A Day in Cappadocia

Assalamualaikum, everyone, and welcome back! This is a report of yet another day in Turkey, this time our first time in Cappadocia, famous for its hot air balloons and gorgeous valleys. Usually, there would be a whole sky full of hot air balloons during sunrise and sunset, but unfortunately the weather was not permissive, so that morning, we didn't wake up to hot air balloons dotting the sky.

Instead, snowflakes started falling from the sky, just begging me to go outside! From the window, I could see an outdoor restaurant that must've been closed for the winter. The chairs and tables started to be coated with a layer of snow. Right after prayer, I pulled my winter jacket over my pyjamas and went outside through the door. I thought that maybe there was a way to the restaurant, because it also had a balcony overlooking the town. But there wasn't a way, so I had to go back in and escaped through the window.

The snowfall was already heavy and it showed no signs of stopping. It's the best way to wake up - at least for me! The snow on the tables was so soft and I pressed a handprint into them. The town was coated with white snow piling up in parks, on roofs and on immobile cars. It was quiet but I really enjoyed being there. My mom had followed me out and we took a few pictures. My father came out soon after but I already felt cold by then, so I went back in. When Yusuf woke up, he enjoyed the snow for a bit too!

After we've had our fun, we went to the hotel's breakfast buffet. I thought we would be up and about after the breakfast and go to those valleys, open air museums and underground cities, but it was still snowing so we felt like doing nothing yet. Instead of getting ready, everyone relaxed in our hotel room. It just felt right on a snowy day. My parents slept, Yusuf played some games, and I did some reading and writing. It was after Friday prayer that we got ready.

The snow had completely stopped by now, leaving our car covered with it. We hopped in the car and made our way the widest underground cities here, Kaymakli. The roadside was piled with snow on our way there.. Once we arrived and bought our tickets, a tour guide offered to eat us through the underground city, claiming it may be complex to first-time tourists. We accepted the offer and boy were we relieved.

According to the tour guide, a man named Mustafa, the city was most recently used by the Christians who have expanded the tunnels and added more floors during the Byzantine era to protect them from their enemies. Earlier use was during the 7th century BC by the Hittites. When the Christians used it, thousands of people could fit in, be it high-class, middle-class, low-class and immigrants. The tour guide was very fast as we followed him through the tunnels deeper and deeper, level by level, ducking slightly to avoid bumping our heads against the low ceiling, even though we still did.

We passed quite a lot of storage rooms for dried food and meat, holes where they place jars of water, and we even saw the deep ventilating shaft about 100 metres deep. According to Mustafa, it was used for ventilation, communication from the soldiers, transportation of food and transportation of the people. There was also a winery which had sections where they keep grapes, and a church for both Orthodox and Catholic Christians. They even have baptising rocks and a hole in the floor where they keep holy water for baptism.

Moving on, we saw the rooms of the low-class, middle-class and high-class people, and observed their differences. My mom said the high-class rooms had more ventilation. The low-class rooms are significantly smaller and the ceilings lower than the others. The high-class rooms are much more comfortable. There was a room for a family of five with a separate bedroom for children, and even a hole in the wall for the baby. They even had their own food storage.

As we proceeded, we entered the kitchen, which shared by every class of people. The rocks in the ceiling were charred with smoke. Back then, they only cooked once a week and only at night for fear the enemies would notice the smoke. From there we climbed back up, passing more bedrooms as we did so. When we reached the top, we arrived at the level where they keep the animals. There were holes in the wall where they put water for the animals and food storage. The animals were tied up and wouldn't run away.

I had a lot of fun and was happy with the knowledge I received. I plan to read more on underground cities later on. We could only visit the first five floors out of eight in total. The last three floors already collapsed. Out of 500 bedrooms, only 50 were in good condition. There were a lot more to this underground it's that we could never discover.

Once we're done with Kaymakli, we headed to the Imagination Valley, as they called it. This valley was magnificent, with rocks the shapes of animals or combination of animals, it's really up to you what to imagine. If only the valley wasn't slippery with snow, we would've ventured further, but we couldn't't even make it past the roadside. Well, it looks like we'll have to come back in warmer seasons!

It was about 5pm already and we drove on to the Red Valley, famous for its spectacular view of the sunset. The snow here was thick under my shoes and just as I suspected, we couldn't even see the su set. The sky was cloudy after the snow and there was only a sliver of red that could be seen from the distance but that was it. That's okay, because the valley itself was beautiful especially when capped with all that snow. Yep, we'll return in warmer seasons!

Finally come nightfall, we headed back to our hotel, though only for a quick toilet break before walking down the streets to find dinner. The chicken wrap I had was delicious! Completed with a hot cup of Turkish tea, I was ready to go home and relax. First, we stopped by the convenience store and bought a few things and then went straight back to the hotel.

That's it for today, folks! Tomorrow I'll return with a new post. Till then, assalamualaikum!