Time to stretch my legs – Ihlara Valley Walk.
10k walk. Stopped for apple tea whilst sitting on chair on the river.
Entrance to Ihlara Valley.
Introduction to the valley walk.
Cave houses built by the Cappadocian Greeks.
Cave houses carved into the rock face.
Handmade cave houses.
Modern stone bridge over the River Melendiz.
Fast flowing current in River Melendiz.
Looks along way up to the top of the valley.
Valley flora.
Valley flora.
The valley trail. Mind the gap !
Bark been stripped from tree with markings left possibly caused by animal stripping the bark.
Large cave house entrance.
Entrance to a cave house.
Will and Lorna in front of a cave house entrance.
Must have been intense work and very time consuming to carve these cave houses into the rock by hand.
Beautiful view of the Ihlara Valley.
Stairs within a cave house.
Compact but the walls are fairly straight.
A carabus intricatus or better known to you and I as a ground beetle.
The scenic tea garden.
Tea garden on the River Melendiz.
Here I am – selfie time !
The local residents.
The River Melendiz running through the valley.
Wooden bridge over the River Melendiz.
Wooden bridge over the River Melendiz.
Large cave carved in the rock.
Trail path into the valley.
Underground city of Cappadocia.
Here I go !
Narrow walkways with low ceilings within the underground city structure.
Considering it is all carved by hand, the curves and walls are surprising smooth in their formation.
Stone door.
It’s a well.
Stairs leading further down into the underground city.
The consideration what went into construction of this city including for ventilation.
It’s the graveyard under the city. Hannah is the most recent addition.
Looking into a living room.
Inside the living room.
The greening of the ceiling probably through moisture.
Hills near camp site.
Ballooning over Cappadocia.
What an incredible morning.
Clear blue morning sky breaking so should be ideal for the balloon flight. I’ve already got someone smiling and sticking their tongue out at me.
Just started to fill up the balloon envelope with hot air.
The balloon envelope filling up with hot air.
Balloons readying for lift off.
Hot air balloons getting ready for the ascent.
First balloon up with the burner lighting up against the background of a morning sky.
The hot air balloon burner on.
Lift off.
Steadily climbing up into the morning sky.
Calm conditions as I travel across Cappadocia.
Balloons of all sizes and colours.
Mass ascent of balloons heading into the sky.
Different perspective when you are in one balloon of a group in the sky, compared to watching a group of balloons transversing the sky from the ground.
Balloons as far as the eye can see.
As I get higher I can see the changing landscape.
Panoramic view of Cappadocia from the balloon.
Tranquil and calm.
The balloons beginning to spread out.
Slowly passing over life on the road below.
Rock formations below with small residential dwellings.
Floating across the rocky landscape of Cappadocia.
High above Cappadocia.
Kiki, Lorna and Hannah.
Fantastic views of Cappadocia’s peaks and valleys.
Clear view along the valleys and landscape.
Flying over the Cappadocia mountains.
Here I go, first selfie of the balloon flight.
Hot air balloon pilot’s hand on the burner.
Burner on to increase height.
Hot air balloons floating above Cappadocia.
At this angle it look like a balloon is heading straight for the rock face.
Flying above scenic rock formations.
Fellow travellers just fixated on the view and surroundings.
Handmade carved out caves.
Smiley face still looking at me in the balloon basket from above.
Being in the air gives me another prospective of the rock formations that I have seen from the ground.
Balloons making steady progress across the sky.
Deep valley surrounded by rock formations.
Yep, here I am again posing for a selfie.
Balloons beginning to make their descent.
Just touched down. Aches in places I never knew I had. This photo would make for a great caption competition.
