After a glorious five days in Istanbul, we were off to explore more of Türkiye. Usually we like to plan our trips on our own, researching which places to go, what things to experience, best times to go to avoid the bus tour people. Well, this time we became the bus tour people! The horror! 😉
We decided to book a guided tour of Turkey as we weren’t quite sure how it would be to move around the country logistically. Turns out, it’s pretty easy! We thought the highways might be a bit of a challenge, but they were far from it. We thought the language barrier would be stressful. It wasn’t.
Did we love the bus tour? Not really, no.
Turns out it’s just not our thing. However, we did have a good guide and we met some amazing people on our tour. It’s just the “herding cats” aspect of the whole thing. We like to do our own exploring on our own itinerary, and we found we never had enough time at any destination or we would stop at the worst places to eat. Looking at you random roadside gas station buffets. 🤮
However, the cost of those bus tours are insanely better than doing your own piece-meal work. Especially in a land that is so unfamiliar. And so that’s why as much as we hated the actual bus at times, we also had the most amazing experiences once we were off it. Here’s how our journey through Turkey went down.
Cappadocia
Saratlı Kırkgöz Underground City
Our first stop as we arrived in Cappadocia on a rainy afternoon was to go underground at Saratlı Kırkgöz. It was used by early Christians as a shelter to keep away from the Romans.
The city has seven levels, however, only three are open and we maybe did two. It was cool wandering from room-to-room guided by single lightbulbs all strung along one loooong electrical cord.
There were no other people visiting Saratlı while we were there, which made our meandering even cooler and more spookier. You gotta love traveling on the shoulder seasons.
As we were leaving the area, we saw a young sheep herder guiding his wayward flock.
Sunset Jeep Safari
After a long day getting to Cappadocia by bus, we were thrilled to get off it… and go right back into another vehicle. But this time it was to be whisked around on a sunset Jeep Safari.
Our driver/guide, who was an absolute gem, started by turning the tunes way, way up and taking us on the bumpiest ride of a lifetime. We stopped in four locations to explore and snap pics while watching the sun dip down on the horizon.
In between it all, we laughed uproariously as we were being hurled around in a Jeep going from place to place. Cool AF. After a day of mostly quiet on the bus, going straight into loud noise and total road chaos was invigorating.
Our guide was also a great photographer. He asked me if he could take pics of us at the first location. I told him “that’s ok, we got it,” because historically, guides have not taken the best pics of us. And I’m super picky!
But he kept asking and saying he takes good photos. So I handed over my phone and let him go to town. I’m so glad. He took amazing shots! He had all these little tricks he was trying. Such a great guy.
On our last stop, we popped some champagne (non-alcoholic) and toasted to a magical start in a magical land.
Related: Cappadocia sunrise from a hot-air balloon
Yunak Evleri (cave hotel)
The tour operator we originally worked with suggested we upgrade our stay in Cappadocia to a cave hotel. We love an interesting place to lodge, so we jumped at the chance. We stayed two nights at Yunak Evleri in Ürgüp, which was two nights — at least — too short. I think you need at least three nights in Cappadocia. At the very least.
The place was amazing. Our room seemed to go back into the cave forever. It was warm and cozy and oh, so quiet too. But no Wi-Fi… eek. It was a cave after all.
Göreme Open Air Museum
Unfortunately, we only had one full day to explore in the Cappadocia region, so getting to experience all its magical treasures was next to impossible. But what we did do definitely filled our cups. One of those experiences was spending a morning at the Göreme Open Air Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to explore its renowned collection of cave churches.
The churches in Göreme are thought to be built in and around the 11th century by the Byzantines. As we strolled from cave church to cave church, we were in awe of the paintings. Each one distinct from the other. Some frescoes were detailed in many colours while others looked primitive and used only red.
And those colours, whether they were applied simply or with exacting detail, are sharp. Not having any sunlight touch your walls for centuries is definitely helpful.
Uchisar fairy chimneys
We also hiked for a short while around a few fairy chimeys (hoodoos). We didn’t get enough time to explore them, but they were kinda in the background of everywhere we went. “Magical” doesn’t cut it.
Travertines at Pamukkale
After going to such highs in Cappadocia, we were thinking our next stop on the bus might be a bit of a let-down. It wasn’t.
