Red and pink valleys of Cappadocia. Description and map of hiking routes through the valleys of Cappadocia. Where is the entrance to the valley

Cappadocia: Aktepe Hill and Rose Valley April 2nd, 2015

On the second day our plan was very simple. We intended to walk along the foot of Mount Aktepe - mainly to walk along that tempting path that I did not have enough strength for a year ago. To enter the valley they wanted to use either the descent we already knew, or the gentler one that we saw yesterday at sunset from the opposite wall of the canyon. It turned out differently, however. Much better..)) And the taxi driver was to blame for this. Because we already knew that we would get tired of hobbling around on our own until the descent, so we decided to take a taxi. We couldn’t figure out how to describe the specific landing site, and so we simply said that we were going to the Red Valley. The taxi set off in the right direction and very soon brought us where we wanted. Only it didn't stop there. In response to our desire to get out there, the taxi driver - without even slowing down much - objected with great aplom that he knew where the entrance to the Red Valley was and would take us exactly there. The snake hung up a little here, because his wonderful plan was crumbling before our eyes (after all, we were moving away from him with every second), but I was very pleased. After all, we've already taken that route, right? So why not see what fate is now offering us (in the person of this mustachioed taxi driver))? I cleverly distracted the Serpent’s attention so that he wouldn’t even think of bringing us back, and a few minutes later we arrived at the official entrance. It turned out that this is the same site where we were last night, that is, the sunset point on Aktepe Hill, where citizens are brought to watch the sunset. Having checked with the taxi driver that there was a descent there, we climbed out vehicle. He also offered to come and pick us up from there in a couple of hours, but we rejected his kind offer, since we were planning to return to Goreme on foot. Having said goodbye, we stomped down into the pinkish stones:

Actually, several paths branched off from the site, but the Serpent immediately confidently walked along the one that led down. After all, that was exactly the Plan, wasn’t it?)))


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At the crossroads there was a signpost:

Like “If you go to the left, you’ll lose your horse...” :) Judging by it, one would think that there were as many as three villages named Chavushin in the area, but we decided that this was unlikely. Obviously, there is only one village, but you can get to it by different paths. And you probably thought that all roads lead to Rome? Ha, but no. To Cavusin! :))

At first the path was quite flat:

But then it got cooler:

And then it completely turned into a ladder:

It became clear why they charge two liras for entry to the site: yes, at least for the same stairs...
As we descended, pinkish rocks surrounded us on all sides:

So I wanted to stare in all directions at the same time..))


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But finally the stairs ended and a relatively flat section began again:

That didn’t stop him from showing us all sorts of interesting things. For example, holes in rocks:

And the color is something indescribable! Especially when shades of pink are also joined by shades of yellow:

Actually, I don’t know exactly where this very Pink Valley begins (maybe it’s not it yet, especially since we haven’t gone down to the bottom of the gorge yet), but whatever one may say, for the surrounding area this name is just right appropriate, right? It’s not often you see so many pink stones around you..))

We walked along the main path, but occasionally small paths branched off from it. One even featured an iron staircase:

I really wanted to take her out for a walk, but, of course, there was no time for everything. So I just quickly climbed it and looked at what was next. Further there the iron staircase ended and the stone staircase began again:

Next time I’ll definitely climb there!)) And far ahead the next level appeared, that is, the canyon to the bottom of which we planned to go down:

The gardens and vineyards spread out in front of him with their greenery pleasantly set off the pink and yellow rocks:


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There were also wild greens:

Look, is this juniper or what?:

I wonder if if you pick some berries and add them to vodka, will you get gin?))))

And there were a couple more birds:

Wonderful creations of Mother Nature,
especially when he gets too excited.
You can't grasp it with your mind.

A. Baricco “Sea-Ocean”

Cappadocia was probably the #1 place we wanted to visit in Turkey. Those who were here will understand why, those who were not, read on.

We set off towards the Turkish miracle from Ankara by bus from the ASTI bus station. The ticket cost 35 lire, the ride was four hours. The journey took place in two stages: a large bus took us to the bus station in Nevshihire, where we boarded a small minibus and proceeded to the village of Goreme, which we chose as the starting point for visiting the Cappadocian valleys. Some tourists stay in Nevsehir and other towns, but the majority prefer to stay in Goreme, because the location of this village is much more convenient for hiking without the use of additional transport.

Let me tell you right away that we had a lot of time, so we walked everywhere, only hitching rides a couple of times.

