La Cappadoce comprend une série de vallées avec de très fascinantes formations de tuf. Chacune de ces vallées offrent des paysages spectaculaires et des réseaux de pistes plus ou moins balisées permettent de les explorer.
Cappadocia includes a series of valleys with very fascinating rock formations. Each of these valleys offer spectacular scenery and more or less marked trail networks which allow you to explore them.
Vallée des Pigeonniers / Pigeon Valley (Güvercinlik Vadisi)Cette vallée va d’Uçhisar à Göreme. À notre arrivée à notre pension, nous avons découvert qu’on y offrait des randonnées guidées gratuites à tous les jours. Nous avons décidé de nous joindre au groupe et avons ainsi fait la connaissance des autres personnes qui demeuraient à la pension: un couple d’allemand et trois couples français. / A valley which goes from Uçhisar to Göreme. When we arrived at our pension, we discovered that they offered free guided hikes every day. We decided to join the group which allowed us to meet other people who were staying at the pension: a German couple and three French couples.
PaşabağlarıL’endroit emblématique de la Cappadoce car c’est là que se rassemblent les plus belles cheminées de fées – cônes de plus de 10m de hauteur couronnés de chapeaux plats ou coiffés de bonnets pointus. A l’intérieur des cheminées, des ermitages furent creusés par des moines au 10e siècle. Nous y sommes retournés au coucher du soleil et l’endroit se paraît de rose et rouge ce qui le rendait encore plus fascinant. / The iconic place of Cappadocia because it is there that you find the most beautiful fairy chimneys – cones over 10m in height crowned with flat caps or wearing pointed hats. Inside the chimneys, hermitages were dug by monks in the 10th century. We returned at sunset, and the place became pink and red which made it even more fascinating.
Vallée de Dervent / Dervent Valley (Devrent Deresi)Cette vallée n’est pas aussi impressionnante que les autres vallées et on n’y fait que passer rapidement. Il y a bien quelques formations rocheuses qui méritent un arrêt. / This valley is not as impressive as the other valleys and we went through it very quickly. There are quite a few rock formations that deserve a stop.
Les vallées vue des airs / The valleys seen from aboveLa balade en ballon commence très tôt le matin. On vient vous chercher à votre hôtel vers 4h45 pour vous amener à leur bureau où ils servent un peu de bouffe et offre le thé et le café. Ensuite, chaque groupe est assigné à un pilote et on vous amène à l’endroit du décollage en jeep pour assister à toutes les étapes de préparation du ballon. Le départ se fait vers 6h20 au moment où le soleil se lève. Certaines sociétés semblent partir avant même le lever du soleil ce qui est un peu dommage car il n’y a pas grand chose à voir. Nous avions obtenu un “surclassement” donc nous avions une plus petite nacelle et l’envolée a duré 1h15 au lieu de 45min. / The balloon ride begins very early in the morning. We were picked-up at your hotel around 4:45am to be taken to their office where they serve some food and offer tea and coffee. Then, each group is assigned to a driver who takes you by jeep to the departure area to witness all of the stages of preparation of the balloon. You take off around 6:20am when the sun rises. Some companies seem to take off even before sunrise which is a shame because there isn’t much you can see then. We got a “upgrade” so we had a smaller basket and the flight lasted 1h15 instead of 45min.Allégés de plusieurs centaines d’euros, nous sommes prêts à partir! / Lighter by a few hundred euros, we are ready to go!
[Auteur/Author: Suzanne & Pierre]
Mjollnir said:
What a fantastic place. Glad you enjoyed it 😀
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks. It was indeed a beautiful area and we truly enjoyed it. We probably could have stayed one more day…
bulldog said:
This is just such a fascinating share… I would love to hear a geologists take on this formation… lovely photos, and the ballon ride must have been spectacular…
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks. Yes, it would be nice to get an expert knowledge on these formations. They were amazing and yes, the balloon ride was wonderful.
Barbara said:
How exciting that must have been. The rock formations are amazing.
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks Barbara. Yes, the formations were amazing. It is a wonderful place to visit; very unique.
Dominique said:
J’ai visité cette région il y a 2 ans et j’ai aussi fait la balade en ballon, c’était superbe !!!
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Merci Dominique. Effectivement, c’est un moment magique que cette balade en ballon au lever du soleil. Que de beaux paysages à admirer.
Photography Journal Blog said:
Wow, that looks like fun, and so beautiful. Are you afraid of heights? I would love to do a balloon ride some day, but do have a fear of heights.
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed this post. You are well protected in the basket but I guess that it would be difficult if you are afraid of heights…
Photography Journal Blog said:
I think I will try it one day anyway…
Ainslie Paton (@AinsliePaton) said:
Wow – love our formations
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks Ainslie. Glad you like this post.
Jacqui said:
These are amazing and you did something on my bucket list – a hot air balloon ride! Absolutely stunningly beautiful
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks Jacqui: This was actually our second time in a hot air balloon. We had done it in Palm Springs on a function organized by Pierre’s company years ago. But this ride was more spectacular.
ourcrossings said:
So many beautiful photos! I am in awe of Cappadocia as it is an otherworldly landscape of unique geological rock formations. It almost feels like you’re in a sci-fi movie. At a young age, I remember coming across a photo of the fairy chimneys and cave houses in Cappadocia Turkey. I was mesmerized and knew that one day I’d end up there exploring the valleys, but haven’t made it to it yet. Definitely one day 🙂 Aiva xx
Suzanne et Pierre said:
Thanks Aiva for your note. I certainly hope you make it to Turkey as it is a wonderful country and Cappadocia is amazing. We are still thinking that this was the best hot air balloon experience we have ever had. Over Luxor was good but Cappadocia was still superior.
ourcrossings said:
🥰🥰🥰