Turkiye Day 6 - Welcome to Cappadocia!

Assalamualaikum. Marhaba.

Oh God! Has it really been months since my last entry? Ok poyo! Buat-buatlah kunun ndak tau si Bibie. Minta duku. Memang bersungguh aku benam diri dalam hiatus mode. Been meaning to continue scribbling about this trip but every time I opened the lappy; I ended up searching for something else. Pastu layan lagu di youtube. Really hope I could finish this by tonight.

My trip to Turkiye has been more than a year already. Sobs. Haraplah I could complete sharing my Turkiye trip in one of these days. Stop procrastinating Bie. Stop perasan busy juga. Masih ada yang berminat mau baca experience aku di Turkiye bah kan? Ngek!

Previous entry (here).

9 April 2015
Goreme, Cappadocia

So, I took the overnight Nevsehir Sahayat bus express from Denizli to Goreme (Cappadocia). And the next morning, at around 730am we were told to alight from the bus. I don't know where we were but it was at a bus terminal few kilometers away from Goreme. I thought we were in Goreme already until the bus driver told me to hop on to the other bus parked next to ours. Rupanya sesi pertukaran bas! Memang mamai tahap gaban. Mana gue tau ada adegan tukar bas bagai, kan.

Had my breakfast in the second bus. Free snacks & tea. We arrived Goreme bus terminal 30 minutes later. I was quite surprised upon coming down from the bus. Goreme bus terminal ain't like any bus terminals I've seen in Turkiye since my arrival. Yang ni memang super comel. Tiada bangunan gah bertingkat-tingkat, tiada bangunan bercermin, tiada gerbang, tiada pengawal. Yillek! Sumpah comel jak aku tengok terminal ni.

# The waiting area at Goreme Bus Terminal. 

Masih dalam mode blur & ndak tau apa mau buat. Bearing for Goreme belum 'set up' sebenarnya; hence I headed to the Kamil Koc office. Walau blur but I still remembered the first thing I should do once I reach Goreme. That is to purchase the ticket back to Istanbul. Risaulah oii seat penuh. And balik pi Istanbul nanti pun memang akan naik overnight bus. Jimat cost for accommodation adalah konsep utama trip kali ni.

Why Kamil Koc again u asked? Because according to my research; that is the only company that has a direct overnight bus to Istanbul. Transit or stop over is a big no-no because my flight back to Malaysia will be in the evening; on the day I arrived Istanbul from Goreme itself. Hence my plan was to arrived Istanbul not later than 10am. I still have few places to go before leaving to the airport though.

# Kamil Koc office. 

I must say Kudos to Kamil Koc's customer service personnel. Never once was I being ignored nor rudely entertained. Despite the language barrier, they layan my every questions with smile. There were times when I can't understand what they're trying to say but patiently they explained until I nodded. No grunting, no rising voice moreover tunjuk muka annoyed. Memang duh sangat kan perangai customer service yang mendengus macam singa lapar bila kita tanya soalan.

After beli tiket, aku try lah *kunun* locate accommodation office untuk minta tolong call orang hotel. The hotel I booked provide free pick-up service to its guest. Tapi alang-alang sudah beli tiket di Kamil Koc tu, aku pun mintalah tolong Ahjussi counter untuk call hotel. As expected memang excited dia cakap "Sure sure, can!". 

Mata besar macam burung hantu tapi sikit punya besar signboard Accommodation Office di seberang jalan terminal bas...Si Err ndak nampak! Memang tahap hampagas!

# Boleh masuk bangunan ni & minta tolong staff diorang call kan hotel. Worry not; they won't charge u anything.

The driver came picking me up & few other guests few minutes after the Ahjussi called them. Pelik aku mana datang guests yang lain sebab masa tunggu depan office Kamil Koc tu; tiada sebiji 'alien' pun aku nampak. Sekali van hotel datang, berduyun pula muncul out of nowhere. 

Dari terminal pi hotel ndaklah jauh mana; ada dalam less than 5 minutes TAPI jalan mau pi hotel tu amatlah menseriaukan diri. Curam & tinggi hoi! Description hotel "The highest hotel in Cappadocia" memang ndak tipu! Ok part hotel aku cerita nanti. 

# Entrance

# That stair leads to the Reception Office. While the door leads to guest rooms.

# View from the Reception Office. Speechless I was at that time. Too beautiful. 

While waiting for my turn to check in; memandangkan ada free wifi so haruslah laju jak aku upload gambar di atas. Without revealing my exact location of course. Mau share info di media social kena extra careful. Bukanlah cakap level retis sampai mau berahsia tapi orang jahat zaman sekarang ndak pilih kau retis ka bukan. Semua diorang bedal! 

