Magical Mesopotamia

Landing in Kayseri, Turkey early in the morning, our driver took us through the uninteresting countryside for around an hour, before the fairytale-like chimney rocks entering Cappadocia poked up around us. It was wild to see the complete contrast in landscapes, and we very much saw what the fuss was all about. In the back of our minds, we had wondered if Cappadocia would be an over-hyped tourist trap swarming with instagram influencers, but while there were plenty of them around, there were also a lot of genuinely hospitable locals, and plenty to explore outside of the hot air balloons and cave hotels.

We were based in the central town of Goreme, with a terrace overlooking the rocky terrain. It was a great place to make the most of our 5 days in the area, and we had plenty of time to enjoy the surrounding villages and attractions.

Celebrating our engagement and Jelley’s job offer, we decided to splurge a little and book a sunrise hot air balloon ride for the next morning. It was a truly magical experience, and worth every cent and the very early wakeup call at 4:30am. From the warmth of the fire lighting up the balloons around us, lanterns in the dark, to the weightlessness of being airborne by the power of gas, it is hard to describe floating through the sky in moments of silence, surrounded by hundreds of other balloons.

Our pilot was extremely skilled, as he dipped down into the valleys, gliding close to the fairy chimneys, and pointed out the areas we were planning to explore on land in the coming days. This was such a special experience to share together and a morning we will remember forever.

After an exciting morning of balloon flying, we walked up to the Goreme Open Air Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its remarkably intact Christian churches, monasteries and chapels built into the caves, mostly during the Byzantine period. The Christian population were largely persecuted throughout Turkey’s varied history, and while some images had been defaced as different religious groups held power over the region in various periods, it was surprising to see how many artworks were still in a preserved state. It was worthwhile doing the audio tour to learn more about the area, and the winding tunnels and caves were ‘simply remarkable’ (to be said in the posh British accent from our audio guide).

Although getting closer to the start of the peak tourist season for Turkey, we were apparently still 2 weeks shy of tourists flocking to the area, and we enjoyed the relative quietness of the town of Goreme. There is definitely a strong market for the instagram influencer, and there were a lot of billboards around town advertising ‘proposal packages’ and elaborate gown hire - nothing like a bit of people-watching to make you laugh while enjoying sunrise or sunset.

A highlight of our time in Cappadocia was hiking on a loop through Love Valley and White / Pigeon Valleys. Spring was the perfect climate for this hike, as we were surrounded by lush green grass and beautiful fields of spring flowers, which contrasted with the blinding white rocks. There was such a variety of shapes in the rock formations, especially in Love Valley, with the locals referring to the tall ones as fairy chimneys, and the locals identifying them as looking more similar to another, less ‘PG’, object.

Love Valley transitioned into White Valley, where we felt as if we were on the surface of the moon! Climbing out to the main highway, we saw the famous Uchisar Castle on the hillside, and continued walking on the now very hot day to find food and shelter. We were stoked to find a family-run, delicious restaurant with million-dollar views amongst the more expensive resorts and day spas, and enjoyed the place to ourselves and an excellent meal. The route back to Goreme took us through the lovely Pigeon Valley, it was a perfect loop hike and we’re so glad to have done it. Surprisingly, we met very few people on this day except one adorable little Turkish girl who came sprinting down the hill to give us some flowers that she picked especially for us. She didn’t speak any English (nor did we speak Turkish), but we could tell she was delighted to see tourists walking through her town again.

We spent the next few days getting up at sunrise, checking out different perspectives of the hundreds of balloons filling the sky, and it was such a unique spectacle, each sunrise being different from the previous and looked like something out of a fairy-tale. Our balloon pilot told us that the winds of Cappadoccia are unlike anywhere in the world as there provide perfect “thermals” of warm air which help give pilots the precise acceleration they need to fly (and dodge the hundred other balloons around). It was indeed a magical display that we will never forget.

With time on our hands, rather than take a pre-arranged tour, we went on a public transport mission to get to one of the nearby Underground Cities. Several buses and a couple of new Slovenian friends later, we arrived at Kaymakli. An advanced series of over 100 tunnels connects 8 floors of underground caves built by Christians to hide in during invasions of the region. It was incredible to have our guide, Mustafa, showing us around the maze. In his 80s now, he was one of the first guides in the area, and grew up as a child playing in and exploring the tunnels, not knowing their significance at the time.

With just 4 levels open to the public, the lower 4 too unstable for the regular foot traffic, we were shown through the top, larger floors with rooms for the wealthier families (who drank 20 Litres of wine and 5 Litres of water per week!) all the way down through middle class, lower class, and the immigrant class (mostly Sudanese and Somalians) who lived in the smallest quarters. Although it is an underground ‘city’, they did not live here full time, usually once every 20 years during invasions, but sometimes for weeks or months at a time. It was extremely sophisticated architecture, the first floors thought to be built in 8th century B.C., and expanded by future generations as and when needed. At its peak, Kaymakli housed 5000 people, had 10,000 communication holes drilled in the walls, 100,000 ventilation holes and huge 1,500kg stones blocking the 20 entrance doors. From the outside, you would have no idea this masterpiece existed below ground!