We stopped in Pamukkale (meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish) to wade through the shallow waters of its travertine terraces. The white terraces are formed by the mineral water from the nearby hot springs. It’s also home to the ruins of the ancient Greek city of Hierapolis.
While wading through the shallow waters of the terraces was insanely cool, it was also insanely pokey on the feet! Unless you hit the slippery rocks where you just slide to your almost death. I kid, I kid. But you definitely don’t want to run around there, especially on the side of a cliff.
Hierapolis
After walking as gingerly as one can over the travertines, we went off to explore the ruins of Hierapolis. As the sun wasn’t shining so harshly in the late afternoon, it gave everything we glanced upon a soft pastel glow, with the most glowy being at the top of the theatre looking out at the cotton cliffs and the valleys and hills of Denizli province.
Hierapolis started as an ancient Greek (Hellenistic) city from the Iron Age (c. 1200 – c. 550 BC), and was eventually ceded to Rome in 133 AD. The Romans then developed the city creating elaborate baths, temples and a theatre, which brought upon its golden age. For centuries, it thrived as a thermal spa where thousands would visit to benefit from the medicinal qualities of the nearby hot springs.
Cut to present day, and while there, we heard stories about how Cleopatra visited Hierapolis for the spas, but no one has the actual proof she ever did. So take that as you will. They do however have a great bath/pool named after her, which looked fun, but was closed for repairs so we couldn’t swim in it. Boo
House of Virgin Mary
On our last day exploring the beauty of Turkey, we found ourselves going deeper into biblical times. We started by going up Mount Koressos to pilgrimage to the Catholic shrine of The House of the Virgin Mary.
The house is believed to be the home Mary lived in after the death of Jesus. It is located in the most loveliest of places. We strolled around the site’s vibrant gardens, sniffing the roses, taking in the fresh mountain air, before quietly entering the house/shrine to receive a blessing. We left the house, went and lit a candle then refreshed our faces at the holy water fountains. It was a calming place to move around in before setting out on an epic journey to…
Ephesus
It’s said that Ephesus — dating back to 10th century BC — is one of the most impressive cities of the ancient world. And if you squint your eyes just a wee bit to blur out the missing pieces you can actually see it as so. An old Greek city, which was then taken over by the Romans (of course), that now fully lies within Turkey. Man, sounds so familiar in this part of the world.
It was a Greek city (1050 BC) that was taken by the Persians (546 BC), then taken by Alexander the Great and Macedonians (334 BC), to then become part of the Roman Republic (129 BC) . Can you say this beotch was POPULAR?!
At an earlier stop on the tour, our guide told us to think of Turkey without borders since many sites we visited had peoples from all lands and religions moving through it, sacking and ransacking, hiding and escaping, taking and colonizing, building and trading and just all around being fought over again and again and again. I mean, I get it. Turkey’s a breathtaking and temperate place making her a definite 10 in all the ways us humans like. Hence why we visited!
Situated along the Aegean coast, Ephesus was the end of the Royal Road and one of the most important harbours for trade with Greece, Italy and the rest of the Roman Empire. The city’s architecture and innovation is mind-blowing in its precision and layout. You can even still see the labyrinth of concave marble gutters snaking alongside all the streets.
Your curiosity starts to work overtime as you wonder the kind of brain power and wisdom needed to create the surrounding structures. And that they’re still kind of intact. Even the toilets! 🤯
The city of Ephesus was renowned for its Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. There’s nothing left of it except little bits as some loser called Herostratus — driven by a desire for fame — destroyed it by setting it on fire.
But even that story has holes in it, and that its destruction was possibly an inside job by the temple’s priesthood. Shocker! So maybe Herostratus was not an arsonist loser after all? But supposedly he was a fame-whore, so he can keep his temple-destroyer reputation.
The thing about walking around ancient ruins is that they’re full of so many fascinating stories with long histories that you’re not quite sure if the story you are hearing is really accurate. How could it be?
However, the process of discovering a place wouldn’t be the same without the stories. The old saying, “history is written by the winners,” sits in the back of my mind as I move through historic sites reminding me to not fully believe any of the stories at face value.
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Exploring Turkey, even just a wee bit of it, was everything I hoped it would be. If you have a question on traveling to this magnificent place, please shoot it to me in the comments. 🗺️😊