Settled bayar payment for my stay; aku pun tumpang letak anak gajah. Can't check-in to my room because the current guest haven't check out yet. Kan si Err sampai super awal. Hours before check-out time. Fortunately, the hotel has public shower room (for hotel guest only of course) at the lobby area. And memandangkan sudah semalaman dalam bas; mandi adalah perlu. Took my own sweet time to shower & getting ready. Sudah segar bugar barulah boleh start exploration.

First thing first; breakfast. Benda paling penting as to avoid perut bergurindam sayang masa ukur tanah Goreme nanti. Ndak pasal-pasal gastrik.

# Minaret masjid. Landmark paling penting untuk pi hotel dari pekan. 

# While descending I can't help but to turned back. Fuh bertabahlah! Betapa akan perlu mendaki this very steep route to reach the hotel from the pekan later. 

I reached the pekan in less than 10 minutes. Sepatutnya sampai cepat tapi banyak betul buat pit stop. Ambil gambar lah, posing selca lah. 

# I was there in spring, but this was the only cherry tree in Goreme that was blooming. Peliks.

Sempat singgah few souvenir shops juga. Sambil cuci mata; sambil recce harga souvenir supaya boleh buat comparison which shop offers the best. I bought few postcards as well. Sempat tanya the best restaurant that serve delicious & CHEAP local food. Nampak cheapskate si Err? Siap aku bagitau aku avoid yang ramai tourist. Takut kena scam harga melangit. 

# Hot balloon represents Cappadocia. Apart from its unique moon-like landscape.

# Random photos I took while strolling.

# Adalah hairan bila restaurant dari 'kampong' super berhambur di Goreme. Apakah?

Finally sampai tempat mencekik; suggested by the shop assistant where I bought my postcards. Awal pagi invest benda selain makanan, bijak si Bibie ni.

# As suggested, I had my breakfast here. 

Masuk kedai macam gangster walhal orang dalam kedai masih sibuk memvakum. They stopped when I entered. Rezeki jangan ditolak. Ok apa customer datang awal pagi. Pastu masa mau place order, waitress tu macam gagap mau bercakap. Then suddenly dia suruh aku tunggu. Not long after that she came with an old man. Rupanya! Dia cari orang yang boleh converse in English; senang mau ambil order aku katanye. Gitu sekali hospitality diorang. Oklah, dapat aku request kebab super spicy. 

# Breakfast like a Queen. Awal pagi mencekik nasi & kebab. Tabahlah perut dapat tuan badan selera macam gajah. Jangan tanya harga; haruslah aku lupa! Bread tu foc by the way.

Lama juga aku lepak dalam kedai ni. Sambil makan sambil layan whatsapp sambil tulis poskad sambil berangan. Complete package. Sebenarnya aku sengaja berlamaan sebab mau tunggu post office buka. Sudah beli postcard mahal-mahal, sudah siap tulis walau dalam sejuk gigil...apa barang kalau ndak dipos. Kan? 

# Post office located just few meters away from the Kebab Center.

# On the way mau masuk post office, disapa si Jelita ini. Aura Mak Kucing bawa dari Malaysia gitu. Siap panjat kaki hokey. Betapa jinak! Sudahlah gebu. Gerrrraaam! I spent few minutes layaning this lady. Kalau ikut hati mau aku angkut balik hotel.

Sudah settled urusan isi perut & postcard, off I went to my first mission of the day. Goreme Open Air Museum! Memang excited.

# Ndak susah pun mau navigate diri di Goreme. Signboards are everywhere.

# Makin meluap rasa excited bila nampak signboard ni. NOT!

Bertabahlah kaki. 1km di laluan berbukit! Terus bagi signal sama kaki; jangan ko give up on me today! Sila bagi kerjasama. Mau sakit or lenguh or cramp; sila kan tapi malam nanti di bilik hotel. 

# View along the way to the museum.

Kalau ikutkan jarak, 1 kilometer is nothing to me considering I have walked more than 3 kilometers in Istanbul few days before. Sila tahu kejadian bijak bestari si Err superwalkertapaki from Kabatas to Ortakoy (here). Tapi otak saiko sebab jalan berbukit jak. Nasiblah weather was on my side that day. Ndak panas & angin bersepoi-sepoi. Cuma ndak best bila langit al-gloomy. Nan hado langit biru. Bersyukur sila sebab ndak hujan Bie. 

Cerita museum aku sambung next entry. Dengan harapan janganlah muncul alasan 'in hiatus mode' lagi.

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