travel journal: Cappadocia

Because of our short amount of time in Cappadocia, we opted for a day long tour through the neighboring villages and sites. It's an amazing part of Turkey, based around dwellings and structures built in caves. Erosion has naturally built one of the most amazing landscapes either of us have ever seen, and with it covered in snow it was almost magical. The tall structures built from rock pillars are called "fairy chimneys", pretty appropriately so, and the insides were as stunning as the outside. Our tour first brought us to Pigeon Valley where we caught our first glimpse of clusters of fairy chimneys. We then moved on to one of the many entrances to the underground city, Mazi Village. We were basically climbing down into the darkness with our only french speaking guide and a couple flashlights, into a structure that went almost 12 floors down. We climbed up and down throughout the city through the narrow chutes, up ladders and little grooves man made in the rock. Just a little example of the layout , it was a lot like what I imagine an ant hill might look like on the inside. We then took a long hike around Sognali Valley, where we looked into many old structures built into above ground caves, including a number of churches. We ended the day in Urgup, a small town, where massive rocks of all shapes surrounded us. It was a phenomenal day to be outside--the pictures don't really do this day justice, but here are the best!

Pigeon Valley..