August 22, 2025
I was up early today to check out the balloons taking off from our hotel. The view was OK but the angle from hotel did not let me see them all lighting up on the ground, only once they were airborne. I stayed watching them until the sun came up over the mountains and then headed back to the room to do some life admin and blog posts. Everyone else woke up slowly and we headed to another massive Turkish breakfast spread before our 9AM tour departure.
We met our guide, Tugay, and driver outside the hotel, right on time! Our first stop was the Kaymakli Underground City with the hopes of being the first to enter. The tour involved going through the city, 37 meters underground. The full city actually goes down as far as 110 meters. The 37 meters, and tight spaces, was enough for Kayleen to consider passing on this tour but she decided to go for it. Luckily, we were the only ones there when we arrived, a crowd would have likely changed her mind.
As we started the tour a bus full of tourists showed up about 5 minutes behind us... Tugay kept us moving quickly so we kept our distance and stayed in front of them. The caves were wild and amazingly impressive considering the tools used to make them thousands of years ago. They were not made to live in full time but as a place to hide, sometimes for months, from armies that arrived at the city on the surface. They were equipped with places for animals, churches, areas to store food, areas to make wine, and sleeping sections for families. Not to mention long thin shafts that went from the surface to the water running under the city, 110 meters down. This provided air and access to fresh water. Of course, the boys asked about the bathroom and Tugay told us they went in pots and then removed it to the surface when possible. Lastly, we saw giant wheel like stones that would be rolled to close the entrances and passages in the caves. Some would trap groups of incoming soldiers…
After a few of the 50-meter-long tunnels that Lenny could barely stand and walk through Ollie too began to tell us he felt a bit nervous so far underground. At this point we were already starting the ascent back to the surface so there was no turning around. We all walked quickly and quietly following Tugay and arrived back at the hot surface only missing the caves nature air conditioning.
Next stop was a pottery workshop that the boys had been asking about since the moment Tugay mentioned we would stop at one today. I think he moved it up on the agenda so they would be happy/stop asking him. Our expectations were high after Morocco and sadly impossible to beat. The facility and show rooms were impressive, all inside a surface level cave. At first the person walking us through the workshop seemed genuine but then it only took a little time to feel more like a rehearsed talk with a bad sales angle. We did get to see Kapadokya’s uniquely shaped decanter (Hittite sun jug) used for serving wine while being worn on your arm like a ring. Even more impressive was watching a master potter make one on a manual kick wheel in less than 10 minutes!
The boys where excited to mess with the clay on the wheel but their legs were too short to work the kick wheel. Ollie tried and we all told him not to as he could get hurt. All the adults telling him not to at once sent him into a tailspin and he totally freaked out. Kayleen worked on calming him down while I went on the wheel to try and coax Lenny to have a turn. I tried kicking it but couldn’t get it going as fast as was ideal so the master potter took over that job and I just played with the clay. Lenny was ready to go next and hopped on the wheel with a face of delight. Kayleen was able to calm Ollie down, he said he was embarrassed to be yelled at by so many people at once, and he too took a turn on the wheel.
We headed to the showroom where the sales pitch was turned up and a discount was offered before we even looked around. I did want to buy one of the beautiful decanters but for a thousand USD just couldn’t do it. We ended with two small hot air balloons that will serve as Christmas tree ornaments.
After that we stopped at a variety of places including Devrent Valley (also known as Imaginary Valley), Göreme Open Air Museum, Nevşehir Zelve-Paşabağları Archaeological Site "Priests Valley", a gem/jewelry store, a viewpoint, and a Turkish snack shop to sample and buy different snacks. The gem/jewelry store we could have passed on as it was really just a giant jewelry store showroom with a man who we could barely understand following us around too closely. I was hoping it would be more for the kids to see and touch different rocks and gems as something to capture Lenny’s interest. It was very hot outside and the historical stuff combined with the sun meant the kids had no interest in that either. Fortunately, we did end on the snack shop which kept all our interest and had air conditioning!
We returned back to the hotel and headed straight for the room for some showers and quiet time. After some peace Kayleen and I decided we had enough of the outside world for the day and room service was best. I headed to the restaurant to grab a menu and two negronis. The boys were thrilled for some family Netflix and room service and I got to try Testi Kebab (Pottery Kebab).
We watched a show on Netflix call The Final Draft as we ate. It’s a Japanese show where former professional athletes compete in a variety of mostly physical tasks to win 30 million JPY, roughly 250K USD. The English voiceovers felt odd and made us laugh, but we got used to it. The show and evening was enjoyed by all. Our last night in the family cave room and Lenny’s fear of collapse seems to have dramatically decreased.
