Göreme : in the heart of Cappadocia

The minivan dropped us off at Köse Pansion near the village centre of Göreme. A great hostel, it had a little swimming pool, delicious food, friendly owners and plenty of services.  The outside terrace is great in the evening and in the morning you can rely on Spotty the dog as a self-licenced experienced hiking guide.  Rooms are more than Ok. Spottee loves Rose Valley by the way. It wasn't that busy in Göreme because the high tourist season was over. Göreme is a charming town mainly focussed on tourism and has a great deal to offer: valleys to explore, little villages, beautiful landscapes and Göreme open air museum.

Göreme open air museum gives you a great first impression of the region full of hidden caves, underground churches, monasteries and even cities.  It's like an open air-town built in the rocks that early christian settlers occupied to hide for arabic tribes. A lot of wall paintings show many christian-inspired images and some of them are very clear to be seen even until now.  The museum is very easy to find and reachable on foot from the pension. Just follow the main road, pass 2 cave triangle peaks and some 100m's further on the right hand side. Here I could also admire the astonishing beauty of Cappadocia because I could see some lower valleys,  full of peaks. Wind, draught and sun create erosion and this is the sculptor of a landscape that is constantly changing. In other words; An exciting region to do some hiking in.  I bet there is still a lot to be discovered in this desolate inland part of Turkey. A tip: try to go up somewhere where you have a good view of some valleys near Gorëme or even the village at sunset. The sunlight turns the rocky peaks into brown, red, pink!

Then headed back to the hostel after a walk in the village, had a great meal and heard some familiar turkish music on the radio. Yes it was BabaZula ! Had some great talks with fellow travellers from Belgium, England and Canada. After I looked into the hostel's information book in order to to do some hikes the following day.