Green Tour

The green tours cover several key sights and activities across the city and are pretty much identical across all vendors that offer them. We started out at the Goreme Panorama to take in the view of the rock formations against the bustling little township. The lookout has a little market where you can buy trinkets to take home as well as some cafes for a quick bite to eat. Next, we headed to the Derinkuyu underground city, which is an ancient underground city in Nevsehir which goes upto 12 underground levels deep. It’s fascinating to walk through the complex (no photos allowed) and marvel at their ancient engineering which even today seemed so advanced, but keep your back and feet in mind as they are definitely going to be sore after this visit. To stretch out our backs from all the hunched walking in the underground city, we did the canyon walk through the Ilhara Valley before stopping for lunch at Belisirma restaurant.

By this stage, it’s safe to say we had earned that meal. It was blisteringly hot and though we had enjoyed the fresh fruit along the way (in Turkey you can just pick them off a tree, berries and apples are everywhere!), we’d definitely worked up an appetite for some delicious local cuisine. This is where this riverside restaurant comes in. They have tables set up alongside the stream for groups like ours, or you can eat in the huts on top of the river for smaller parties. On the menu for vegetarians was burbur with vegetables and cheese and Turkish lentil soup along with some fresh bread and slices of oranges and watermelon to finish. For me it was incredible to see the richness of local produce in Turkey, the smallest to the biggest of eateries were abundant in freshly cut fruit, lots of locally grown nuts and grains and spices and all this served by waiters who had a knack for making you laugh with their charm. Ours bonded with us instantly as he had grown up watching Hindi films and was eager to try out his Hindi on us.

The second leg of the green tour was heading to the Yaprakhisar viewpoint which gives a stunning panorama of the canyons before heading to the Selime Rock Monastery. This rocky structure is a monastery like no other. The rustic formation – which is no longer in use – still carries the remnants of a large kitchen, soaring chimneys, stables and three large churches. We climbed through all these different sections of the sprawling structure before stopping at the pigeon valley viewpoint to feed, well, pigeons. 

The final stop after all that exploring was a visit to an onyx stone jewellery and a stone cutting demonstration. We saw the stone being cut into various shapes before exploring the jewellery and the adjoining shop over some delicious apple tea. 

End on a delicious note

For our final few moments in Cappadocia, we opted for a nice fancy dinner at a local restaurant. We ate vegetarian pottery kebab, pide, loads of fresh bread and apple tea before heading home for bead. 

Now, we told you we arrived in Cappadocia in chaos. Let’s say that was nothing compared to how we left. All seemed well as we bid farewell to our lovely hotel hosts and some friends we’d made during at visit with our luggage in tow as the sun rose over the rocky city. But as we go through customs and prepared to board our flight, it dawned on me that I didn’t have my phone. I checked everywhere before alerting authorities, who, actually allowed me to duck back through customs check for my phone in the waiting area of the tiny airport and then with no luck duck back in.

But that’s when the disaster began. It seemed like whoever had let me go back out to check the phone had made the local police very, very angry. And so, queue me standing with about 20 men and women security and police officials around me, yelling, eventually throwing punches while being dragged by their peers to sort out the drama. I had intervened a few times to understand what was happening but was only told “Don’t worry madam you’re all good”, and then they’d begin fighting again.

I had almost given up and decided to head back phone-less to board my plane well our shuttle bus driver turned up in the middle of the brawl and said “Madam please I have your phone.”

I don’t think I’ve known relief like I knew in that minute and to sum up the spirit of the Turkish people, when I tried to thank him profusely, he simply said no need to thank me at all please don’t.