There aren't many flights out of here and the cheapest one to Bucharest leaves at 6AM. There are shuttle busses that run from Goreme (where I am now) to Keyseri Airport and they leave here 2.5 hours before the flight so I'll be on one at 3:30 IN THE MORNING!
But I've seen a lot of Capadocia. Yesterday Mo, Duria, Juan & I rented a car and saw three very cool things. First was the biggest of the carved out structures which is a huge pinacle that had been carved out for dwellings for the past couple of thousand years. Walking to and from it was some of the steepest and slipperiest terrain I've ever seen. Yet lots of people were doing it. Most impressive was a young Russian woman with leather soled sandals carrying a banana.
Next we went to a 1900 year old underground city. Supposedly there are 5000 rooms all connected underground. It's very impressive and included a 150 meter tall ventilation shaft, kitchens, bathrooms, etc. I think early Christians hid there from the Romans or something. The tour guide claimed that on of the carvings is one of the earliest Christian crosses known (picture here).
Finally we drove another hour to the Ihlara Valley and hike along the bottom of it for a couple of hours before Mo & Duria caught their bus home to the south of Turkey. There's a carved out church in the valley with incredibly vivid 9th - 11th century frescoes (picture).
The thing I someday will probably regret not doing is taking a balloon ride. Apparently this is one of the best places in the world to do that. I wasn't thrilled about getting in one of those things and besides you have to get up at 3:00 in the morning. Like I'd ever do that!
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