Turkey

Mar 28-Apr 2, 2013
UA5669 YYZ-EWR, UA905 EWR-IST, Mar 30 TK2006 IST-NAV, Apr 1 TK2009 NAV-IST, Apr 2 UA905 IST-EWR, UA4910 EWR-YYZ

Last year we had our first trip to Turkey, and although we covered a lot of ground and saw some amazing ancient sites, we did not get to the beautiful Cappadocia region.  When we found an airline ticket to Istanbul with a price too good to refuse, I jumped on it and built in a side trip to Cappadocia.  As I was still waiting for details on when I would be moving to Houston, I had not booked any new travel in March, April and May, but we had this trip booked for a long time and enjoyed an extended long weekend break in the travel embargo.  To get the cheap fare we had to fly on United Airlines through Newark, and were actually pleasantly surprised by the service for the very long flights in economy class.  We had some time in Istanbul before flying to Cappadocia and headed over to the Asian side of Istanbul on the ferry for a new perspective on the city.  Although we only had two nights in Cappadocia, we took advantage of all of the daylight to explore the various rock formations and cave dwellings.  Unfortunately, we never saw a famous balloon tour in flight, though tour companies were all throughout the region.  After Cappadocia, we had one final night in Istanbul.   

Mar 29
After overnight flight to Istanbul via Newark we have the day to explore.

Looking back at Istanbul from our ferry trip across the Bosphorus to Asia

Türkbalon and the ferry back to Istanbul in Kadıköy

Evening view from our hotel at the end of the day

Mar 30
Morning flight to Neveshir Cappadocia Airport

Our first view of the rock formations on our way to the hotel

Our first Cappadocia hike near Cavusin

The extensive trail network let us get very close to the chimney rocks

We had a visitor along the way

The picturesque hillside Uchisar Castle

Strolling Goreme, the cultural centre of Cappadocia, after dinner

Mar 31
Another full day in Cappadocia

One of the many incredible structures built into the hillside in Goreme Open Air Museum

Perched on one of the many windows and doors of the extensive development

The Church ceiling in the museum

Some of the more quintessential chimney rock formations

Heading further south the geography changes a little bit

Dining hall cut into the rock with table and chairs

The impressive Karabaş (Black Hat) Church in Soğanlı Valley

More of the extensive dwellings in the much less touristed Soğanlı Valley

The impressive dome in the Kubbeli Church further up the valley

An active farm shows how integrated life is into the hillside buildings today

Perching on the outside of the small stone structure

View from our restaurant terrace in Goreme as the day winds down

Apr 1
Last day in Cappadocia before flying that evening to Istanbul

Some of the more interesting rock formations in Paşabağ

Sun still coming up over Paşabağ

A small part of the extensive Kaymaklli underground city

We ended the day at the Zelve open air museum with a large collection of houses

More of the extensive city of Zelve

Apr 2
Morning flight back to Toronto via Newark