IN Goreme, after a short search, we checked into Atak Hotel. We asked for the simplest and cheapest room, which, accordingly, turned out to be the smallest. A day's stay cost 40 liras. The hostess was very surprised that we were staying for a whole week; apparently a rare animal stays here longer than two or three days.

In the end, we ended up with five full-fledged walks through the valleys, although it seems that we could have spent a month leisurely wandering through these unique places and exploring every inch.

I won’t write much about Cappadocia, I’ll limit myself to a minimum of impressions and practical information, because this is the place that you need to see with your own eyes, this is the place where you need to come and go, go, go, looking around. So I recommend, I wish, no, I strongly advise everyone to visit there :-)

  • Day 1, Cappadocia: Meskendir valley, Red and Rose valleys, Cavusin city
  • Day 2, Cappadocia: Pasabag, Zelve and Dervent valleys, Urgup city
  • Day 3, Cappadocia: Pigeon Valley, Uchisar city and Valley of Love
  • Day 4, Cappadocia: Görkünder, Zemi valleys and failure in the Balkan valley
  • Day 5, Cappadocia: Goreme Open Air Museum

General scheme of Cappadocia

Goreme

Cappadocia: Meskendir Valley, Red and Rose Valleys, Cavusin city

We decided to start the first day by spying on the main tourist attraction of Cappadocia - flying balloons. Subsequently, I got the impression that watching them from the outside was much more interesting than being on board. Cost of a hot air balloon flight: about 200 euros per person for one hour. The basket fits about 15-20 people.

Having met the dawn, we went for a walk along the intended route, namely along the valleys located east of Goreme. Today we were waiting for the Meskendir Valley, Red and Rose Valleys.

The first one on our way was Meskendir Valley(Meskendir Vadisi). She pleased us with an unimaginable landscape of volcanic origin.

It is difficult to get lost here: the well-trodden path, diagrams and signs will not allow this.

Along the way there are cafes where you can drink tea, coffee or orange juice. The prices there, it should be noted, are tourist prices.

Once upon a time, people lived in these valleys, and they lived there right up to the beginning of the twentieth century; later, some dwellings were converted into dovecotes.

From the Meskendir valley we smoothly move into the next one, Red Valley(Kızılçukur Vadisi). Here other colors begin to predominate, as you might guess from the name, reddish. Here you can admire real gnome houses))

From here, from above, a panorama of the surrounding spaces opens up. In this place we met the most tourists, because there is an observation deck nearby, where they are brought on huge buses.

From Krasnaya we head to Rose Valley, which has two spurs: Güllüdere I and Güllüdere II. Everything around becomes a softer pastel color.

Along the way there are many churches carved into caves; in some of them you can see preserved frescoes. All of them are amazing in size and complexity of shapes; I can’t even believe that they were all created by people.

From the height there is a magnificent view of the city.

In addition, in Çavuşin you can see the famous Cappadocian “stone pillars” peribajalari. In English they are called fairy chimneys, which translates as “fairy fireplaces”. Popularly known as “mushrooms”))

Updated 04/27/2017

Hello everyone and welcome to the pages of the blog “Easy to climb”!

I continue my story about independent. The next few articles will be devoted to the most interesting region where I spent three whole days - Cappadocia. I guarantee you that here you will completely forget that you are now in Turkey and on planet Earth in general. Cappadocia looks like another planet.

Love hiking and unusual natural landscapes? Then welcome!

Besides beautiful photos and descriptions of the area, I will try to give more information and technical points for those who plan to visit Cappadocia on one's own. If you did not find the information you are interested in on the blog, then ask clarifying questions in the comments. I will be happy to answer them.

Why in Cappadocia Is this what travelers strive for? Just type the name of the area into any search engine and look at the photos.

With its unusual landscape Cappadocia owes to volcanoes, winds and rains. The mountains here don’t look like mountains... rather, they are bizarre sculptures in which animals, mushrooms and other objects, including indecent ones, can be guessed :). Some travelers describe the landscapes as “lunar”.

Special chic in Cappadocia It is believed to meet the dawn in a basket hot air balloon, rising up.

An amazing sight, isn't it?
This photo is not mine:). From the Internet.

When planning a trip to Turkey, I couldn’t make a decision for a long time... How many days should I “give” to Istanbul, and how many to Cappadocia? As a result, I gave preference to Cappadocia - two days for and three days for Cappadocia.

How to get to Cappadocia?

