Cappadocia — Land of the Fairy Chimneys

–Authored by Ida Shea

Our excursion into Central Turkey started with an early morning flight from Istanbul to Kayseri and then a bus ride of about an hour into the Cappadocia region.  One thing that I think was quite a surprise as we arrived in Cappadocia was that the rain we had dealt with in Istanbul turned into snow.  As Wisconsin MBAs, we’re pretty hearty, but no one really had packed for cold weather.  So after a couple moments to bundle up into coats and gloves, we made our first stop at a pottery center.  We were given a tour showcasing how traditional Turkish pottery is made and decorated; additionally, Todd (a second year student in the Center for Corporate Finance and Investment Banking who was celebrating his birthday) got to try out making his own pot on the wheel.  After the tour, we had the opportunity to acquire our own pottery and many students boarded the bus a bit lighter in the pocket and with their own Turkish pottery.

Next stop: Turkish carpets!  We entered the building and got to watch women who were participants in a carpet-making cooperative program weave various types of rugs.  The cooperative works to teach women carpet making and then sets up graduates of the school so they are able to make carpets from home which are then sold to the cooperative, providing the members with a steady wage.  According to our guide, this was an initiative to cut down on labor abuse for the weavers.  After getting to see how carpets are made, we were then shown how silk was made and dyed.  We were then led to a room where the real show began!  While the guide explained nuances of various carpets, employees of the showroom unrolled carpet after carpet.  The floor of the room quickly filled with beautiful rugs with an incredible range of colors and patterns.  Other employees were bringing around an assortment of local wines and teas for people to try as they watched the show, or in the case of a few of us, looked for the perfect carpet.    Eventually, we returned to the bus, accompanied by several new rugs, and, for the non-shoppers of the group, the chance to finally eat lunch!

Though it would seem like we had already completed a full day of flying and shopping, after lunch we headed off to our first historical stop in Cappadocia: the Open Air Museum at Göreme.  Arriving at Göreme was like arriving on an alien planet – a little snowy, with crazy rock formations and little caves everywhere.  Göreme is a complex of cave churches dating from the 9th century, many of which still have incredible frescoes on the walls.  We had a chance to wander around Göreme for about an hour before it closed for the evening and then we headed to the Gamirasu Cave Hotel, which would be our accommodations for the two days.  As we headed to the hotel, it started to snow and by the time we reached the hotel, there were several inches of snow on the ground.  Now, at a typical hotel, you would just pull up to the lobby awning and the snow wouldn’t be any issue.  At the Gamirasu, getting to the hotel involved a trek down an exceptionally slick, steep hill.  However, braving the hill was definitely worth it as the hotel is one of the most beautiful and unique places I’ve ever stayed, with an amazingly friendly staff, plus wonderful food.

After dinner at the hotel, we headed back out into the storm to go to a Turkish folk dance and culture show.  The show was a very enjoyable mix of local dances and ended with several belly dance performances.  After the show, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed spending time in the hotel lobby relaxing with an Efes (a Turkish pilsner) or two and then retiring to our cave hotel rooms after a very long day.

The next morning involved another whirlwind tour of the area.  First stop was at the fairy chimneys.  The fairy chimneys are natural rock formations caused by volcanic eruptions followed by centuries of erosion of the rock surrounding the volcanic basalt.  After several stops for photo ops, including an overlook of the cave town of Ürgüp, we had an opportunity to go into a cave house ourselves.  The house that we toured has a resident cat (very exciting for some of our animal loving travel companions), but was no longer being lived in full time.  We were given a tour by the owner, whose parents had lived in the house and who had been born there, and got to see a little bit about what life in a cave must have been like.  The cave house was far roomier than I would have expected and also much warmer than the snowy landscape outside.

Our final stop for the day was at the underground city of Derinkuyu.  The area of Cappadocia has many underground cities that served as refuges for local villagers from raiders.  Cappadocia has historically been a target for armies moving through Central Turkey.  Local residents would not live underground year round, but would spend up to a couple months at a time in the underground cities as raiders and armies moved through the area.  It is clear that the danger these raiders posed was great, because the underground city was far from comfortable.  The tunnels were tightly cramped for those of us in the group that are of average height and the tallest men in the group had a hard time fitting in the tunnels.

After a long day of sightseeing, we headed back to the hotel.  Some people napped while others went on an excursion to the Turkish baths (an adventure worthy of its own blog post – see below) and then another wonderful dinner at the hotel followed by a relaxing evening as we prepared for yet another early morning flight from Kayseri to Izmir.

Cappadocia was an exceptionally beautiful place that I know that I at least hope to see again, though perhaps at a time with slightly less snow!