We were almost grateful for a thunderstorm day in Cappadocia to catch up on a lot of life admin, chill, and get ready for the final stage of our time in Turkey. We were joining an Intrepid tour which would take us further East across Turkey to Mount Nemrut (near impossible to get to on your own), and then flying across the country to Istanbul to complete our time (for now!). The rest of the tour group (bar one) had been travelling around Turkey for 2 weeks already (we were coincidentally in Kas on the same day - them on boat and us on kayak but we had no idea)! They had covered a lot of ground and were also a little fatigued by the time we all met up, but we were happy to meet such an interesting, fun group of travellers to spend the next 5 days with. We also had an INCREDIBLE guide Aynur who was leading us, whose humour, energy and knowledge really enhanced our experience.

Mount Nemrut is a challenging place to get to, and we knew there was a lot of driving ahead. Across vast landscapes, we travelled along parts of the historic Silk Road to our first destination, Darende. Known for its apricots, Darende was a conservative town with a gorgeous canyon and huge mosque as its centrepiece. It had a completely different, more local vibe to it than places we had visited in Turkey to date, and we enjoyed going through the local markets and trying new delicacies.

This area we were exploring was part of Mesopotomia, the geography that hosts the beginnings of the human civilization (aka the oldest place in the world!). Mesopotamia is the region now known as Turkey, Syria, Iran and Kuwait, and whilst always in conflict, is home to an incredible labyrinth of history, and stunning scenic sites from the oldest rock and valley formations. New discoveries of ancient sites and buried villages are being found constantly in the region, often just by farmers seeing an odd rock in their paddocks, before archaeologists swoop in and unearth the mystery - every place we stopped was fascinating. We especially enjoyed the company of our group, who were super varied and interesting travellers from around the world - Ireland, Mexico, Australia, USA, Sweden, Singapore and Brazil.

Continuing our journey East, we were going to spend the night with a local homestay family, and our stay coincided with Eid - the end of Ramadan and several days of feasting. The family’s home was in a village closeby to the city of Adiyaman, and their main source of income was from farming. The family were so welcoming and friendly, with the daughter taking a particular interest in Jelley with her long braided hair. Luke & some of the boys helped the sons hose off the tractor, and with a trailer on the back, we all hopped onboard for a tour of the neighbourhood. For a couple of our group who were from large cities like Singapore, this was a real novelty, and it was so lovely to see the surrounding area by sunset. As we approached the local village, we were treated like celebrities with children waving and running to jump on the trailer with us. A couple of families celebrating Eid insisted we come to their house to drink their fresh warm goats milk, and although we couldn’t communicate verbally, we had a wonderful time sharing their home with them.

After returning to our homestay for a huge feast together with the family, we separated into our separate male & female rooms with mattresses on the floor and pillows stitched together by the mother of the house. It was a really sweet experience, especially as it was the first time our guide Aynur had reconnected with the family since 2019 and covid shut down their tours in the region. She had a real connection with the kids in particular, and couldn’t believe how much they had grown. While we were on the farm, we arranged a call with a potential landlord about an apartment in Birmingham - it was a strange experience from the middle of nowhere, but luckily it was successful and we had found a place to call home for the next 3 months of our journey. It was a huge weight off our shoulders, and meant we could finally relax knowing we now had the essential arrangements in place before heading even further offgrid.

The next day, we reentered Adiyaman, and with the end of Ramadan and the Eid celebrations underway, there were chaotic scenes where we stopped for lunch, as locals who had just broken fast after 30 days queued and shouted while waiting for food at one of the few restaurants open in the city.

Most moments of this part of our trip were super local, and experiences we wouldn’t be able to have travelling on our own. One such moment was visiting a Syrian Orthodox church from 1701, and being hosted by a refugee from the neighbouring war-torn country. It was really interesting to experience this different community, and learn first-hand about how many are starting to build new lives in neighbouring Turkey, a country that, while secular, doesn’t necessarily encourage Christianity. Another highlight in this region was a local dessert shop which opened especially for us - through a unique connection where Aynur, a national volleyball referee, contacted her friend Mustafa, an international FIFA referee, who lives in the region when not travelling for work and helps his family business. The desserts were a local delicacy, similar to a churro and deep fried in a vat, then covered in lemon juice. Absolutely delicious! It was an honour to meet Mustafa and hear his story, from how he taught himself English from speaking with tourists on the street as a child, to becoming an international referee for beach soccer and football.

Along the many stops on this journey, we felt like celebrities at many times, due to the long gap in tourism, not only from covid but also partly from safety concerns in recent years. We interacted with the local government’s Tourism Minister, and took many photos with locals wanting to pose with us.

After several days through mountainous terrain and special local moments, we were nearly at Mt Nemrut, our main destination. Mount Nemrut is one of Turkey’s tallest mountains at 2,134 metres and at the summit lies a number of 9 metre tall stone statues which were erected around the 1st Century B.C. (so prettty old). The site is a UNESCO World Heritage site and was only discovered in 1940! It’s still a bit of a mystery to archeologists, but many believe it to be an ancient mausoleum for Antiochus I who reigned over the ancient Kingdom of Commagene (an ancient Greco-Iranian kingdom lasting from 163 B.C. - 72 A.D.).

