Kapadokya

Capaddocia is more than just a location for hot-air ballons. It’s more than just fairy chimneys. It’s more than just cave hotels. July is probably the best time to visit Capaddocia - the clear skies and long days is perfect for photographing the grand landscapes at every directions. I want to share the journey getting there and doing the entire trip in one day (one day is never enough, please don’t be me and just stay a couple of days).

Getting there: I stayed in the mystical city of Konya which I thought was a great idea. So I took a flight from Istanbul to Konya (1 hour odd journey) and reached Konya at 9pm (was supposed to reach at 7pm but Turkish Airlines). I reached my hotel at around 10pm and hadn’t had dinner so I grabbed some random pasta arrabiata from the hotel. By the time I slept it was already midnight, I had to wake up at 3am, there was a car that was picking me up and bringing me to the bus station for my 4am bus. It was a 4.5 hours bus journey - I slept most of it. I remember waking to the most beautiful of scenery, acres of untouched land, I could see hilly formations. Also that regions follows a desert-like climate, it was 14 degrees in the morning which peaked at 35 degrees in the afternoon. At around 8am I reached Goreme, which is the main city people stays when touring the area. I was secretly hoping to see some hot-air balloons but there wasn’t a single one in sight. I had booked a 12 hour tour that would be bringing me around the area. This place is almost like a real-life Narnia, Kapadokya means ‘The land of horses’ which is why there were many horse-rides around and random camels here and there.

I think I really lucked out on the clear blue skies, not a single cloud to spoil the image (bring along a VND filter because it’s the only way you are going to enjoy those gradients in the sky. So much history in this place - the region is known for it’s wine - there were vineyards spread across as far as the eyes can see. There’s also the Red River which is the only river that starts and ends in Turkey and the clay from the river is used for its centuries old pottery making. I was with a guide and he was passionately sharing about the history and culture and i was busy photographing - I didn’t want to miss out on any. He did ask me if I was a famous youtuber or something (Not yet was my answer!). The tour ended at around 7pm and I grabbed a quick Pide before taking my 8pm bus back to Konya. At that stage, I was knackered and sweaty but my heart was full, I did want to photograph more and thought the clear skies would provide nice shots for astrophotography but I didn’t plan so much ahead did I? Overall, a truly magical place - I hope to be back some day. I even made a cool friend and we are both connected over Whatsapp and Instagram. His name is Eren and he’s a FPV Drone Pilot - so so so cool man (A drone is my 2022 Christmas wishlist for myself).

If you ask me what’s my favorite photo of the trip - its the lone sunflower that stood out in an entire bed of sunflowers. It reminded me of someone but also an analogy for anyone - ‘Whenever you feel sad or down, remember just like that solo sunflower, you are a blessing to everyone around you’.