Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Exploring Göreme by bike


I read about the bicycling possibilities in Cappadocia a long time ago, so I was excited to find myself in Göreme in the beginning of July.

Bike rental (basic, with v-brakes) was 10 TL (about R55) for 3 hours.

We first took the bikes to the hiking trail up the Pidgeon valley. 

Singletrack on the Pidgeon Valley hiking trail

One of the many tunnels on the Pidgeon Valley hiking trail

When the route became too technical for the non-existing front brakes, we turned around and rode towards the open air museum. A flat tyre made us walk back to the bicycle shop for a bike swap. The 'new' bike was a much better fit, but with equally non-existing front brakes. We then rode towards the Rose/Red Valley between weird rock formations. 

Singletrack!!!!!! This rut is easier down  than up, because it got so deep at places that the pedals got stuck on the sides. Nice berms :)

More singletrack on the way to the Rose/Red Valley


 We rented the bikes only for 3 hours, but easily could have continued the whole day and all the other days we were there, had we not had other touristy places to explore. If I ever go back to Cappadocia, it will be to do a hot air balloon tour (which got cancelled due to wind when we were there), to see mount Nemrut (too little time this time around), and to explore much more by bike.

Put it on your bucket list!






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