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There is More to Cappadocia Than Hot Air Balloons
Hiking adventures with delightful stray dogs
With sleepy eyes, my boyfriend Craig and I stepped off the night bus after a long journey from the blue pools of Pamukkale to Cappadocia in central Türkiye. We arrived in the small tourist village of Göreme, where we were approached by four huge dogs. It was very intimidating at first, but then we spotted their wagging tails under the dim light – it wasn’t a vicious gang of rabid dogs after all, it was just a group of friendly, gentle giants.
The sky was pitch black and the air cold, but street lamps lit the way to our hotel. The dogs followed us right to the door and one even took a seat on a lounger outside.
An Impromptu Hike In The Dark
Our room wasn’t available until midday so we scrolled on our phones, tried to nap in a chair and then at 5:45 am we said sod it and decided to head out on a sunrise hike.
Cappadocia is famous for the hundreds of hot air balloons that fill the sky at sunrise, so we wanted to put ourselves in a good location to photograph them.
As soon as we stepped outside we were hit by the frigid -1° air so we pulled a U-turn and headed straight back into the hotel to put some more layers on.
