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Road To Cappadocia

This one was on my list for a while, and now that destinations are rather restricted I decided to take advantage of the fact that travel to Turkey is relatively easy to arrange.

Obviously flying directly to Cappadocia would be too boring. Getting there on a bike from Antalya sounds like a much more interesting option especially because the road goes though relatively unknown Turkish "lake district".


Antalya to Konya


Antalya surprises me with cycling paths. It's not gonna take long before they're over but it's a nice experience anyway

How many places are there where you're randomly passing something like that? There was even a concert planned that evening. Aspendos amphitheater, first longer stop of the day.

I immediately learned that my tires don't like this terrain. Little bit too many thorns and two flat tires at the same time 😠

That's gonna be the spot for my first night. I was prepared this time - hotels are difficult to come across in this part of the country, but you don't need a hotel when you have a hammock with you

There's even a spot to take a bath, five stars!

I'll be going along this gorge for a long time now


Shepherd's camp was a pleasant place to spend this night in. They even left supplies and a kettle but I promise I didn't take anything!

Okay, today I have the steepest climb of the whole trip. 1300 vertical meters in 35 degrees on a bike with full luggage. That's gonna be fun.

Speaking of fun - patience is what I'm going to need here. It will take a while before this water fills up.

I'm not the only one who's interested in this water, but sorry goats, you0ll have to wait. I have two bottles to fill and many kilometers ahead of me.

Another guest in the queue for water.

This was probably my slowest climb ever but I've done it!

Sun slowly rising in my next camp. I'm waking up early on this trip

In any other place this area would be full of tourists, shops, restaurants. Here I have the lake district only for myself

Laundry is drying quickly in this sun

One of the places I had to visit on my way was Rumi's mausoleum in Konya. You don't know who's Rumi? You should!

Cemetery dedicated exclusively for wives of dervishes is not a common sight

In Turkey you're getting invited for tea all the time. For example when re-supplying in a bike store

I'm gonna sell this pic to Cannondale as promo material for their adventure bikes

Cycling around Konya you need to be careful not to run over a turtle. At least they won't run fast

Bike tea house is obviously not a place I can just pass by without stopping by

Towards Cappadocia

I did mention about invitations for a tea, right? Now imagine you're being invited for a tea at a bus ticket counter 🙂

Having skipped short part on a bus I'm entering Cappadocia

And here it is when it starts to look unusual. Like these beautifully painted cave churches

Just before going to the very center of Cappadocia I'm visiting an underground city consisting of seven floors dug into volcanic rock

We all go there, but I'm not going to ride behind you for a long time.

Here it is. "Pigeon valley" does indeed have a lot of pigeons

... and then you wake up in the morning and see this!

People still do live here!

Views on my hike are rather unusual

My two new fiends drank all my water and they followed me for quite a while

And thanks to the unusual circumstances I had whole place only for myself!

Somehow I always end there stories with a sunset, so here it is, last sunset before going home



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Location: Göreme, 50180 Göreme/Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir, Turkey

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