Cappadocia Part 2 - "Welp, we are staying another day..."

       So, here is the second post that shows our great trip we took to Cappadocia for Kendall's bday. Our last post showed our arrival in Goreme, the Rock Valley Pension, walking through the streets, the outdoor museum, and a camel ride. Check it out first if you have not seen it yet. 

(a vendor for the famous Turkish rugs)

       After our trip to the outdoor museum we were pretty wiped out and decided to just chill, look at some shops, and walk the town. It was nice to just stroll around since its much busier where we live. 

 We visited an awesome pottery shop where everything is handmade.

These sweet D-90 trucks were used for the balloon rides. 

 A little view of the mountain apartments from downtown. 

 I thought this was crazy: VW bus with VW bug welded on top. 

 It started raining so we went to a cozy outdoor coffee shop and I zonked out.

 Kendall and her kindle thought I was silly and ordered us coffee. 

Yumtown. Also, the chocolate that came with it was unreal. 

      So we really just hung out for a few hours that afternoon and then went on a little adventure that was the highlight of the trip for me. Behind the Rock Valley Pension was an old cobble stone road that led up into the hills. We took this winding road up past amazing mountain apartments and hotels until we reached a ridge line. From there we saw one of the most spectacular views of our lives. It was a 360 degree view of the wilderness, the rose valley (with distinct red cliff sides), the famous peaks, and then an amazing view of the town. It was remarkable. 

 A great view showing the mesh of mountain and living space.

 A really cool mountain hotel. 

 We thought this door built directly into the rock was intriguing. 

 And finally, up top and looking out over Goreme.

 The view of the valley on the other side of the ridge. 

 Rose Valley. (Click the picture to see the erosion detail. It is crazy.)

 Kendall and I were calling this camel mountain. 

 A great view of the famous peaks from above. 

Goreme at night. 

      We walked down an hung out behind our hostel for a while and made a dinner choice. We wanted to go somewhere nice as a treat for Kendall's bday. After some deliberating and chilling, we settled on a Turkish place (even though there were some other options) and then went on. It was the right choice. 

The place was awesome. 

 Kendall went for a multi-course meal where you get a little of everything. 

 Stuffed grape leaves and salad. 

 I got a steak, but was very confused when he brought out  flaming shot glass.

 ...but then I understood.

 The remains were delicious. 

For dessert we had baclava and fresh fruits.

       We walked around some more that night, visited a few more places and then went to bed since we had to wake up and get a bus ticket to go home at noon. Well, they were sold out. We panicked for a little bit since we both have new jobs and were afraid that we'd look like buffoons if we had to call in a miss a day the third week of school because we were too stupid to buy bus tickets earlier than we did. We found one that would allow us to get back at 5am (which would give us just enough time to take a shower before going to school and finishing up some work!) but then we lucked out and got one with a different company that put us back in Ankara around 1 or 2 am. We bought them and then realized we had another 8 hours in the city. We went back to our hostel, whose gracious owners allow travelers to hang out as long as they want. Then we walked around the city some more. 

 We had some more tasty coffee treats (this one being a chocolate frappacino).

 Back at the hostel, we hung out in the gazebos to read and relax.