Kelebek Classic Cave Hotel Goreme

After a day of air travel from Antalya to Istanbul and then back into the center of Turkey (no flights from Antalya to Goreme...), we were still wobbled leg from the week on the Mediterranean. Of course, we were tan and happy too. So, no complaints! We arrived into town after dark. And checked into our splurge at the Kelebek Hotel in Goreme...Room #1 Selmalik cave room with a corner fireplace, huge modern bathroom (after a week with a "sandbox" and marina showers--we loved this bathroom!), lo...

Today was a travel day; so I made no visits of any sort. I am now in the town of Goreme in the region of Cappadocia. This area is best known for its geography. It's peculiar rock formations have caused groups to come here to seek refuge and to hide out for millenia. The early Church did this as well. While it's doubtful Paul ever got to this particular place (though some claim he traveled through this area, and it's certainly plausible), the Church thrived here from very early on and survived...

I had a brief conversation with a couple at breakfast, and when I told them I was renting a car when I arrived at Nevsehir airport, they said, "Well good luck with that." That did not inspire confidence for me as I headed from my hotel this morning. Nevsehir is a short flight from Istanbul, about an hour and fifteen minutes (when was the last time you received lunch and beverages on an hour-long flight in the U.S.?). Upon my arrival there was waiting for me a kind gentleman from the car renta...

I've flown in a lot of different aircraft, but today was my first time in a hot air balloon. Ballooning has become quite an industry here. And now, having flown, I understand a bit why. You see, given all the amazing terrain, the wind currents enable a skilled pilot to descend all the way down into these valleys and go up or down them for a ways, close enough to pull leaves off trees, and then to ascend to find a nice, fast wind current to take them to another place. We flew for an hour and a...

What a glorious place this is. It's been fun staying in a town whose primary reason for being is tourism. This town of Goreme is mostly hotels and restaurants and the supporting services every town needs. I feel a little like I did in Breckenridge where everyone is there to relax and enjoy, where everyone is a friend. This hotel has a great common area that's not really like a lobby so much as it is a living room, dining room, and terrace. People just gather here and share stories and plan th...

We stayed in the Kelebek Cave Hotel in Goreme for 2 nights. Our "junior suite" was a spacious comfortable room with a terrace with a great view. There was no place to put our clothing except a "closet" carved out of the rock. A rather damp closet, we learned, when we removed our damp clothes. Apparently this was a new room without a bureau. We left a day early because there was construction below our room that started early in the morning. A nice aspect of this pension is the camraderie of th...

We stayed at Kelebek hotel and pension; our cave room was carved right out of the rock formations; it was warm and had a view of the amazing geological formations, the moon rising, the village of Goreme. The owner invited me and sophia to go riding on his beloved Anatolian horses. They were beautiful and spirited. We hiked through rose canyon, and had the whole place to ourselves as we gazed up at caves and crazy rock formations and slid along the frozen riverbed until at last we stumbled upo...