So walk we did, tensing in fear, everytime a car whizz past us.
And after walking for what seemed like eternity, we spot the first sign of civilisation: a gas station.
We hurried towards it and pounce on the first (and only) person we saw: some gangster looking type washing his car.
When we asked him if he knows of any bus stations or shuttle bus to Capadoccia in the area, he looked really puzzled, (and for a heartstopping moment I tot he couldn't speak english), then he told us that there is NO bus station for miles and no shuttle bus either.
At our defeated looks, he then asked if we were perhaps referring to the public bus?? After he realised that we were so lost that we would do anything to get out of the area, he gave us explicit directions to a cross junction further down the road and told us that the bus only starts at 5.30am so we have at least 2 hours to kill, he even brought us to a quiet restaurant behind the gas station and told us to rest there first. After accepting our profuse thanks, he went back to washing his car.
After a few minutes, he came by again and said, "come! I show you where to wait." and brought us throught a deserted car park, some grass patch to the aforementioned cross-junction.
And it was a good thing he brought us because, there was no freaking way we could have found it on our own, as there were no signs at all/and no semblance of a bus stop. He told us to just wait by a street lamp and the bus will stop for us.
After eating some strange soup in the restaurant, it was 5.30am and we went to the street lamp, half thinking that we may have been duped.
And then at 5.40am, a tour bus, that looked just like the bus we took from Istanbul, stopped at the street lamp opposite and we looked dubiously at it. I seriously thought it was just another random tour bus stopping for a toilet break. Catechol ran up to it and we heard the miraculous words "yes we go Capadoccia!"
It wasn't until we were well on our way on the bus and the bus boy had collected 5euros from each of us that we began to appreciate the evilness of the bus company in Istanbul.
After about an hour of bus journey, the bus stopped suddenly at a rest station by the expressway for a toilet break for us and we were told that smaller buses will be bringing us in to Capadoccia. While I was in the loo, a friendly turkish guy who works at the bus station struck up conversation with Catechol and told us to wait in his office where he very charmingly showed us many pretty pictures of Capadoccia. He served us Turkish tea and about 2 seconds later we realised that he was trying to get us to sign up some tour package with him.
I had initially wanted to book day tours with our hotel, but Catechol was quite keen on settling a package first and the guy promised to pick us from our hotel, the price was comparable so i agreed.
Then finally...finally we arrived in the charming town of Capadoccia. Capadoccia used to be a town where travelling merchants would rest their camels while they themselves rest in cave homes.
The entire town consisted of tiny homes and buildings all carved out of stone and caves. We were staying at the very quaint Shoestring Cave Hotel, famous for its cave rooms.
On the stairway up to our room
When we arrived, the owner said that our rooms were not available yet as we were too early, so we hung around and waited and he chatted with us for awhile.
When he too tried to advertise his tour packages, we explained that we had already paid for one. His face immediately changed and asked if we signed up at the rest station. He then went on to angrily explained that those coporate bus companies have been strangling the tourist trade in Capadoccia with such unscruppulous means such that small local tour companies are struggling to survive. He also told stories of his previous guests being grossly overcharged, or being stranded at the rest station simply because they refused to buy their tours. We apologised for our ignorance but he just shook his head and looked really sad.
So we very guiltily decided to upgrade our room to one of their nicest rooms on the top floor with a fantastic view and pool just outside our door.
Our cave room - essentially just a cave made into a room
After a quick shower (no time for a much needed nap), we hurriedly went down the road to wait for our daytour bus (we were worried abt the bus coming directly up to our hotel given their history).
Our guilt was short-lived because I really enjoyed the tour greatly.
Capadoccia was beautiful and is still our favourite city in Turkey.
We saw ancient homes carved out of caves....
Churches, kitchens and dormitories carved out of caves...
Pigeon holes.. Those holes in the mountains are man-made, specially for pigeons to enter and do their business, after which men would come by and collect their droppings to be used as fuel [the thought just boggles the mind doesn't it]
Uchisar Mountain (you can actually climb it!)
We had buffet lunch where I had to admit that even I had problems stomaching some of the weird turkish food
So we had to eat this....
More nice scenery!
Fairy chimneys!! These were natural wind-blown phenomena and people in the past used to believe that fairies actually reside in them.
Another Turkey cliche
Funny rock-formations
We went to a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant near our hotel for dinner.
Capadoccia is famous for its pottery and also for this dish of meat stew in a clay urn-like pot.
They cook the raw meat in this half made claypot, put some wet clay on top to form the cover and cook the whole thing in the fire. Such that the only way you can eat ur food is to crack it open.
Catechol tried to carefully tap it like cracking an egg but failed dreadfully. But the owner very nicely came by to show us how to do it. He gave a mighty WHACK at the pot with his knife and it cracked open in two.
And that was the end of my last truly happy day in Turkey...
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