May 6th – 62 kms, Aksaray May 7th – visiting Ihlara valley and Selime May 8th – 66 kms, Gosterli May 9th to May 12th – Uchisar and visiting Cappadocia First day of the week is as well the first day of Ramadan. We were slightly anxious about it as we were not sure if we would be able to find food during the day. Actually it was not a problem in the big citys, only in small villages some groceries shops, bakeries or restaurants were closed. We could easily adapt ourselves. This first day was tiring with long uphills and strong headwind, however we knew we will be hosted by Fathi’s mother & grandparents at Aksaray, which brought us some motivation. Aksaray is a nice city dominated by the mount Hasan, which make its arrival spectacular. Aksaray is also at the South West border of Cappadocia, well known to be beside the Ihlara valley. We arrived at our hosts end of the afternoon, soon enough to enjoy discussions (one more time in German), refreshments and awaiting the call of the imam for the dinner. Thanks again Fathi for arranging our stay with your lovely family!

Next morning, we dropped our bicycles, took the bus and went hiking through the Ihlara valley. Ihlara valley, also called « the pearl of Cappadocia », is a kind of green canyon, with many troglodytes churches, ending with fairy chimneys and the astonishing Selime cathedral. This 14 kms long valley is quite refreshing, we liked it a lot. The Selime cathedral makes you feel like ants walking through a huge termits mound. Back in Aksaray, we spend the rest of the day relaxing and cooking some börek with Fathima.

Next day, we were back on the saddles. Stormy weather was back as well. We stopped to the caravanserail of Agzikarahan, which was unfortunately closed. We had lunch in between showers, so as we tried to cycle. We slept somewhere close to Gösterli, last camping night before few days of rest in Uchisar.

The rest of the week was enjoying Cappadocia and its local wine among others. We stayed at Uçhisar, village on top of an hill dominating the valleys. Cappadocia is full of funny valleys/castles/churches having cliffs and stones formed by years of tuff erosion. It looks like forms and cavities coming from another world. Cappadocia is as well known for its many subterranean cities, were people could lived during few months when facing raids from enemies. Actually quite impressive, these cities could have several floors below ground level. It is most likely that many of them have not been discovered due to past underground collapses, or being simply hidden from the outside. Uçhisar

Göreme

Swords, Rose and Red valleys by bike

Zemi valley

White, Love and Pigeons valleys

On May 12th, we left Uchisar to Mustafapasa, a city in the south part of Cappadocia with other interesting valleys. As we were looking for a place to camp in the Pacarlik valley – which is not that difficult here – a french man coming from nowhere with his jeep invited us to his ranch, installed in a cave carved in tuff with his wife and boy. Beside a nice cave dinner and being able to speak in french, we could sleep inside a lovely shack they built for their guests. Thanks Nico, Hélène and Pablo for your hospitality! Pacarlik valley

After this week discovering this wonderful region and visiting, we were ready to hit the mountains and the contryside one more time.