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TURKEY Cappadocia


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The climate and landscape in Cappadocia make it one of the best places for ballooning anywhere in the world


“I restored a cave house” CASE STUDY


The strange moonscape is volcanic, which allowed past communities to carve and build homes in the soft rock formations. Huge underground cities, such as Derinkuyu, were built too – the largest only uncovered in 1965


He has years of experience, having fl own all over the world, including in the Jordanian desert and the North Pole. Ali is a writer but helps out at Butterfl y Balloons when she can. The couple met in 1995 while


working on the Virgin Global Balloon Challenge – Mike was production manager for Per Lindstrand and Ali worked for Richard Branson. They then ran their own hot air balloon company in Shropshire, before coming to Cappadocia when Mike accepted a piloting job with a local balloon company. When they fi rst moved to Cappadocia, Alfi e was just 18 months old and they rented a home, returning to the UK during the winter months when everything closed down. Being a keen meteorologist, Mike


explains that the climatic conditions in Cappadocia, even in winter, make it perfect to fl y most days of the year and, coupled with the incredible landscape, make it one of the best places in the world to fl y.


Cappadocia Artists and photographers have been


visiting Cappadocia, which forms the central part of the Anatolia province, for some time, drawn by the spectacular landscape. The name Cappadocia dates back


to Persian times meaning “Land of Beautiful Horses” and today wild horses still roam on the plains. The strange moonscape is volcanic, which allowed past communities to carve and build homes in the soft rock formations. Huge underground cities, such as Derinkuyu, were built too – the largest only uncovered in 1965. Göreme lies in the heart of Cappadocia – a secret gem set amid rock cones and pinnacles of volcanic tuff known as “fairy chimneys”, framed by rose coloured cliffs and white rocks. Most days at sunrise – and weather permitting – thirty or more balloons fl oat over the town’s cobbled streets and cave houses. In nearby Pigeon Valley, and all


over the area, holes in the cliff faces and fairy chimneys mark the former doorways of pigeon houses – once used for collecting pigeon droppings that were used as fertiliser. Today


Travel writer Pat Yale, from Bristol, lives with her ever-growing family of cats in Göreme, travelling extensively around the country for her writing.


An expert on Turkey, Pat has penned numerous magazine and newspaper articles about the country, co-authored Lonely Planet guides and has written her own practical guide to living there.


Pat stresses that the laws change frequently in Turkey and anyone intending to buy in Cappadocia should check the latest regulations governing foreigners buying there. Over the last few years it’s been diffi cult for foreigners to buy property in national park areas, such as Göreme, but a new law that should make it easier is in the pipeline. Pat fi rst visited Cappadocia in 1974 and returned many times before moving there. She found her cave house in Göreme in 1999. Although it needed a lot of restoration, she says she just had to buy it and managed to get it for a good price at the time. It took her two years to restore it, keeping many of the original features, including the bread ovens in the fl oor, the grape/wine presses in the walls, stone fi replaces and alcoves. But Pat’s not fi nished yet. To prevent an adjoining property, which has a fairy chimney, being made into a hotel she purchased it and now wants to convert it.


APRIL 2011 A PLACE IN THE SUN 51


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