Cappadocia's rich history, which dates back to the 6th century, can be experienced today in a unique type of accommodation: the cave hotel. Photo courtesy of Melekler Evi Cave Hotel (www.cappadocia.travel)

Unknowing Pioneer

In 1990, when Mr. Suha Ersoz first opened the Esbelli Evi Cave Boutique Hotel in the Cappadocian town of Ürgüp, he unknowingly became a local pioneer of sustainable tourism. He began with an abandoned 5th-century cave that had all but collapsed. He then put the surviving pieces of wood, gathered stones and rock hewn from the interior of the cave as material into the hands of workers hired from the same town in order to keep the restoration local.

Months later when the Esbelli Evi Cave Boutique Hotel opened its doors, its immediate success spawned the copycat creation of other cave hotels based on the same model.

Now there are more than 400 cave hotels in Cappadocia, ranging from family-run three-room troglodyte guesthouses to lavish 50-room underground resorts. The cave-hotel industry in Cappadocia has become a unique selling point in this region of Turkey.

Such have been the thoughts of Zafer Yazici and Fuyo Ichikawa of Lirita Tours, the whl.travel local connection in Cappadocia. For seven years the company has dedicated itself to working with locals to preserve a traditional way of life in ancient Cappadocia. Yazici and Ichikawa have worked tirelessly to make Cappadocia one of the most sustainable tourist destinations in Turkey.

Unusual volcanic rock formations like these fairy chimneys are one major drawing card of Cappadocia, Turkey. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Zafer YAZICI (www.cappadocia.travel)

Exploring Cappadocia’s Nature and Culture

During any stay in the 5th- and 6th-century caves of Cappadocia, the unusual natural surroundings are certain to contribute to an appealing sense of dislocation, of being isolated in another time (it served as a set for the first Star Wars film). Dotted with ‘fairy chimneys’, the moonlike landscape has inspired artists, travellers, philosophers and historians since as far back as the days of Herodotus. For a bird’s-eye view of the extraordinary geography, hot-air balloon trips are a truly special experience.

To get a little deeper, highly recommended by Yazici and Ichikawa is a trip to the hidden side of Cappadocia, perhaps best exemplified by the Songali Valley. Far less touristed than the famous Göreme or Zelve valleys, Songali remains much as it once did centuries ago. Travellers who choose to explore the area at their own pace can really get off the beaten path. In addition, from Songali, a dazzling maze of gorges unfolds where visitors can discover ancient churches and dovecotes (buildings designed to house doves).

The flamingos at Sultan Saziligi in Cappadocia, Turkey, help constitute one of the largest concentrations of avian wildlife in the world. Photo courtesy of Zafer YAZICI (www.cappadocia.travel)

Also not to be missed is the Sultan Sazlığı, one of the largest bird sanctuaries in Turkey. This famous natural reserve is home to about 250 types of birds (compared to 450 species in all of continental Europe) and more than 20,000 flamingos. Day trips from Cappadocia can be organised to view the avian abundance by canoe.

Of course, no visit to Cappadocia would be complete without a sampling of the local cuisine. As always, there are many restaurants from which to choose, but Yazici and Ichikawa recommend watching for where the locals are eating. “Some restaurants may not look so fancy from outside, but they have good food,” says Zafer. “I would recommend going to the small restaurants used by locals since the taste is better and the prices are cheaper.”

A woman from Soganli village displays her handmade doll to visitors in Cappadocia, Turkey. Photo courtesy of Flickr/Zafer YAZICI (www.cappadocia.travel)

Sustaining Local Life

What makes Cappadocia so unique is certainly its show-stopping scenery, well-preserved churches and caves, antiquated villages and mouthwatering Mediterranean cuisine. Today, the region’s commitment is to preserving all of this, especially through efforts like those of Yazici and Ichikawa, the whl.travel local connection, who actively promote local communities and local guides.

“There are of course sightseeing spots you cannot miss,” explains Yazici, “but local tours are really run in a local way. Selected restaurants are more like family restaurants and typical Cappadocian handcrafts artisans, like carpet weavers, stone carvers or potters, are visited on these tours.

“Travellers can also get on local buses and drive to villages to get away from the mass-tourism sites. Depending on the harvest season, you can see how villagers work in the fields collecting potatoes, grapes, apricots and other products that have made Cappadocia famous. Even in the touristy villages, you need only enter one of the back streets to find kids playing where there are no shops and women sit in front of their homes and chat.”

Yazici and Ichikawa believe that both tourists and locals should benefit from a mutual exchange and relationship that will stall the destructive reach of developers and preserve all that Cappadocia has to offer.

“The biggest advantage of visiting Cappadocia is that it is not a mass- tourism destination,” says Zafer. “We have to keep it this way.”

Cappadocia became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 in recognition of its cultural and historical heritage. While plenty of other sites are also memorable for the presence of cave homes, Cappadocia is unique in Turkey – and the rest of the World – for the sheer number of such dwellings. Literally thousands of manmade caves pepper the rock walls of the area’s valleys. As many as 1,000 are of early Christian cave churches and there are around 200 subterranean settlements that provided shelter to up to 10,000 people.

Like the caves pictured above, most of those in the Erdemli Valley are empty, the remainder being used by locals as storage and stables for their food and animals. That said, while the upper caves may not look in accessible, they are connected to lower ones and can be visited via vertical and horizontal tunnels.

The caves in the Erdemli Valley are not so known as well as the others caves in Cappadocia. If you ask 100 people in Cappadocia, only one may know about Erdemli Valley. Even people in the tourism trade may not know about them. I know about them because I went there under the guidance of the museum director.