Cappadocia can be reached by plane and bus. If you want to save time and money, and you are not afraid of long journeys by bus, then at any bus station you buy a ticket for an intercity bus and take a night flight to the city Goreme, which is the center of Cappadocia. The center is very conditional, since there are several other cities where a traveler can also stay. However, for your first visit to Cappadocia, Goreme fits perfectly.

I will write about Turkish buses, since I had the good fortune to try this method of transportation :). The main disadvantage of traveling by bus is the inability to book a ticket online. I love surprises, but not when I'm in a foreign country. That is why I traveled to Cappadocia by air.

Air service to the quaint area is quite stable. There are two airports: Nevsehir and Kayseri. As you can see, Nevsehir is much closer to Goreme than Kayseri.

What surprised me was the fact that an overnight bus ride from Istanbul to Cappadocia costs almost the same as a flight.

In one of the articles I already said that flights are very cheap. For example, I randomly poked it into Skyscanner on May 27th. The flight from Istanbul to Kayseri costs about 1,054 rubles. Funny money.

The flight Istanbul - Nevsehir costs twice as much (crazy money), as much as 2004 rubles :). I think that in this case the issue is with the carrier. Pegasus flies to Kayseri and Turkish Airlines flies to Nevsehir.

The flight from Istanbul to Kayseri lasts 1 hour 20 minutes. At the airport I was already met by an uncle with a sign with my last name written on it. I have always dreamed of such a privilege :).

I ordered a transfer to the hotel in advance, while still at home. I just emailed the hotel, clarified the cost of the transfer and confirmed the order. You will be taken from Kayseri airport to your hotel for 25 liras (500-650 rubles depending on the rate). Travel time - 1 hour. Of course, you could drive to the bus station in Kayseri, wait for an intercity bus to Nevsehir or Goreme, and then drive for who knows how long to your destination. In this case, the savings were completely unjustified.

Kayseri greeted me warmly and sunny. After the windy and rainy Istanbul, this weather was just right!

The jacket immediately went into the suitcase, followed by the jacket.

While I was waiting for all the tourists who had ordered a transfer to Goreme, I looked around a little. An unknown mountain was visible on the horizon. If I understood everything correctly, this is the former Edjiars volcano. Perhaps he was responsible for the formation of a specific landscape.

Despite the fact that I didn’t get enough sleep, it was simply impossible to doze off on the way. The route was surrounded on both sides by unusual “hills”. The driver helpfully slowed down near each such attraction, in unison with the enthusiastic sighs of my fellow travelers :).

The hotel itself and its owner require special attention and a separate article, so I will deliberately not clutter the post with a description of the hotel in Goreme. Let me just say that the owner of the hotel turned out to be MEGA hospitable. Not only did he take me to the bus station and helped us buy a ticket to Pamukkale, also showed us an excellent observation deck and arranged a short walking tour to the Rose Valley (also free).

While me and other tourists were being checked into the hotel, I kept trying to see Goreme through the window.

Photo from the hotel terrace. The weather is gorgeous!

In addition to ordinary houses, the city also has buildings made of tuff. This is volcanic rock in which houses are “hollowed out”. Tuff is easy to process.

From the observation deck Goreme is clearly visible.

And on the other side of the observation deck lies a valley with bizarre natural sculptures.

For some reason, Yandex maps show the intricacies of the streets of Goreme in more detail than Google.

No. 1 is an observation deck with a nice view of Goreme.
No. 2 - observation deck at the Small Valley of Love (5 minutes walk from No. 1).

By the way, on this trip the application helped me out again. Universal cards show hotels, cafes, observation decks and even hiking trails in the mountains. Just don’t forget to download them to your smartphone in advance.

At 15.00 Jay (the hotel owner) scheduled the start of the excursion to the Pink and Red Valley and I had very little time left for lunch.

While I was wandering around the city center in search of a decent eatery, I got the impression that Goreme was just getting ready for the influx of tourists. Some cafes look abandoned, while others, on the contrary, are actively renovating and tidying up.
My first lunch in the city looked like this.

I ordered Chorba soup, salad and tea. Lunch cost me 14 liras (soup - 5 liras, salad - 6 liras and tea - 3 liras). I won’t say that I was stunned by the unknown taste, but it turned out quite tolerable and satisfying.
Besides the fact that Goreme looked a little abandoned, the city was very dusty. This is understandable; there are practically no trees in the area. But the wind cheerfully sows whitish tuff dust.

The second floor of the cafe looks like a junk shop :). What is there?

