Our flight to Istanbul was on Indigo airlines. It took off at 3.00 am, stopped in Ras Al Khaimah for refueling before reaching Istanbul at 10.00 am Turkey time.

The fares are great, but if the fare difference is minimal,  I would not suggest flying Indigo. They have domestic class service on this international flight. No TV, no food, flimsy seats, minimal restrooms. But the fare was attractive.

We had a connecting flight at 2.00 pm from Istanbul to Izmir. But we managed to get on an earlier 12 noon flight to Izmir. We landed in Izmir at around 1.15 pm. We picked up the rental car (Toyota Proace) and we were on the road by about 1.45 pm. The car comfortably seated 4 with 5 bags at the back.

We first went to the Izmir Asansor, a tall elevator with a great view of the Aegean sea. it is a historical building in İzmir’s Karataş quarter, within the boundaries of the metropolitan district of Konak. It was built in 1907 as a work of public service by a wealthy Jewish banker and trader of that period.

Anu spotted a nearby bakery with lots of goodies, I spotted a delightful fruit shop. We bought some really sweet mulberries.

When we parked near the Asansor, we followed a car into a parking lot. The boom opened and we went in. While leaving, we realized that it was private parking for the residents of those buildings and the boom would no open without a parking card. We were stuck inside the parking lot waiting for almost 30 mins for a car to go out. We finally talked to a shopkeeper who got hold of a card and let us out. Phew!

From the Asansor, we went to Konak square and the Izmir Clock Tower. Izmir Townhall was in the same square.

We also walked over across the tramline to the Aegean waterfront. There was the skeleton of a ship.

The final destination is Izmir was the Hasir Mosque. We walked around quite a bit looking for it. We had some coffee along the way. Some icecream hot chocolate (icecream + cinnamon)

Finally, Hasir Mosque.

It was a short but nice trip to Izmir. At 6 pm, we started from Izmir. We reached the town of Selcuk at 7.15 pm. We stayed at the Amazon Petit Palace hotel. It was a very small but clean hotel. Given the low season, we were the only residents.

We walked over to Agora Restaurant and had a nice meal. Slept at 9.50 pm ready for the next day.

We ate our breakfast at 8 am and drove to the Ephesus Upper Terrace. We bought our tickets and started the tour of Ephesus on our own. We rented an audio guide.

We saw the following sites: Hercules Gate, Curetes Street, Temple of Hadrian, Hadrian’s Gate, Terrace Houses, Celsus Library, The Great Theater, Church of St. Mary. We also attempted to go to the Ephesus Harbor, but it was closed.

Houses from old Ephesus built on slopes.

We finished seeing Ephesus by 12.30 pm. We drove to the House of Virgin Mary, 6 km up the hill on the same road. It was a really small place. It was raining very hard. Catholic pilgrims visit the house based on the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this stone house by Saint John the Baptist after Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem and she lived here for the remainder of her earthly life. We felt the the 10 Euro fee was not worth it. The site was nice though.

We ate lunch at the cafe at the house – Vegan Burger, Soup, Bread. Pretty good.

We left at 2.30 pm and headed to the Ephesus Museum. We spent about 30 mins there. It was a small but good museum.

We then drove to St. John’s Basilica and Castle. It was raining and we thought the site was no big deal, but we should have spent more time here.  It was constructed by Justinian I in the 6th century. It stands over the believed burial site of John the Baptist. It was modeled after the now lost Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. The basilica is on the slopes of Ayasuluk Hill, right next to the İsa Bey Mosque, just below the fortress near the center of Selçuk.

We drove by Isabey Mosque constructed in 1374-75. The plans for the mosque are based on the Great Mosque of Damascus.

We ended our journey at Temple of Artemis. Also known as the Temple of Diana, it was a Greek temple built in 7th century BC dedicated to an ancient, local form of the goddess Artemis. By 401 AD it had been ruined or destroyed. Only foundations and fragments of the last temple remain at the site. However, the views at the site were amazing. We could also see St. John’s Basilica and Isabey Mosque in the background.

Rashmi wanted a photo under an orange tree. In Turkey, there are plenty of orange trees on the roadside.

We then proceeded to the town of Sirince, a quaint, quiet town near Selcuk. It was a great experience. We walked around, had coffee, chilled out.

We left Selcuk (Ephesus)  at 5.50 pm. We ate dinner at a place on the way – Pide, bread. Since we did not ask for the prices, the lady overcharged us.

Reached Melrose Viewpoint Hotel in Pamukkale at 9.45 pm. It was a simple but clean hotel.

