DESTINATIONS ESCORTED TOURS |CAPPADOCIA
exper expert ASK THE
“Cappadocia is best discovered either on foot as it allows travellers to properly explore its rock towers, caves and valleys, or by hot-air balloon for an unforgettable perspective of the dramatic landscapes. When advising customers of Exodus’ new Premium Adventures , know the USPs of the trip and destination, such as the exceptional included experiences, award- winning named leaders and incredible accommodation, so that you can highlight how it will enhance their holiday. For instance, the unique Yunak Evleri Cave Hotel in Cappadocia has two outdoor swimming pools with views of the fairy chimneys.”
Tom Wilkinson senior product manager, Europe, Exodus Travels
In the town of Avanos, where pottery has been BOOK IT
Walking the Ancient Trails of Cappadocia – Premium Adventure with Exodus Travels costs from £2,899 including flights, transfers, most meals and tips.
exodus.co.uk
54 17 NOVEMBER 2022
produced for thousands of years, master potter Galip Körükçü shows us how it’s done. Spinning the wheel with his feet, a lump of clay is effortlessly transformed into a smoothly curved vase. Galip manages to do it without any sign of concentration – indeed, as he works, he happily chats away asking us how we think previously created pots got their natural black colour. His studio and gallery is, of course, inside a network of caves where assistants go through the painstaking process of hand-painting the bowls, vases and plates that light up the cave in kaleidoscopic colour. The detail is what makes Avanos ceramics special. And detail is key for what turns out to be the tour’s most strikingly memorable included experience. Inside the 13th-century Saruhan Caravanserai, which during the Silk Road trade route days was half coaching inn, half intricately decorated fortress, something utterly spellbinding occurs. It’s tempting to call the whirling dervish experience a dance performance. But it’s a lot more than that. It is a spiritual ritual from the Sufi branch of Islam, where the participants enter a trance-like state as they repeatedly spin around in long white cloaks. It sounds like it will be chaotic, but there’s a precise
order to the ceremony, and all the little things, such as hand positions, are carefully choreographed. The
The sun rises, bringing out the
pinks and reds in the rock layers, as the balloons float above the fairy chimneys and cave houses
whirling supposedly represents the soul rising to the heavens. What had all the warning signs of being a tacky, tourist-centric ‘cultural show’ turns out to be a genuinely affecting, mesmerising ritual. The ceremony is as it has been for centuries, with photography and clapping banned lest they break the magic. There’s something else that Cappadocia is
particularly famous for – ballooning. You have to get up revoltingly early for it, and there’s a moment of realisation as dawn starts to break to reveal dozens upon dozens of balloons being inflated and rising gently into the lightening sky. Hot-air ballooning here is not just about floating above the weird and wonderful landscape – it’s about doing so as part of an enormous aerial fleet. The sun rises, bringing out the pinks and reds in
the rock layers, as the balloons float above the fairy chimneys, dragons’ teeth and cave houses. This time round, being part of the flock is a key part of the joy.
TW
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Red Valley, Cappadocia; traditional Turkish breakfast with view of balloons, Göreme; Yunak Evleri Cave Hotel PICTURES: Shutterstock/Aleksandr Ozerov, Valerija Polakovska
travelweekly.co.uk
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