A lazy start to the day, so after lunch, we make our way back go the town centre. We stock up at a local A101 store and fill Vin with diesel at a shell service station. The D300 takes us the 230 kilometre drive from Gunpinar to Kayseri. For half the journey the road is fine then other half, the asphalt is awful. Paved with walnut sized rocks that jut a half an inch out of the tar and jolt and rattle every bone in your body. At times, it is so bad Vin reverts to a slow crawl. 

Road before the bone shaking

An arid looking landscape of stony ploughed fields. First miles upon miles of potatoes with farmers selling huge bags at the road side. Then endless fields of melon with a going rate of 3 for £1! Sadly, the last stretch is covered with blowing rubbish and drifting plastic bags.

Late in the day we come to a city spread dramatically at the bottom the steep sides of jagged limestone mount Erciyes. It’s called Kayseri. As in Istanbul, there is an old and new town.  The new town is vibrant, modern with wide roads and shopping complexes. A contrast to the norm of cobbled allies and bazaars.  We park next to a modern residential complex in a parking bay. Bazaar as it may sound but it feels delightful. Stepping out in to clean concrete as opposed to dust and rubble is such a pleasure. Mac n Tosh seemed pleased too when walkies included a sniff of green grass as opposed to snorting dust. 

Our Bumble wild parking spot at Kayseri GPS position N038.741791, E035.539321

Morning arrives and off we set like giddy teenagers. Once we were out of the city of Kayseri, the traffic was sparse and the roads were well paved. As we drew nearer Cappadocia, we began to notice some of the strange rock formations that make the area world famous. Of all bizarre landscapes created by water, wind and time, Cappadocia is among the strangest.

Here, bleak desert mesas plunge into canyons studded with spires like giant mushrooms. Cappadocia lies smack in Turkey’s centre, where distances are great and torturous, the land wide, barren and dry, the mountains bald and scorched.

We made our way over to Soganli located in the south of the region. With open countryside, deep canyons and small country villages. Parking options were limited but we managed to park near to the start of the lower valley walk.  However, it soon became apparent that this part of Cappadocia is not on many people’s radar.  The abandoned dwelling were remote and sadly, in disrepair but the location and setting were rather fetching. Soğanlı’s valleys were first used by the Romans as necropolises and later by the Byzantines for monastic purposes. (click to enlarge photo)

After our walk, we had a cuppa and a bit to eat, whilst we had a read on the area. The formation was pretty interesting stuff…many moons ago, the ash from Mount Erciyes, Hasan and Melendiz volcanoes settled in the valley. Over the years, the ash compacted to form rock. Continued eruptions deposited layers of lava on top, which became basalt. As the basalt was harder than the compacted ash, erosion occurred unequally, sculpting fantastic spires and needles. The Turkish people say that man could not have built them and God was too busy, so they must have been created by fairies hence their name – fairy chimneys.

Soğanlı parking spot

Soğanlı was like a powder village covered in fine, minute dust. Every time a vehicle went passed (mainly tractors) we got covered in dust. It really wasn’t pleasant, so we moved on to our next port of call Mustafapasa. A brilliant little village with excellent parking location, right on top of the village pinnacle!

Our Bumble wild parking spot at Mustafapasa GPS position N038.583119, E034.899114

Not a bad view from up here