We got ready and went up to the terrace where the breakfast was to be served. We had a welcoming committee, a mother and son duo, Princess and Prince. Here is Prince after making sure that we belong there.
The view from the terrace was very interesting.
Three of the famed "Fairy Chimneys" of Goreme have been converted into this hotel consisting of six cave suites and two deluxe cave rooms. We had one of the cave suites.
The fairy chimneys have been continuously inhabited since Roman times and this place has tried to preserve many of the original characteristic of the dwellings.
As soon as we sat down Erhan brought us a large variety of cheese, breads, and fresh fruit and also took orders for eggs and coffee.
Most of the cheese and rolls were very good, there was one particular white cheese which tasted like a cross between fresh mozzarella and cream cheese that was my favorite.
The coffee was quite strong but good, unfortunately instant coffee. Instant coffee or Nescafe as its called locally, seems to be the norm unless you opt for the Turkish coffee.
After breakfast we met our guide Sirkhan with Ibrahim as driver.
Our first stop was Esentepe (Panoramic View), and what a view it was. We could see a volcano on the left and the Uçhisar Castle on the right.
Our next stop was the Göreme Open Air Museum, which is a vast monastic complex composed of scores of refectory monasteries placed side-by-side, each with its own fantastic church. It contains the finest of the rock-cut churches with beautiful frescoes whose colors still retain all their original freshness. It also presents unique examples of rock hewn architecture and fresco technique. The Goreme Open Air Museum has been a member of UNESCO'S World Heritage List since 1984, and was one of the first two UNESCO sites in Turkey.
Proceeded on to Avanos for pottery demonstration at Sulemans, a family run enterprise like many others. The man who led the tour was 47 and his 67 year old uncle still works in there and doing some very delicate work at that.
Our guide disappeared to pray at the Mosque, it was Friday. We were a little put out by him not telling us this, so we wouldn't be looking for him.
The red river, considered the largest river in the region runs through Avanos. The water was crystal clear and full of trout(?) Per the guide.
Lunch was at Bizam Ev, a very busy restaurant full of bus loads of tourists. Since our guide had missed making reservations we got a table next to the kitchen, literally. The food was of course very good and made up for it.
After lunch, the next stop was Devrent Valley or Imagination Valley, named due to all the shapes that the formation that resemble different things. My favorite is definitely "Napolean's Hat" and it did look as such. Unfortunately with the sun behind it, the pictures are silhouettes.
Next stop Monk's Valley, this is today's best for me, the limestones formations with two different colors did look a monk's robe and headgear.
That was all for today, very enjoyable and interesting sites indeed.
We weren't too happy with our guide Sirkhan and was glad to hear that the next two days our guide was going to be his boss Biram.
At Nostalji we asked about restaurants for dinner and were happy to learn that they not only had a restaurant but served a local specialty that is cooked in a sealed clay pot for two hours. The name of the dish is Kuru Fasulye. We chose to go with that and ordered it with the two hour lead time.
The two hours passed by quickly in this beautiful and unusual surrounding and we made our way up to the terrace for dinner.
Ifran recommended I try their homemade red wine called ev yapimi /ev sarabi. I am pretty sure "sarabi" mean wine since "sarab" means wine in Arabic , Urdu, and Hindi.
The wine was excellent, a new wine similar to the wines of Portugal. All the wines I had in Turkey were similar including the ones during our flight. Sudip had the Ephes beer, he said it was very good.
Then came the our main course, Ifran opened the seal in front of us. It was really really good, the meat was cooked to perfection as was the vegetables and everything quite tasty.
All in all a perfect ending to a great day of site seeing
Retired for the night with anticipation of more beautiful and exciting sites yet to come tomorrow.
Location:Gôreme
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