Cappadocia Red Tour: Zelve Museum, Pottery & Fairy Chimneys

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What’s the experience like?

We started the Red Tour in Cappadocia with a quick climb up Uçhisar Castle. It’s the highest spot around, so the wind was doing its thing—my hat nearly took off. Our guide, Ece, pointed out how everything looked soft and melted, like some giant just squished the rocks into weird shapes. She explained volcanic eruptions did that ages ago. The view from up there is wild—patches of green and all those pale rocks stretching out. I didn’t expect to feel so small standing on top of a rock fortress.

The Zelve Open Air Museum was next. Walking through those old cave churches felt kind of quiet, even with other people around. You could still see faded reds and blues in the frescoes—saints staring down from stone walls that smelled faintly dusty and cool. Ece told us about monks hiding here centuries back; I tried to imagine living inside a mountain (not sure I’d last long). In Çavuşin village we saw empty Greek houses from before 1924—windows open to the wind but nobody home for decades. It made me pause for a second.

Lunch in Avanos was this buffet thing—mezes, grilled veggies, lamb stew if you wanted it. The bread was warm and soft; I might’ve eaten too much. After that we ducked into a pottery workshop carved right under the street. The potter spun clay from the Kızılırmak River with these practiced hands—he grinned as he worked, then let us try (mine came out lopsided but hey). The place smelled earthy and a bit smoky from the kiln.

Pasabağ (Monks Valley) had these mushroom-shaped fairy chimneys clustered together—I kept seeing faces or animals in them once someone pointed out the camel rock at Devrent Valley. Kids were laughing trying to spot new shapes; honestly, I joined in too. By late afternoon my shoes were full of dust and my camera roll was ridiculous but I didn’t care much. There’s something about wandering through Cappadocia’s odd landscapes with someone explaining bits of history that makes it stick with you longer than you’d think.