Cappadocia Day 1- The Green Line Tour

Thursday, July 31


















 {the Chinese tourists begged us to strike this pose. they made sure we knew, it means "love", haha}
















There is so much to see and do in Cappadocia! And that might be the understatement of the year, my friends:) In a place that looks so incredibly foreign to our eyes, every turn is a thrill that will have you in stitches at how "amazing" it looks {I literally KILLED the word amazing with how often I used it, hehe}

All that to say, i'm hoping to give you an overview of the things we did, so that if you ever do go in the future {GO GO GO!!!} then this will be of some help to you:) On the very first morning of our first day in Cappadocia, we woke up at 5am to take a hot air balloon ride. You can see the epic pictures and read about the experience here

After we got back from riding in a hot air balloon, we took a nap for two hours, and then had a lovely breakfast on our terrace before setting out to take a "tour" of the surrounding area! Now, if you do any research you'll notice that Cappadocia has different color-line tours. There's the red tour, blue tour, and green tour! After doing a bit of research, we decided to go with the green tour. {However, I will say you just can't go wrong with the tours! Every place is pretty epic!} 

First stop on the green tour was the incredible Selime monastery built entirely out of the side of a giant rock face! It was like a cave-monastery, with different rooms {like the kitchen, the church, etc} that monks occupied for many generations. It even included a whole cathedral inside a cave! wow! 

Next up, we took a hike through the Illara Valley. It was a lovely stroll past huge ascending rock formations, an ancient little monastery with the frescos still in tact, and my favorite peaceful "snack" bar situated along the river! 

When we finished our hike, we headed for Pigeon Valley, which was one of the most spectacular sites! The entire valley had "pigeon houses" intricately carved out of the side of the cliffs. Pigeon droppings were used as fertilizers for the farmers, so they encouraged the pigeons to roost in this area! 

Lastly, we saw the underground city of Derinkuyu. We descended by foot hundreds of feet underground to a city that, at it's hey day, could hold up to 20,000! Insane. People fled underground when a neighboring tribe came to attack them! Very smart! However, I was pretty claustrophobic, so that was probably my least favorite, hehe!! 

The day ended with a  panoramic view of the town of Goreme, where we stayed in a Cave Hotel! I would highly recommend the Green Line Tour! 

As a side note, I had to have gum surgery today! Please pray for my recovery, as i've been in a lot of pain and am a bit swollen:) Thank you so much,