Amasya is located in northern Turkey in the narrow and rocky valley of Yeşil River. Towering above the minarets and the medreses are pockmarks of Pontic tombs (🎫 10 TRY), etched into the highrise bluff and guarded by a lofty citadel. Amasya’s setting may evoke high drama, but life...
We arrived late, so we parked in front of Hotel Aşıkoğlu in Boğazkale, where we took dinner (Tomato soup – 30 TRY, French fries – 60 TRY, Chicken skewer – 110 TRY, Tea – 10 TRY). The following day we visited remainings of the Hittite capital of Hattuşa (🎫 20 TRY). In the Bronze Age, the...
Ankara, the capital of Turkey, is situated in the northwestern part of the country. The country’s capital has made remarkable progress from a dusty Anatolian backwater to today’s sophisticated arena for international affairs. Turkey’s economic success is reflected in the...
On our way to Ankara, we made a short stop at the second largest lake located in the Central Anatolia Region. Lake Tuz, occupying a tectonic depression in the central plateau of Turkey, is fed by two major streams, groundwater, and surface water, but has no outlet. Most of the year, it is...
You can hardly find a place in the world with so many balloons taking over the sky so often, and that’s why Capadoccia is so magical. Over 150 balloons are flying simultaneously in Cappadocia every morning. We tried several times to get tickets for a famous hot-air balloon flight...
Late in the afternoon, we arrived at Avanos – Cappadocia’s Pottery Hub. The pottery industry probably dates back to Hittite times when they started using clay from the red silt of the Kızılırmak. Old Avanos is riddled with a network of small underground “cities” that may once...
Our last shortstop today we made in Devrent Valley. Its rock formations are some of the best formed and most thickly clustered in Cappadocia. Most of the rosy rock cones are topped by flattish, darker stones of harder rock that sheltered the cones from the rain until all the surrounding...
Cappadocia’s famous “fairy chimneys,” a surreal landscape of carved-out towering rock formations, was our next stop (🎫 65 TRY – valid also for Zelve Open Air Museum). The rock formations emerged due to a geological process that began millions of years ago. First, ancient volcanic...
Another crowded place, but still worth visiting, is the Zelve Open-Air Museum (🎫 65 TRY – valid also for Fairy Chimneys,🅿️ – 25 TRY), where three valleys of crumbling cave-habitations and churches converge. Zelve was a monastic retreat from the 9th to the 13th century and then a...
Aşıklar (Love) Valley in Cappadocia is a place of natural wonders. Famed for its phallic rock formations and rough mountain ridges, it is one of the most popular hiking trails in Cappadocia. The famous viewpoint (🅿️ – 30 TRY), where you can camp overnight, is located above the...