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Cappadocia’s natural beauty

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  April 30  Day 6 Surrounded by Cappadocia's otherworldly "fairy-chimney" rock formations, we'll do a little of this and a little of that today. First we will visit the Three Sisters rock formations and then Pigeon Valley.  Afterwards we will visit the carpet weaving school and learn about the centuries-old tradition and artistry of Turkish carpet.  Then we head to a hike at Paşabağ Valley, where we will walk among the rock formations.    At the end of the day we will finish up with a group wine tasting.  —— Today’s pictures will definitely have a LOT of BIG rock formations.  All formed over thousands of years after a volcano covered the area in volcanic ash!  Enjoy!  If you look closely in the distance between these two fairy chimneys you can see a snow covered volcano.   This formation above is called The Three Sisters.  Below, while in pigeon valley I climbed up to this rock to look at the pigeon roosts up close, I didn’t th...
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Hot Air Balloon and Cappadocia region

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Wednesday April 29, Optional Hot Air Balloon ride Mustafapaşa village  walk and then back at the hotel and drive to visit  Göreme Open Air Museum of Monastery Valley.  We will eat lunch at a local house. Our hostess will be Fahriye at Ortahisar Village  (shoes off for lunch).  KAYMAKLI UNDERGROUND CITY / Possible visit ( inşallah(God Willing)  It doesn’t even look like I am in the balloon on this one, but I am! Mustafapaşa, the town where we were staying, is a historic town in the Urgüp District of Turkey’s Nevşehir Province, is famous for its well-preserved Greek Orthodox architecture and rich history, with a population exchange in 1923 leading to a predominantly Turkish community today.   Located in Cappadocia, it offers a quieter, more authentic experience away from major tourist crowds, featuring stone mansions, historic churches like the SS Constantine and Helen Church, and nearby valleys with rock-carved monasterie.  The above four picture...
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Spice Market and Travel Days 3&4

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  DAY 3 Monday April 27 (Madi’s Birthday)  Bosphorus to Ankara This morning we'll step in to the exotic and fragrant Egyptian Spice Market-which opened in 1663.  Afterward, we'll board our big, comfortable bus for the drive to Ankara, Turkey's bustling modern capital city. We had a wonderful man, who was a fifth generation of running the same store in the spice market, give us some tastes and smells of his spice store along with some history of the market.  After the spice market, it was a bus ride to our next stop Ankara, the capitol city of Turkey.  DAY 4 Anatolia and Cappadocia Thu, April 28 2026 After breakfast: we will tour the world-class Anatolian Civilizations Museum,  and marvel at its collection of treasures from Turkey's pre-Roman civilizations.  This museum is also in a building that was part of the old Silk Road.  We'll pay our respects at the monumental Ant Kabir, Atatürk's Mausoleum, where we’ll learn about the revered f...
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