Monday, April 13, 2015

Road To Nevşehir (Uçhisar, Turkey)

In the past you probably had the opportunity to meet with the postcard pictures or posters of flying multicolored balloons which are usually right above the some unusually strange shaped desert landscapes. In 90% of cases on those pictures you probably saw the Cappadocia, Turkish region in Anatolia famous for its caves, old medieval monasteries from Byzantine times and old artistic pottery. Actually to arrive in today's central Anatolia is not such a difficult task and you only need direct bus from Istanbul or any major city. Alternative there is direct train from Ankara to Kayseri and then from Kayseri you should catch the bus.

Desert Pottery Tree by Igor L.
(Desert Pottery Tree, Cappadocia)
Photo taken by Igor L.

I can now freely say that Göreme is the capital village of central Anatolian region which serves as a good starting base for trip to whole Cappadocia area and its surrounding historical villages. Besides being a well connected with the bus transport and its offering of a multitude cheap accommodation, Göreme is also relatively very close to the rose, red, pigeon and love valleys where you can go for long walks by the foot passing right next to the caves and ex Orthodox monastic cells. Since I was not trained in hiking for me it was extraordinary challenging to walk the whole day from morning to the night through the sometime confusing roads but the scenes of natural rocks at the sunset is something which will be remembered all my life.

Endless Valleys in Cappadocia by Igor L.
(Endless Valleys, Cappadocia)
Photo taken by Igor L.

When night falls and the lights are lit, the whole village gets a totally new magical look. Because in the meantime, during the day while I walking I met many new people from a different parts of the world, our deal was to during the night we all go together up the hill above Göreme and from there to enjoy in the night view. I brought my tourist map which I had with me during the whole trip, and I was stunned when we reached near the top! Just like a star constellations only on the earth from here you can clearly recognize which is which village in the night lights and even some of the cities if you observe horizon carefully. The evening ended with talk and drink of a black tea in local bar that was fortunately at that time still opened.

Road To Nevşehir by Igor L.
(Road To Nevşehir, Cappadocia)
Photo taken by Igor L.

Next morning I headed to the local bus stop from where I chose my new destination. Small road on the picture leads directly to Nevşehir which is the main town of Cappadocia region, however, at slightly less than a half way to my final goal I noticed a little place called Uçhisar and I decided to get out of the bus on this stop just to visit it. Except the long walking paths uphill that I needed to take again, and classical view on old caves with frescoes inside of the rocks which can be seen throughout the whole Cappadocia, there is and one thing that I really liked about this village and that is a small manufacturing shops where you can find great souvenirs for smaller prices if you know how to negotiate with a local Turkish sellers.

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