When we got back to the hotel that morning after watching the hot air balloons at Sunset Point (see Part 1 of this post), we had our breakfast, had a few more hours of sleep, and got ready to go out and explore Goreme Open Air Museum. We walked from our hotel which took us roughly about 25 minutes to reach the museum. On our way, we stopped at one of the shops that promotes ATV ride packages and we booked for the one that does 'sunset rides' for later that evening.

The view while walking towards the Goreme Open Air Museum was beautiful. We walked pass more of the Cappadocian-style landscapes of  beautiful fairy chimneys.

Lets take a moment to appreciate this unique scenery, haha.










Just before we reached the museum, we encountered some market stalls where they sell crafts, souvenirs, fruits, Turkish ice cream and more!





There were even camels if you want to try riding...



... and then the Goreme Open Air Museum.


 Upon entering the museum, we were greeted by this giant sculpted rock - just magnificent.

... and then some views overlooking more fairy chimneys.


Our 'playground' worth 25TL we paid for.

Lots of ancient monuments.


In this museum, you can enter some of these rocks to see what they were used for in the past (i.e. churches).







As we climbed higher, the view got better...


To be honest, at first I was a bit skeptical about the museum and the fact that we had to pay 25TL to see something that could you could see even without going into the museum. But the further I walked through it, I felt like it was totally worth it. With the surrounding views it provides, the grand structure of the rock formations integrated with naturalistic landscape that surrounds it is just so cool! Definitely worth checking out!
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Our ATV rides were supposed to start at 3pm so we ought to be at our meeting point at least 30 minutes before. From the museum, we rushed back to the town center to look for a place to have our late lunch quickly so we don't miss our rides.

Ainun and I shared the same ATV (cos we're cheap like that, haha) and Fizal got one of his own. When we booked the package, we were told that we'd be going to the Red Rose Valley, some ancient castle, Pigeon Valley, Love Valley and watch the sun set at Sunset Point. Indeed we did go to all those places except that we thought we would ride through the valleys, not to the valleys. Little did we know, we only rode to those valley points and were given about 5 minutes to stop and take some photos, haha. So we took very little photos at those points because we didn't really go that much near to really explore the valleys.

Another thing that we got a little frustrated with was the fact that we didn't manage to watch sunset. This being due to the fact that the night before was the daylight saving, so the ATV staff members had mistaken the time of sunset so we set off for the ride one hour later than were supposed to. So we ended up being at a different place during dusk and were riding through the dark afterwards. Well, it became quite an adventurous experience though, being able to ride the ATV in the dark, dusty and unknown desert-like environment. We even came across some riders (from another group) who got into an accident and their ATV was turned side-wards at one of the dark corners. The route was bumpy and the night was getting really cold, we just couldn't wait to reach our gathering point.






After the ATV ride, we joined 2 other couples from our group for a drink/dinner at Kale Terrasse Restaurant. It was a very fancy restaurant with colorful Turkish rugs and carpets adorning the cave walls as the interior decor. Me, Fizal and Ainun just had a drink and some baklava because we had already had our very late lunch before the ATV ride. So after some nice chit chat with the Moroccan and Indian couple, we departed our ways and went back to our hotels for a good rest.

Later that night, Fizal and I felt a little hungry so we decided to go food hunting and it was already almost 11pm. The staff at our hotel told us that most shops and restaurants closes at 10.30pm, but we decided to just go for it anyway and try our luck. We called up Ainun and knocked on her door but she was already in the midst of her good night's dream, haha. So Fizal and I braced the cold night to look for a restaurant and the only one we could find, not far from our hotel was Saziye Restaurant, which was brightly lit and seemed to be the only one alive at that time. The restaurant looked very luxurious so was the served food and beverages, so Fizal insisted that that was my birthday dinner treat because apparently, it was my birthday the next day, haha.

I kept on waking up very early in the morning and looking out the window to see if the balloons have launched yet. With it being our last day in Cappadocia, I surely didn't want to miss another opportunity to see the hot air balloons rising beautifully into the air, albeit from our hotel terrace. When I finally saw several balloons launch (which I could see up close from our hotel room!), I immediately woke Fizal up, got ready and gave Ainun a wake up call.

It was freezing that morning but we braced the cold and stand on the terrace while watching the hot air balloons. After all, we are in Cappadocia, so why not just endure a little cold and we get to see this magical sight that people from across the world would come to see...









After that, we had breakfast on the terrace and packed our stuff ready for our shuttle to pick us up for the airport en route back to Istanbul. Overall, Cappadocia has been a wonderful place and has a special place in my heart because of its beautiful place, nice people and amazing experience. Although we did not get the chance to see other attractions Goreme has to offer (i.e hiking the valleys, Derinkuyu underground city, Kaymakli underground city, Uchisar Castle), I still had a wonderful time in Cappadocia.

This is the view from our hotel terrace.

Until my next adventure! :)