People started to carve the soft volcanic rocks about 5,000 years ago for many purposes and some continue to do so to this day. Almost every aspect of domestic life, including food storage, pigeon houses, stables, wineries, churches and shelters, had to be carved by hand. The caves stretch from about 100 meters underground to about 100 meters above at the top of rock hills.

Cappadocia used to be one of the foremost religious, historical and cultural areas of the Anatolia region. The rich combination of these factors and the unique natural surroundings has turned Cappadocia into an important tourist area of Turkey. Cappadocia is probably the country’s most famous destination for independent travellers.

Today, the caves are used for different purposes. Many of the old caves have been turned into museums, restaurants, bars, cave hotels, souvenir shops or wineries, and can be experienced as part of an exhaustive tour of the area. They continue fulfil their centuries-old purpose by bringing life and activity to Cappadocia.

For more about Cappadocia, read A Hidden Side of Turkey’s Cappadocia: How to Go Where Others Don’t and Cappadocia Unearthed: The Handicrafts Renaissance in Avanos, Turkey.

Chez Galip poses with just a few examples of his singularly decorated earthenware art

The town of Avanos has been renowned for its high-quality earthenware since 3000 BC. Although the modern plastic revolution saw serious contraction of the Avanos pottery industry for quite some time, today, thanks to local artists like Galip, the town is witnessing a renaissance of the craft. More and more travellers have come in search of their own unique souvenir from the World-Heritage listed Cappadocia region. After 47 years of continuing a family tradition that reaches back five generations, Galip assures us that “Many things have started and many things have ended, some things have brought much and some things much less, but what’s never changed is my enthusiasm for the bit of clay next to my wheel.”

Our plans of a short visit inevitably stretch into the evening. The conversation deepens as the sun sets behind the area’s incredible lunar landscape of weathered rock formations. The humble potter with his now clay-stained şalvar (Turkish baggy trousers) takes us into an even bigger cavern, where hundreds of his items are on display. Beyond it, in an even deeper chamber, are exhibits of the most impressive handmade crafts, those using his unique family design. Also on display is a huge pot some 600-800 years old, found near the town. It is in Galip’s gallery with special permission from the municipality.

Chez Galip at his wheel in his pottery workshop in Avanos, Turkey

We continue up a small incline toward a low doorway. I almost expect to meet Bilbo Baggins on the other side. Alas, while we meet no hobbits, we do learn that Chez Galip is passionate about more than just pottery and good wine; he also has a world-record collection of hair cuttings from woman around the world. Some 16,000 of them hang in another chamber at his gallery in town. Of course this may seem quite peculiar, but it also confirms that Galip is one very extraordinary and interesting character, one that you’ll remember for many years.

Fans of expertly made Turkish pottery should not miss the annual Cappadocia Avanos International Tourism and Handicrafts Festival, held in the last week of August. Of course, Galip – and all of Avanos – is ready to welcome all callers at any time of year.

A special visit to Galip’s workshop, including pottery instruction from the potter and a taste of his homemade wine, is available to the intrepid traveller through Urban Adventures, which also has other experiences on offer in Cappadocia.

More about Chez Galip can be learned on his website or via the spectacular 360-degree photography of his workshops and studios.

For more information about Avanos and the entire Cappadocia region, visit www.cappadocia.travel and contact Lirita Tours, your whl.travel local connection. They can also arrange stays in actual cave-houses, deep inside rocks often excavated thousands of years earlier.

Of course, there are many new partners who will be launching tours in their destinations over the coming months. Included in this mix are 13 established whl.travel local connections from Athens (Greece), Boracay (Philippines), Brunei, Cappadocia (Turkey), Dominica (Caribbean), Foz du Iguassu (Brazil), Jamaica (Caribbean), Madeira (Portugal), Riga (Latvia), Rio (Brazil), St Lucia (Caribbean), Thessaloniki (Greece) and Merida (Mexico).

Despite this incredible progress, the Urban Adventures sales team is far from at rest. They have been working hard to recruit and sign new partners in other major destination throughout Europe and North America including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Budapest, Dublin, Florence, Rome, St. Petersburg, New Orleans, Ottawa, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver… among many others.

The Urban Adventures buzz has carried across to consumers as well, especially through the tester program, where travellers have the opportunity to win free Urban Adventures in select destinations each month. Almost 12,000 testers have registered so far. Every month, these testers receive email notifications of the freebies up for grabs on a first-in-best-dressed (i.e. first-come-first-served) basis. In addition, more than 12,000 travellers have registered to receive the monthly traveller newsletter –’The Urban Adventurer’.

Basically, if you haven’t yet heard of Urban Adventures yet, you will soon. Negotiations continue with various global distributors, some of which already list some Urban Adventures on their websites, including Expedia, Viator, STA, Isango, Keith Prowse, Virgin Blue Holidays and Flight Centre.

About Urban Adventures

Intrepid Travel and whl.travel have joined together to create Urban Adventures, a new style of travel experience for those who want to get off the beaten path and really connect with the destination. Urban Adventures are city tours with a difference! The experience can be as short as a couple of hours, or a whole day, but in every case, Urban Adventures will take you to interesting places to meet locals and really see what makes the place tick, getting to know it like a local. In fact many of our travellers are locals, seeing their own cities in a different way.

Whether it’s your first time or your hundredth, we’re confident that Urban Adventures will open up a whole new dimension on many of your favourite cities around the world. Every Urban Adventure is also designed to support local communities, their cultures and the environment. As such, Urban Adventures are fun, insightful and true win-win experiences.