We are staying at the Yunak Evleri cave hotel. It’s one of many cave hotels in the area. The property and the food are very nice. It’s unavoidable, but we got a lesson on why caves aren’t a very good place to live. Not the least issue is ventilation, and the floor stand fan did little to improve things.

Our first regular tour stop was the Goreme Open Air Museum. Early Christians decided this would be a good place to hide out and avoid Roman persecution. It turns out it didn’t take the Romans long to find this “secret” spot. Never the less, Christians dug churches out of the caves and decorated them with frescos, some of which are in remarkably good shape. We weren’t permitted to take pictures inside. Some of the holes were doors or windows, others come from erosion removing the outer wall and exposing interior spaces. There’s a few pics on the website.

We had lunch at a private home, then visited a small town for shopping. We aren’t big on shopping. I found a coffee shop and had a Turkish coffee. Danita relaxed. I didn’t know this, but when one orders a Turkish coffee, the restaurant assumes the customer is probably thirsty. They bring the coffee and a bottle of water, so the customer can quench their thirst after finishing the coffee.