Sunrise
As a consolation for not having a hot air balloon ride, a few of us decided to wake up for sunset and take some photos of the sunrise in Cappadocia. We got up early and hung out at the top of our hotel terrace to wait for the sun to come up. The light started to appear and we started taking photos. It got a bit chilly and some of us retreated back to our rooms to catch a few more hours of sleep before our day’s activities.
Morning walk/hike
In the morning, we started off with breakfast in our hotel courtyard again. We then set off to the cliffs of Cappadocia to do a bit of a “hike” through the region. It was a bright shiny morning and we had some great views of the valleys below us. It was a beautiful walk through this unique landscape and we stopped multiple times to take photos.
Despite the disappointment of the hot air balloons we were all in good spirits because we were enjoying our natural surroundings. It was a few good hours before we met up again with our bus at the end of the trail.
Turkish Bath
From the hike, the plan was to visit a Turkish bath and relax after getting all dusty and sweaty. I’d never done a Turkish bath before and was both eager and anxious for this experience. Obviously, no photos are allowed inside, but I’ll do my best to describe everything that happened. I had paid for the “full treatment” plus a 30 minute olive oil massage.
Sauna
After paying I was led into a change room where I stored my clothes and belongings and given slippers and a towel to wrap around me. From there I walked up some stairs and into a large room with a hot tub and a sauna. I was told to sit in the sauna for 15 minutes to work up a good sweat.
Scrub
After the 15 minutes, the attendant came to get me and lead me into another large room with a large marble slab in the middle on the slab were a few mats which I was told to get on. The attendant proceeded to pour buckets of water on me to rinse off the swear. He then started using a scrub to start scrubbing away at my body. ( to remove loose skin) He did the back, got me to turn around and did the front. I then had to sit up where he did my face and arms. I was surprised to see the amount of skin it was taking off. At first I thought it was parts of the scrubber, but soon realized it was my skin.
Bubble Massage
After the scrub, was another round of rinsing before I was to lie down again. At this point the attendant grabbed what looked like a pillow case, dipped it in some soapy water and waved it over me, creating this bubble blanket on my body. From there they proceeded with a “bubble massage” which was pretty cool! Rinse and repeat on the other side. After the bubble massage I was told to shower and head to the hot tub. I was told to do the hot tub for 10 minutes and then head back downstairs to the change room.
Olive Oil Massage
My masseuse led me into one of the rooms and proceeded to give me an olive oil massage. While I wasn’t super keen on the oil, the massage was pleasant and welcome. After that I had a few moments to relax before changing back into my regular clothes ending the Turkish bath experience. All in all it was very unique but I’m not sure if I loved it.
Fat Boys
Because not everyone did the bath we all had a time we would meet back at fat boys which was in the centre of Goreme . After waiting for Gimpy we headed there and had lunch with a few friends before hopping aboard the bus back to our hotel.
We had the option to go horseback riding through the valley, but Gimpy and I decided to relax back in our hotel and try for some sunset photos near the end of the afternoon.
Traditional Dance Dinner
In the evening, we opted to go to a dinner and dance demonstration in a cave restaurant. It was a small group of us, but we had a great time. We shared a multi-course meal and watched the dances representative of the different regions of Turkey. At different points in the performance some of us got pulled up to dance, so we all had a good time.
After dinner we all returned to our hotel knowing we would leave Cappadocia without one of the big items on our to do list checked: Hot air ballooning. We were all bummed about it, and a few of us started talking about flying back after the tour. And try and take one last stab at it. Here’s hoping it works!