Fairy Chimneys
We awoke at 6 am to witness a remarkable site. Around twenty hot air balloons were floating in the sky above the surreal landscape beneath. Flight conditions are especially favourable here and ballooning is a popular way to see the extraordinary landscape of gorges and cones. We met up with our guide and drove off road in the valleys to see the troglodyte dwellings and peribacalar (fairy chimneys). These structures can reach heights of up to 40 metres, have conical shapes and are topped by caps of hard rock resting on pillars of softer rock. The local villagers call them kalelar ( castles). The geological explanation is that erosion wiped out the lava covering the tuff (consolidated volcanic ash)leaving behind the isolated pinnacles.
The Dutch and the Belgians
It is quite amazing how many Dutch and Belgian cars you see here. It’s holiday season so you see lots of Germans, French, Italians and Dutch but Dutch/Belgian cars are everywhere due to the fact that so many Turks who reside in Holland and Belgium are also home to see their families during the holidays. We entered a little shop in Goreme and we didn’t have to try to speak Turkish as the friendly owner had lived in Belgium for 37 years! Of course, the kids got free ice-creams.
Testi-kebap
We ate lunch in a local restaurant and tried the Testi kebap (pottery kebap with meat or mushrooms and vegetables cooked in a sealed terracotta pot which is broken theatrically at the table). After the kids made mud pies on the camping (there was no mud before we got there!) and had a swim and relaxing time around the pool.
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