Love Valley

I'll let you decide what this photo looks like. Between the image itself, and the name of the valley, it's no wonder that this spot is so popular. 

Today was Steven and I's last day in the famous Cappadocia. We haven't had the most brilliant of stays, but we decided to do something that we knew wouldn't disappoint. We picked a route and hiked for 9 miles around and through the entire city of Goreme. It was the most beautiful hike that I've ever been on. The sheer landscape of this place continues to blow my mind. How is this real? How have thousands of years of lava and wind erosion created such diverse lands? I feels like I'm on a whole other planet.  Just take a look at the extra photos and tell me that you don't feel the same. 

It took us 4.5 hours to hike 9 miles - mostly because we were stopping every 5 minutes to revel at what was around us, take photos, or climb all over the rocks. It was a blast. This is the day that I'll remember when I think of Cappadocia. I'm happy that I'll remember it for what it is - the most brilliant, old, diverse, and other-worldy landscape I've ever seen. I'm sure that there are other places in the world that beat it, but I haven't found them yet.

We got back to Istanbul tonight, and unluckily for us... a taxi driver tried to scam us out of $35. The ride from the airport back to our homestay was roughly $25 - which is a relatively normal price for a 45 minute drive. However, when we got out of the cab, the very bad man tried to tell us that we owe $60 instead of the $25... this jump in price was solely due to the bridge tolls coming back into Istanbul. He waved a big sign at us as he tried to explain his position with the little English that he had.

Naturally, Steven and I both lost our shit and Steven proceeded to tell the very bad man that we would most definitely not give him that much money. We didn't realize that he was a total scammer until we googled his taxi business later that night and saw 150+ reviews about the scam. They really should ban those very bad men from airports. He looked too legit for anyone to know that he was a thief. Fortunately for him, he left with $10 more than what was owed... but at least it wasn't $35. I'm happy that this week is almost over.

It was arguably the most expensive and disappointing week that we've ever had together. The experience was dotted with lovely memories, and I'm very lucky that Steven and I really love each other's company. That makes for a lovely time, even in the unloveliest of them. Still, I'm happy to be out of Cappadocia and back in Istanbul. We leave this city on Thursday and head to Tbilisi, Georgia for a month. 

Time is absurd. I still can't believe that it's almost August.