Mon, Mar 6: Pamukkale, Hierapolis

In the morning, we simply walked from our hotel to the travertines. Travertine is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties.  It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot spring or in a limestone cave. There are travertine terraces in Yellowstone as well.

We climbed up the travertines and took our time (almost 1.5 hours) with photos. It looked as if we were on a snow mountain.

It was a truly unique experience.

We then visited the ancient city of Hierapolis which was at the top of travertines. This city was built in the 7th century BC. We visited the Hierapolis castle, Cleopatra pools, the museum and the amphitheater.

We at lunch at Willy Street cafe and then walked back to our hotel. We rested from 3.30 pm to 5 pm and then drove to a town named Karahayit about 8 km away.

Karahayit had a bubbling fountain in the main town square.

From Karahayit, we continued driving up the hill and got beautiful views of the sunset.

When we decided to head back from Karahayit, we heard our driver-left tire hit something and we realized the tire was torn. We could not speak the language. Still, like in India, we talked to a couple of taxi drivers. They immediately came and helped us put the spare tire on. They did not ask for any money. We still gave them 100 lira (about 400 rupees).

We headed back to Melrose Viewpoint Hotel on our spare tire and reached around 8 pm. We ate dinner at White House Cafe and it turned out to be quite good.

We slept at 10.30 pm.

Tue, Mar 7: Denizli, Antalya

We started at 9 am from Pamukkale. The first order of business was to fix the spare tire. We had a 250 km drive to Antalya. We drove to Avis in Denizli (about 20 km away). They had multiple discussions till 11.30 am, but were not able to give us a car exchange. So we decided to return the car in Denizli and take a bus to Antalya.

We booked a 1.45 pm bus from Denizli Otogari to Antalya Otogari (bus terminal). Since we had some time, we ate at a local bus station restaurant. Had rice, lentil soup and Cacik soup. It was quite delicious.

The bus to Antalya came at 2.10 pm instead of  1.45 pm. This ride would have normally taken 3.00 hrs. However, we were stopped thrice on the highway by Jandarma (local police). They checked everyone’s ID.  They were polite but 20-25 mins at each stop.

The ticket was 6 Euros and they served coffee and packed snacks.

We reached Antalya at 6 pm.

We reached the hotel by 7 pm.

The hotel rooms were ornately decorated.

We stayed at  Titanic Mardan Palace, a luxury hotel in Antalya.  It has been called Europe’s and the Mediterranean’s most expensive luxury resort.

We decided to spend some time in the morning checking out the city of Antalya. We took a taxi and reached the Kaleici area.

We were dropped off at Hadrian’s Gate. It is a triumphal arch located in Antalya, Turkey, which was built in the name of the Roman emperor Hadrian, who visited the city in the year 130. It is the only remaining entrance gate in the walls that surround the city and harbor.

We proceeded to Karaalioglu Park with beautiful views of the Gulf of Antalya. We also walked all the way down to the water. We had the option to take a 45 min boat tour, but decided against it.

We then visited the Yivli Minaret Mosque (Fluted Minaret” Mosque), also known as the Alaaddin Mosque or simply Grand Mosque, in Antalya is a historical mosque built in 1230.

In the afternoon, we took the taxi to the airport and picked up our rental car for the trip to Cappadocia. It was a Mercedes Vito, 9 seater van. It was really spacious. All our bags were in the back and we were 6 people seated comfortably in 9 seats.

We continued on to Duden Falls. When we reached there, we were a little skeptical about the size of those falls. But overall they turned out to be quite good.

We headed back to the hotel at 6.45 pm and reached the hotel by 7.15 pm.

We had planned to start at 5.30 am, but it was 5.47 am by the time we started. We decided to drive to Cappadocia (pronounced Kapadokya by the locals). It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Cappadocia, traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history, is characterized by unique cave formations, fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage. It is common to see pictures of balloons in Cappadocia.

We proceeded directly to the Green tour route about 100 km Southwest of Goreme, our final destination. We first visited Selime Monastery. It is the wonderful rock-cut monastery, at the end of Ihlara valley. Selime was home to Hittite, Assyrian, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, Danişment, Seljuk and Ottoman civilizations. One of the most important aspects of Selime fortress-monastery was that many leading clergymen were educated there. The military headquarters of the region was also located there. While the monastery is dated to 8th and 9th centuries, the frescoes in the structure date back to late 10th and early 11th centuries. The depictions include Ascension, Annunciation and Mother Mary.

