Göreme, Turkey

Göreme (apparently pronounced Gor-eh-may) is a big tourist destination. Known for "fairy chimneys" and Hot Air Balloons.

Fairy Chimneys are really interesting. The whole Capadocia (also, pronounced Cap-a-dok (sort of like "dork" with no r) -ee-ah) region was covered with stories of volcanic ash. Certain sections of this ash layer developed a harder top. Think of dirt on top of a snow like, it stops the rest of the snow from melting as fast. These hard caps acted as umbrellas from rain protecting the ash below from being eroded. As we said in a previous post, many ancient humans created multi floor habitats out of fairy chimneys.

Unfortunately for us, it was raining for our entire stay, so hot air balloons were not cleared for launch. So we missed out on that spectacle. I encourage you to Google "hot air balloons Capadocia" as it's a beautiful sight.

Some unofficial things Göreme is known for: stray dogs and sunrises. On one of our few good mornings we got to see a sunrise over the fair chimneys (seen in the cover photo). Also seen in that photo is a stray dog. We saw this a little in Istanbul too. All the stray dogs are literally one breed. They all have a white (or dirty white) body with a black nose and ears. They are super docile and friendly. They love to lounge around on the sidewalk. I was a little intimidated with stories of stray dogs in eastern Europe, but these Turkish dogs are the most harmless things I have ever seen. More sloth than a dog.Read more