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Cappadocia – History and Splendor in Turkey

From Coast to Cappadocia

After spending the first half of our vacation in Nice and Budapest, the last leg of our vacation took us the furthest east I’ve ever been – Turkey.  It was a spot that Mila and I could connect with her mom and some friends easily.  Saying goodbye to Budapest, our flight took us to Antalya, a southern coastal vacation spot off the Mediterranean.  Unfortunately, it was at this point my body decided to get a little sick with some sinus infection.  The good news was that Turkish Delights and döner kebabs nursed me back to health just in time for our trip to Cappadocia with Mila’s mom and friends.

Antalya was decently humid and hot, often with haziness looking out upon the sea.  Street cats were lazing about under cars and trees, waiting for the cooler evening.  Cappadocia took me by surprise.  It was arid, with dust devils in the distance.  Centuries of erosion carved out its distinctive rock formations.  Mila was the trip planner for here, so I was ready to see what was in store!

Logistics for a week in Turkey

  • Flight from Budapest to Antalya on WizzAir was $100 per person.
  • Airbnb in Antalya and Cappadocia ran a little over $1000 total for the 5 of us, but with a weighted split.
  • Mila’s friends owned a car there, so transit and tours were around $100 per person.

Total for core logistics came to $500-ish per person.  Sweet!

Hanging out in Antalya

For the first few days, I was out of commission.  Mila went to a neighboring city to meet up with her mom and another group of her friends, so I was very much alone 🙁  I did my best to walk the cliff-side of the sea in Antalya down to the old town district.  There I found a very familiar scene of narrow stone walkways lined with restaurants and souvenir shops.  It was not too unlike what you’d find in most “old town” sections of a European city.  The one difference here were those damn guys with the long ice cream scoopers always putting on a show with their trickery.  But then I tried some ice cream and realized how freakishly good it was.  It’s all about that goat milk.

I also made friends at the corner mart after my frequent visits for water and vitamin C.  In the end, it helped my recovery just in time to throw some backflips into the sea before a 6 hour drive to Cappadocia.  Mila and her mom were most thoughtful and concerned about my stuffy nose.  I was offered tea and mints every hour on the hour.  They were not gonna let me be sick on this vacation!

Fairy Chimneys and Sunrise Balloons

On the early morning drive out, the reality hit that I was not going to be too useful in conversation with a car full of Russian-speakers.  Slow speech and simple sentences only get you so far before the true context and expressiveness on the discussion is lost.  So I found myself sleeping soon thereafter haha.

We arrived in Cappadocia at our elegant stone-built hotel midday and took a cat nap before getting ready to ride ATVs to some location for a Turkish sunset.  Let me be the first to say, we were very surprised with the level of tourism here.  There were hundred of ATVs buzzing around, complemented by horseback riding, classic cars and some imported camels roaming the trails.

The real highlight of Cappadocia, and I have to believe it’s the real reason for choosing this location, was the hot air balloons.  Although an early wake-up call, we all drove out to a suspected vantage point to watch the show… and of course take a million pictures.  Mila and her friend rented dresses to ensure optimum photogenic shots.  All in all it was a peaceful morning watching some colorful balloons float about in the valley.  I reckon next chance I get, I’ll be taking a ride in a balloon.  The views must’ve been incredible.

Mila also found a great touring company with a fantastic guide who took us all around the area.  We visited iconic parts of the valley to highlight the “fairy chimneys” (eroded spires of rock made into homes by the Hittite people), an open air museum with cave churches, and a boutique pottery / ceramics shop.  It was at the shop that Mila did some of her best work and absolutely crushed negotiations for a decanter piece we brought back home.

An ironic ending

Back in Antalya with a day left before our journey back home, Mila and I spent the evening walking old town; ice creams in hand.  We picked up some last minute souvenirs with the few liras we had left and shared with each other our favorite parts of the countries we had visited over the two weeks.  The night was calm with reality beginning to settle in once more.  And just like that, we found ourselves on a plane for a layover in London before hoppin’ the pond.

The funny thing about the return was neither of us realized at first we’d be in the UK for July 4th.  So we had ourselves some beers and fish ‘n chips at the hotel lobby.  Not my usual celebration for the 4th, so I’ll have to make up for it next year!  In conclusion, Turkey is a place I would like to visit again for Istanbul.  Our trip to Turkey this time around was more for Mila to reunite with friends and family, so I’m glad she got the opportunity to do so, given the current circumstances.  But until the next visit, I’ll be training up those bargaining skills to be on par with Mila!

-ML

Jerry move with that backwards helmet...

Recap of Places

Check out the MAP for links!

  • Antalya
  • Cappadocia

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