As I said above, the hotel owner organized a free excursion for the new guests. Besides me, a group of Chinese students checked into the hotel. The guys are so nimble and noisy that I involuntarily compared them to puppies on a walk :). The young people from China turned out to be very sociable; they asked me everything and did not forget to tell me about themselves. In between, the guys even learned a couple of words in Russian... well, they really asked me :).

Walk around Goreme.


Our team was driven in a jeep-like car to the point where the route starts. But first, the driver expertly stopped at the gorgeous view. For the story, we posed a little and jumped in front of the photo lens, pretending that we were “happy!” It seems that capturing yourself jumping in front of a landmark is a favorite Chinese pastime.

Actually, we then went there on foot.

Surprisingly, in these places you can enter the ancient church...11th century. Even the frescoes are partially visible.

Do you see a crocodile in the photo?

The rocks around are soft pink. Hence the name of the valley.

How long or how short did it take us to arrive at an ancient dwelling, the entrance to which is quite extreme.

Our whole group climbed the steep slope to look into the ancient halls.

I don’t know for what purpose deep niches were hollowed out in the wall. I hope that this was a “sideboard” for storing utensils, and not an ancient crypt.

And some more interior decoration.

We continue on our way. We pass through the rock. Our guide jokes that someday this giant will collapse. The main thing is that this does not happen now.

And then a surprise awaited us. There will be no turning back. You have to climb up, holding on to the rope. I weakly tried to protest in English that I was an old, sick woman, but they cheerfully pushed me in the back and said that I was well preserved.

But what gorgeous views open up from above.

There is a lot about Goreme within walking distance interesting places With beautiful scenery. Today we will go to the Rose Valley, it takes about forty minutes to walk to it at a brave pace.
We did not go along the road, but through the rocks and vegetable gardens, here and there the remains of former “apartments” cut into the rock were visible:

In Cappadocia, the way of life has not changed for centuries, so in some places you can find hay harvesting:

Gostly village:

I'm going downstairs. Like the smart one, I took off my jacket, because even though it was January, it was hot and I was carrying everything with me. It was scary to climb the gullies with this luggage and it was not convenient:

As was the case with our walk through the Valley of Love, here local dogs again followed us. This time it's a romantic couple:

Turkish male posing with Russian girl:

There are much more rock cones here:

And almost every one has a “door” cut into it:

Village:

Microdistrict:

Dense urban development:

Office building:

Townhouses:

This is beauty, like frozen lava flows. Find me for one thing in this photo:

A springboard between two rocks to jump your car into the abyss:

Here in the neighborhood there are vegetable gardens at almost every high rock:

Sometimes you get the feeling that the inhabitants only a couple of hours ago fled from the plantations underground, leaving behind their sickly scrubs. Here are the goats in the garden. By the way, the apples and grapes are still not harvested, as in the previous valley, the Valley of Love:

A rock with a face that has made its lips into a tube and whistles:

Inside each rock there are “apartments” that you can freely enter:

And have a lot of time climbing inside. By the way, it is quite difficult to crawl on local stone devices in order to climb vertically up. You have to be a rock climber or Roman Kholodov:

Now who will appear from that high window?

Oops... Aborigine:

Says hello to Russia and steps down:

We walk along the path upward:

There is a hut in the background. I always wondered why local stonecutters and monks cut rectangular entrances and made rectangular caves inside the rock:

After all, if they were heated by fire, then there would be a lot of smoke inside such a hut:

Tatiana:

At the very top of the mountain lay an old refrigerator. We sat down on it, rested and fed the dogs. Dogs even eat muesli, by the way.
Ilya:

Was from the hill beautiful view to the Rose Valley. Why Pink? But the devil knows, probably romantic local I named it this way because of the color of these rocks at sunset:

Again the prayer spread over many kilometers:

And the dogs and I began to descend:

Down there, the gorge went deep into the forest, hiding behind steep cliffs- the end of the Blue Valley was visible:

That’s where we’re heading, we just need to get down:

The descent was so steep that I sometimes slipped in my sneakers like on skis:

So we went down pretty quickly:

Ilya and Roman, like two Russian security guards, began to invade another stone dwelling:

Which in its entirety looked like a mansion:

Ahead is the Blue Valley. I don’t remember exactly, but it’s better to be Pink:

Valleys of Meskendir, Red, Pink, Swords located near the foot of the hill, which rises above, and which is visible from many points, which serves as a good landmark.

We read about the origin of the Cappadocia landscape in

This route covers Meskendir Valley, Red, Pink, Swords, those. nearby valleys , which are located at the foot of Aktepe.

