Cappadocia 2: moon landing

It seems like more than a day has past because Allie and I have been doing nonstop activities after our balloon ride early this morning. We joined up with a small tour this afternoon to see more of the sites.

We first saw Derinkuyu, an underground city that at its maximum housed 10,000 people seeking refuge from different warring or conquering groups sweeping through Turkey (Persians, Greeks). Allie and I laughed as I constantly stooped through the tiny tunnels and she, at barely 5', had to stoop approximately once.

We next saw a monastery, Selime, carved into the side of a mountain. It also gave us some great views of the landscape (which FYI inspired George Lucas' tatooine, though it was not filmed here). We could also see the 15 million year old volcano that spawned the bizarre rock formations.

Selime monastery

In the afternoon, we went for a hike through Ilhara Valley, a deep canyon with caves, especially cave churches, cut into both sides. We stopped along a few other valleys for more moonscape views on our way back to Goreme.