Cappadocia - fairy chimneys and rock formations

 A long overnight bus ride got us from Istanbul to Goreme in Cappodocia which is famous for its rock formations including dwellings carved from the rock.

The open air museum had lots of examples of churches carved into the rock when the Christian population were persecuted and in hiding. Some of these have amazing frescoes - but we weren't allowed to take any pictures of them :(

An example of the frescoes.

In the evening we had dinner with a local family - lots of traditional dishes including the salty yoghurt drink the Turkish love and soup and beans cooked in the traditional way - in pots in a fire pit.

The following day we headed to the underground city - again used by the Christians to hide from persecution - they could stay down there for up to 6 months if needed, but usually were down there for shorter periods.

Then hiked around different rock formations in the area - including the 3 beauties 

And the castle rock

We also did some climbing (or scrambling!) to a few caves