In the same complex, we saw the Virgin Mary Church.

We also saw the fairy chimneys. This is a common feature in Cappadocia. As Christianity was evolving in its early stages, Cappadocia was an important place where monks lived in these cave monasteries built  inside the fairy chimneys.

We visited Ihlara Valley and did a 1 km trek through the Ihlara Canyon. The Ihlara Valley contains around 50 rock-hewn churches and numerous rock-cut buildings.

It was a 80 km ride from Ihlara Valley trailhead to our Cappadocia Caves hotel in Goreme. Very pretty drive.  It was a nice hotel pretty much in the center of the town.

We arrived at Cappadocia Caves hotel around 7.30 pm. Though the cave rooms sound interesting, there was a musty smell througout our stay. We got used to it, but cave rooms are not as cool as they sound.

We had dinner at Kebap Palace. They charged for the dishes, but the bread, appetizers and tea was complimentary. Turned out to be a great dinner.

We ate a hearty breakfast in the morning and left at 9.30 am. We saw sights that are typically included in the Red Tours towards the North East of Cappadocia.

We first visited the Goreme Open Air Museum. This Unesco World Heritage site is an essential stop on any Cappadocian itinerary. First thought to be a Byzantine monastic settlement that housed some 20 monks, then a pilgrimage site from the 17th century, this splendid cluster of monastic Byzantine artistry with its rock-cut churches, chapels and monasteries is 1km uphill from Göreme’s centre. It took us about 1 hour to see the museum.

We then drove to the Esentepe Panorama. This is just a rest stop next to the road. From here, we could see the valleys of Cappadocia and its splendid rock formations.

From the view point, we proceeded to Pigeon Valley near Uchisar. The valley had lots of pigeons at the trailhead. The valley is named after the thousands of pigeon houses built into the valley’s rock formations. The pigeon droppings were collected and used as a valuable fertilizer for crops. We walked down a little bit and came back. There is also a way to trek about 4 km from Uchisar to Goreme through Pigeon Valley. Uchisar castle was seen in the background.

We then went to Uchisar Castle, definitely the highlight of the day. The castle is built on a hilltop overlooking the town and the surrounding desert landscape and is the highest point in Cappadocia. Many people visit the castle not just for its history but for its panoramic views of the region, which on a clear day, shows Mount Erciyes in the distance.

We went back to Goreme and ate lunch at Cappadoccia Cuisine restaurant. It was quite good.

We drove to Love Valley, a hidden valley that earned its name because of the penis shaped fairy chimney formations that can reach heights of 100 ft (30m). Lot of marriage proposals are made here 🙂

We then switched gears and proceeded to the town of Avanos for a pottery demonstration. We walked around, had some coffee and generally chilled out. It was a neat little town with nice walkways alongside the Red river.

We left Avanos around 6.15 pm. We had a little daylight left. So we also visited Imagination Valley (Devrent Valley). Sometimes called the Devrent Magic Valley, this valley in Cappadocia earned its name from the fairy chimneys that resemble things such as a camel, dolphin, snail, and more.

In fading light, we went to Pasabagi for a view of the fairy chimneys. It was nice, but we had seen such views earlier in the day.

We came back to Goreme around 7.30 pm and proceeded to eat dinner at a Chinese Thai restaurant called Quick China Kappadokya in Goreme. It was a classy place, food was ok. We chilled out till about 9.30 pm and headed back to Cappadocia Caves hotel to go to sleep.

Our hopes of a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia were dashed because for three days (Fri, Sat, Sun) no balloon rides could happen due to windy conditions. So we had to let go the most iconic experiences in Cappadocia.

Therefore, we decided to visit Ankara at least to get a feel for the city. We started at 6.45 am from Goreme. We hit a 140 km/hr expressway and we travel nearly 300 km to Ankar in about 3.25 hours. We reached Ankara by 10.10 am. It was raining that day.

We first went to the most important sight, Anitkabir – Ataturk Mausoleum. Anıtkabir is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the leader of the Turkish War of Independence and the founder and the first President of the Republic of Turkey. It was started in 1944 and finished in 1953. It is a grand monument worth visiting. It has great views of Ankara city.

2023 is also the 100th year for Turkish independence. On that day, there were a lot of people visiting the site, displaying the Turkish flag and singing their national anthem.

Our final destination was the Kocatepe Mosque, the largest mosque in Ankara, Turkey. It was built between 1967 and 1987.  It is a landmark that can be seen from almost anywhere in central Ankara.