Yeapz, I came across a new place from the magazine again. It was MAS (Malaysia Airline) magazine that I read during my flight journey from Pulau Pinang to Kuala Lumpur.

What attracted me to want to visit this place?
The Caves!
Living in the Caves!

Source: Wikipedia

Cappadocia pronounced /kæpə’doʊʃə/ (or Capadocia, Turkish Kapadokya, from Greek: Καππαδοκία / Kappadokía, which in turn is from the Persian: Katpatuka meaning “the land of beautiful horses”^[1]), was an extensive inland district of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). The name continued to be used in western sources and in the Christian tradition throughout history and is still widely used as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage. The term, as used in tourism, roughly corresponds to present-day Nevşehir Province of Turkey.

It is impossible to define Cappadocia’s limits with any real accuracy. In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians are supposed to have occupied the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine (Black Sea). Cappadocia, in this sense, was bounded in the south by the chain of Mount Taurus, to the east by the Euphrates, to the north by Pontus, and to the west vaguely by the great salt lake, Lake Tuz, in Central Anatolia. But Strabo, the only ancient author who gives any circumstantial account of the country, greatly exaggerated its dimensions. It is now believed that 400 km (250 mi) east-west by 200 km (120 mi) north-south is a more realistic appraisal of Cappadocia’s extension.^[1]

Source: The New York Times
Photo: Yoray Liberman/Getty Images, for The New York Times

The Turkish region of Cappadocia boasts one of Europe’s most dramatic landscapes. The lunar-like setting has become popular for hot-air ballooning.

Natural cone formations, made from volcanic eruptions smoothed over time by wind and rain known as fairy chimneys, contain caves and labyrinths. As early as the third century, those chimneys became a hiding place for early Christians who fled persecution from the Romans, and then later from raiding Muslims.

In the last several years, affluent Turks and foreigners have started turning these caves into second homes.

A resident inside his home.

Diners at the Alaturca restaurant in Goreme, which serves traditional Anatolian cuisine.

Serinn House has been built around and carved into the area’s soft rock like the subterranean chapels created centuries earlier.

e="font-family:georgia;">While tourism is booming, at least one tradition is dying out: rug weaving.

Rose Valley at sunset.

Sunset in Pigeon Valley.