We drove up to the summit carpark just before sunset and were met with hoards of other sunset seekers also keen to catch a glimpse of the majestic site. We began our short steady climb up to the summit and arrived at the first mausoleum and stood in awe of the enormity of the disembodied stone heads which stood before us. The statues coststed of various animals like lions, eagles, and composite Greek/Iranian gods such as Heracles, Zues, and Apollo. Many of the stones were now partially damaged due to so many centuries of wars, but it was remarkable to see such ancient architecture atop of huge mountain. Like, how the heck did they get those things up there?!

As we circulated around the summit of the mountain to make our way down, an ominous storm cloud steadily approached us in the distance. We hurriedly made it to the second mausoleum on the other side of the mountain, but as soon as we arrived it started bucketing down with rain. We started making our way down the mountain in the pouring rain (maybe the god of rain hadn’t answered our prayers). We were relieved to make it back to the carpark soaked where our shuttle van was waiting for us, but we were then met with a huge traffic jam as everyone was now trying to leave at once. Luke put on a rain dance for the van in hopes that the rain god might answer his prayers, and sure enough, after an hour of waiting in traffic, the storm cleared and left two rainbows over the mountain and a clear blue sky. It was super crazy timing with the sunset and freak thunderstorm right when we submitted, but a fun experience nonetheless!

A super early start took us back near Adiyaman for a flight over to Istanbul, our final destination in Turkey. Since we had first arrived in Turkey, much of the world seemed to have taken a different view of covid, and it was strange to be at an airport and on a plane where masks were no longer required.

We knew Istanbul would be a crazy experience, considering the very remote local places we had spent our time in Turkey to date, but we still weren’t prepared for Istanbul on the last day of Eid. With the locals on the last day of their biggest holiday of the year, it was insane on the packed streets and very overwhelming. We only had 2 days in the city, and tried to maximise time by going into Sultanahmet square and ticking off some major sights, but we were out of luck, it was impossible to move, let alone see anything.

It was the final night of our Intrepid tour with the group, and we braved the crowds to head over the river to the area Taksim and try various street foods. The tramlines stopped operating due to the people filling the streets, and we’re still not sure how we made it over to Taksim without losing each other. The food in Istanbul, especially as we were now in Europe rather than Asia, was very different from the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian foods we had been eating. We loved the baklava (but not the pistachio one), really enjoyed the mussels with rice, and thought the ‘wet burgers’ would be perfect after a big night out. We decided we still don’t like Turkish coffee and don’t think that will ever change. It was gorgeous to see the sunset as we walked back over the bridge, and we loved spending this final night with the group we had gotten to know well over the past 4 days.

We had one final full day in Turkey on our own, while the tour w

as over, there was still plenty to explore, and it was like we were in a completely different country when we hit the streets for the day - finally business as usual with both Ramadan and Eid finished for another year.

We took an audio tour through Topkapi Palace, and extravagant collection showcasing the lifestyle of the Ottoman Empire reign. It truly was a different period of time from modern day Turkey, and interesting to see the elaborate lifestyles these leaders lived.

Hagia Sofia was another must-see in Sultanahmet Square, and we snuck in just before it closed for its daily prayer. Originally built as a Christian church, and converted to a mosque during the Ottoman Empire, this building holds a huge amount of importance to the country and was even more impressive on the inside than the outside. While Ataturk, the founding father of Turkey in the 1920s, declared the country a secular state and handed Hagia Sofia over as a UNESCO World Heritage site and museum, the current President has since reversed this status and restored the building to be a mosque, a controversial decision, depending on who you speak to.

We found a really local place for lunch tucked amongst the tourist pizza traps, and enjoyed some of our favourite Turkish foods again from our trip one last time.

The big morning called for a quick siesta before moving hotels, and heading back out again early evening. We wanted to check out the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market, but it wasn’t a very enjoyable experience being amongst such insane unmasked crowds in indoor spaces at this stage of the pandemic.

We spent our final sunset at Suleymaniye Mosque and a nearby rooftop bar - there were stunning views across the city and we walked with the locals along the waterfront to reflect on our time in Turkey. We had planned another 7-10 days to explore more of Istanbul, and head down the peninsular to Gallipoli, Troy and other iconic spots, but Turkey will always be here again in the future and the job offer couldn’t wait another week, so it was time to say farewell for now, and head onto the next chapter of our journey.

Turkey was filled with surprises, we saw such a huge range of landscapes, learnt more history than a Lonely Planet book could fill us with, ate incredible food every day, but the thing that sticks with us the most is the hospitality of the Turkish people. We had an exceptional time here, and would highly recommend to anyone considering travelling to this diverse country in the future.

We’re now halfway through our 3 months calling Birmingham UK home, on the final countdown now towards the Commonwealth Games, and have started planning the next stage of our adventures - Albania in August with one of our best friends joining us from Down Under.

Until then,

- A Kiwi and A Cali