We decided to continue our journey. Balta’nın Yeri (Saklı Vadi), which is located near Mustafapaşa district (its old Greek name is Sinassos), waited for us. As we continued our journey with a car, it didn’t take long for us to realize why this place is called hidden valley.
We left Karaman in direction to Kilbasan on an asphalted country road leading to Karapinar. At Dinek we turned to the left, just after passing the massive 2.288 metres high former volcano Karadag, again on a metalled but smaller road, in direction to Madensehir just 30 kilometres to the north of Karaman.
We are on the road from Karaman to Eregli on country road 350 as we turn to the right to direction Taşkale, a lovely nice little village in picturesque valley which belongs to Karaman about 40 kilometres away from the city.
First of all, we stopped by Avanos, which is Cappadocia’s handicrafts and pottery center, for lunch. This is an underground rock restaurant. Although when I looked from the outside I did not like it, dining hall of the restaurant was authentic and attractive. The residences that carved by damp-proof white rock are common in this region.
Kayseri (first name was Mazaka, later name was Caesarea) ist he capital city of the region of the same name in Cappadocia in Turkey of about 500.000 inhabitants. Kayseri is one of the very few capitals of Turkey
which number of inhabitants is not increasing rapidly during the last years.
On a Tuesday morning in the hot September season of Alanya, we took off to witness a few days of the internationally participated (Pal Takats, world champion in acrobatics, Mads Sydergaard, editor of Cross Country magazine, Olivier Laugero, world renown xcmag.com photographer, Fredegar Tommek, Fabrice Sibille) great sports event of paragliding shows in its first leg at Karaman.
Esenboğa International Airport (IATA: ESB, ICAO: LTAC) Turkish: Ankara Esenboğa Havalimanı, is an airport in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It has been operating since 1955. The name of the airport comes from the village of Esenboğa, which literally means "healthy bull".
Being a small town of Turkey, Ürgüp has a population of 15.912, located on east side of Nevşehir, which is large province of the region, with a distance of 20 km and has an easy transportation path thanks to highway no 767.
We saw very interesting wine house in the centre of Ürgüp whose garden wall was entwisted with many wine bottles. Entry of the house was also attractive.
Our second night was also very comfortable and it was breezy enough to let us sleep. Then at the early hours of the day, we departed for the next valley.
If you keep going through the alleyway after passing the Karakuş facilities through the Mustafapaşa Road at the west of Ürgüp, after a while you can reach Üzengi Stream which runs in parallel to the valley and where the water level isn’t so high. The valley also has an entrance from the direction of Ortahisar.
Really wonderful landscapes when passing through the Taurus Mountains
During the main season or on a Turkish public holiday, when all the resorts are bursting at the seams, the lakes of Beysehir, Egridir and Burdur,lying just behind the mountain range, offer quietness and relaxation.
Pessinus is an ancient town in Phrygia (Asia Minor). Today it is called Ballihisar and is situated about 13 kilometres from Sivrihisar. It is said that this was the birthplace of the Kybele ritual. In the centre of the holy area was a black meteorite which was taken to Rome in 205/4 B.C.
Sivrihisar (Spalya, or Justianopolis as it was called by the Romans) is an Anatolian town on the main road from Eskisehir to Ankara. Near to the mountain you will find the ruins ofan old Armenian church (Kizil Kule) and some old Armenian houses.
The bizarre Avanos Hair Museum: a small cave containing hair samples, names and addresses of more than 16,000 women from all around the world. It was founded by Chez Galip, a talented potter from Avanos, a town famous for its pottery.
The caves, rock houses and grand stone formations inTurkey's Cappadocia region draw tourists from around the world. Nestled among these natural wonders, however, lies a village where the earth is believed to deliver death rather than rewards.
UNESCO-World Cultural and Natural Heritage Cappadocia is located at the centre of a region which used to have intense volcanic activity and it added a lot of value to the lay of the region. While Anatolia basically consists of big lakes and tropical swamps, it can be seen that animals, plants and carnivores dating to very old times were dominant in the region.
About 250 kilometres south of Ankara there is another important town whose history goes far back into the past: Konya. After leaving Ankara the road to Konya follows the edge of a huge salt lake past the steppes of the Anatolian highlands.The name Konya is the Turkish version of Ikonion.
You will find the Tinaztepe Cavern next to the road leading to Konya from Antalya about 22 kilometres before you reach the town Seydisehir. The road leading to the parking of the caveis next to a petrol station, about 150 metres away from the main road.
Nevşehir, the gate to Cappadocia, is a traffic key point and since a short time a market and administration centre, that was founded in 1954. The name derives from the Persian Nau (translated intoTurkish as Nev) for New and Schahr (translated into Turkish as Şehir) for City and means New City.