My second and final day in the Cappadocia region started with breakfast at my cave hotel Dedeli Konak(Dedeli Konak Cave Hotel) in Urgup. Watermelon, local apricots, Turkish figs, golden rausins, Turkish orange slices, and Turkish olives comprised my morning meal. I love the local fruits and olives..plus very vegan-friendly and nutritious!

The tour bus had arrived for today’s touring! Our morning agenda started with a visit to the Red Valley. Fruit trees and grapevines are abundant in this peaceful region. Purple and white flower patches appear along the walking trails, while colorful butterflies can be randomly seen hovering above.

We reach the area where pidgeon caves abound! These sky high rock formations have ‘pidgeon holes’ carved into them, that attract multitudes of pidgeons. The sole purpose of these pidegeon caves was to gather the birds for their droppings, which were to be used as fertilizer.

Our group continued to hike through this massive valley, walking through cavelike passageways.

We stumbled upon a vendor selling various nuts and dried fruits. Figs, dried chickpeas and other snacks popular in Turkey were available for purchase.

After a couple of miles, we had exited the Red Valley and had entered Rose Valley.

The Rose Valley also is aesthetically captivating and home to a couple of rock cut churches. I enjoyed climbing up the rock to the inside of one of these Orthodox Christian churches in a cave! What a rush this was, looking out from the opening from inside of the rock formation at this high elevation!

We completed our hiking tour of the two valleys after a three or four mile jaunt. The tour bus then took us to Cavusin Village. The village lies between Avanos and Goreme in the Cappadocia region.

Cavusin is where Orthodox Christian families and clergy lived to protect themselves from invading enemy groups. St. John The Baptist church is at the top of the hill. It was built in the 5th century and contains many frescos of Christian biblical figures.

Our tour group was given some free time to explore these cave dwellings. I wandered into several of them. The rock interiors were carved into nooks of various sizes to create sleeping quarters, dining areas, and storage spaces.

For our lunch time meal, we headed to Asmali Konak Restaurant(Asmali Konak Restaurant). As always, my tour guide conveyed to the waitstaff that I am vegan. My lunch was a tomato and orzo soup and a veggie stew of green peas, carrots, and potatoes in a tomato broth, with a side of rice. It was quite good.

After lunch, we arrived at the underground rock city of Kaymakli. The cave houses in the underground city were built to protect its residents from enemy invaders. The residents had other homes in the area, but lived in the underground houses when hiding for protection from their enemies. The underground city contains one hundred tunnels. Nine levels exist, but only four levels are open to tourists today. The underground city contains a church, storage spaces, kitchens, sleeping areas, and a winery. The tunnels connecting each level are very narrow and very low ceiling space. Giant round stone wheels were pressed against the tunnel exits so that enemies would not be able to enter. It is one of the largest underground cities in the region.

The final room we entered in the underground city was known to be the winery. Spaces carved into the rock were used for storing the wine containers.

What an exciting experience to have visited the underground cave city!

We drove past the natural castles at Orthahisar, similar to the ones we had seen the prior day at Uchisar, on our way back to our cave hotel.

The wife of one of the staff from my cave hotel(Dedeli Konak Cave Hotel Restaurant), was kind enough to prepare another scrumptious dinner for me, before my departure on the overnight bus to Pamukkale.

Lentil soup with crusty bread and olive oil was the first course.

A wonderfully tasty mix of greens, mushrooms, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini was my entrée. The homestyle cooking was incredibly delicious!

For dessert, a refreshing watermelon and plum hit the spot!

I was transported to the bus station for my connecting bus. A ten hour drive was in store on the overnight bus to Pamukkale. It was comfortable and air conditioned and provided some tv and music service, as well as wifi. After a couple of bathroom breaks, the bus pulled into a rest area that included a convenience store. I purchased a dark chocolate bar with pistachios. A local teenager who spoke good English read the ingredients and assured me that it was vegan. This yummy snack satisfied my hunger during the lengthy evening journey

I reclined back in my comfy seat, while my thoughts were looking forward to the following day’s adventure in the Pamukkale region!