch buffet Mustafa took us to was a huge place, almost like a banquet hall with an extensive spread which was a mixed bag from a taste standpoint. My favorites were the salads, beet yogurt, mint flavored lebne and the Tres Leches cake. Mustafa wasn’t wrong in calling the Underground Cave City as the highlight of the tour. The entire underground city built in layers which kept going deeper over the years was used by the Christians to hide from the Arabs and the crusaders from the 8th to the 11th century. Inmates of the entire city would live there for 2-3 weeks stretch in summer months, the caves keeping them cool and ventilated while the enemy could never figure out where they were hiding. The rooms were connected by narrow low ceiling tunnels which called for all of us to squat walk through them into maze like cave structures. The stories of survival in these tight quarters with limited food, water, oxygen and sanitation were fascinating and shed light on how brilliant the human brain has been even centuries ago learning to survive with extremely limited resources and the most unfavorable living conditions imaginable with the singular focus of staying alive. These underground cave cities were never found by the enemies proving to be successful in serving their purpose of preserving Christianity back in those days.

When we emerged into the chilly broad daylight from the cave, the first feeling that hit us was how blessed we are with our lives and how easy it is to forget that our ancestors took the brunt of disease, wars, poverty and daily hardships for humanity to have evolved to where we are in the 21st century. And it is sad that we humans continue to abuse the planet in various ways like there is an inexhaustible supply of resources for our future generations. Whatever happened to the idea of paying it forward. When in Turkey, you have to experience the Turkish Hamam bath. It was a perfect evening for that with the chilly weather outside. The younger kids stayed at the hotel while the rest of us spent an hour and a half at the Turkish Hamam. The steps were all laid out to us- 15 minutes in the sauna, followed by 15 minutes of scrubbing on the Hamam stone, 15 minutes bubble massage (the large bubble cloth bag they lather u with was impressive) followed by the cold pool and then shower. The massage left more to be desired and had us all wonder if there were places that offered a more exclusive and relaxing experience. Parishi was delighted with her first Turkish bath and that made it all worthwhile for me. We hung out in downtown Gorem looking at souvenir shops and finally settling down at the restaurant "One way" with delicious food and decent Aperol Spritz. The veggie burger had a veggie loaded flavorful patty and the stuffed mushrooms that Chinmay ordered were cooked well too. The pistachio cake dessert was unique while the crème brûlée didn’t make the cut.

We had to call it a night to wake up at 5am the next morning for the Hot air balloon ride which we were so grateful was happening after getting canceled for 3-4 days in a row due to weather.