Valleys of Meskendir, Red, Pink, Swords on the map

Meskendir, Red and Rose valleys on the map of Cappadocia (clickable map)

Designations on the map:

  1. Museum under open air Goreme
  2. Ainala Church
  3. Kaya Camping
  4. Descent to the Meskendir Valley
  5. Meskendir Church
  6. Red Valley
  7. Vineyard Church
  8. Aktepe
  9. Dirikli Church
  10. Rose Valley
  11. Khachli Church
  12. Church of St. Thomas
  13. Agenothangelios Church
  14. Cavusin
  15. Valley of Swords

How to get to the Meskendir, Red, Rozovaya, Mechi valleys on your own from Goreme

The Meskendir, Red, Pink, and Swords valleys are located in the vicinity. Getting to the Meskendir, Red, Pink, and Swords valleys from Goreme is very easy on foot. The road to the valleys starts from the turn to Goreme open air museum (1). Next, walk past the Flintstone guesthouse towards the Goreme Open Air Museum. Along the way there will be a valley of swords on the left. Further along the highway, rising higher and higher, you will reach the descent into the Meskendir Valley.

Sights and photos of the Meskendir, Red, Pink, Mechei valleys

In addition to stunning multi-colored landscapes, bizarre weathered forms in the Meskendir, Red, Pink, Swords valleys have been preserved rock churches. You can start your tour from the Valley of Swords, and make a circle, passing through the Red and Rozovaya valleys, and exit through the Meskendir Valley. You can do the same thing in reverse direction. Below we will consider the option if you are starting

Aynalı Church

Meskendir Valley (4)

Next you need to return to the highway and move forward to Kaya Camping (3). Behind it on the left there will be a descent with a sign “ Meskendir vadisi 4400 m” Well, actually, you get down and go. The only thing I’ll add is that the first part of the journey is better to go along the top of the gorge, and not go down to its bottom. A stream flows there. It can be very dirty, and during the “watery” period it will simply be impossible to get through, because... it turns into a small river. In addition, the churches are located at the top.

Meskendir Church (5)

Red Valley (KIZILÇUKUR)

The road along the Meskendir valley leads to a spur called Red Valley(6), according to the dominant colors here.

Üzümlü Church

Üzümlü Church, i.e. Grape, or St. Nikitas (7). The church has one apse. At the rear of the nave there is a niche with tombs. The name "St. Nikitas" was named after the stylite Nikitas who once lived here. And Vinogradnaya - according to the painting on the ceiling from the Bolba period with iconography. The church arose in the 8th century. There are also frescoes that are familiar to us. Similar frescoes can be seen in,

Then you can climb to the very top along the path up the hill Aktepe(8), or as this place is also called Sunset point. It’s very good to watch the sunset here, because of the valleys A everything in full view. And you can clearly see the play of light on the unreal-colored rocks. But even without sunset the view is very beautiful.

Rose Valley (GÜLLÜDERE)

If you go down from Aktepe again, but keep to the right, you can go out into one of the spurs Rose Valley (10).

At the very beginning, on the border with the Red Valley is Derikli Church(9). The church is quite large. It's dark inside, so a flashlight won't hurt. Some rooms are connected by tunnels. Some of them can only be squatted. No frescoes have survived inside.

There are several other churches in Rose Valley: Ayvalı Kilise , Sütunlu Kilise , Annayua

Rose Valley Photos

From Derikli you can go to the spur, which is to the left (there is another church there). In the spur to the right there are 3 more churches: Church Haçli (Khachli). (eleven)

Church of St. Thomas(12), which, in my opinion, is always closed with an iron door and Agenothangelio Churchs, in which frescoes have been preserved (13)

Valley of Swords (Kiliçlar)

Further along the spur we return to the continuation of the road from Meskendir. And here you are at a crossroads. If you have the strength, then you can go to Cavusin (14). If you don’t have the strength, then through the Valley of Swords Kiliçlar (15) you return home. This is the valley that is on the left as you walked towards the Goreme Museum. There are wild churches there, on some the frescoes are barely visible.

Cappadocian Sphinx

As a result, you find yourself back on the road leading to the Goreme Museum.

Places that can be combined with the Meskendir, Red, Pink, Swords valleys

See also in the guide:

Hiking through the valleys of Meskendir, Red, Pink, swords is good to combine with others interesting places – ,

A visit to the Meskendir, Red, Pink, and Swords valleys is not included in the standard packages. But this route is easy to do on your own. The nearest hotels and guesthouses are in Goreme and Cavusin.

 

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