After an 8 hour drive from Antayla to Goreme, Cappadocia we knew there was going to be no time for resting! With only 4 days in Goreme, we prepared for the heat and planned our days around trying to get as much done in the mornings, with a break mid day before heading out in the early evening again.
Our first full day was the busiest. We began by piling into the car and driving to the Ilhara Valley where we enjoyed morning tea in the huts and tables in the river before hiking in the valley. Everything was very pretty, even the little silver coffee cups. The valley is beautiful with carved out rock houses and churches which were in use up until about 1923! The kids enjoyed climbing through the rocks and pretending they lived there. Some of the caves have graffiti dating back to 1843.
Next stop was the Selime Monastery, this is where some filming for Star Wars took place, on the planet Naboo. The rock formations and different parts of the Monastery were fantastic! It was amazing how big the place was with all of the different homes and parts of the Monastery. We loved climbing through to all the different areas and stopped for lunch by another river restaurant.
Our last stop for the day was Derinkuyu underground city. Tourist are only allowed in 10% of the city, we went down 6 levels. The underground city was very complex with ventilation shafts, stairs that could be blocked quickly with large round stones, wells, different living quarters, churches and everything you needed to survive for a long time to out wait the enemy. Derinkuyu dates back to the Hittites. Once again we loved exploring the city and were very thankful to be out of the heat!
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