You Just Gotta See it For Yourself

Turkey! The land of Turkish delights, the Blue Mosque, and the most delicious food I have ever eaten. When my study abroad adventure began in Milan, I was eager to explore the bustling countries that we so frequently see on our device screens. The Eiffel Tower, London Bridge, and the Coliseum were just a few of the “must see” landmarks that were constantly being pushed on me. They are magnificent, however I wanted to go on an adventure away from tourists.

During our International Student Orientation I met an Aussie who had been travelling for months prior to the exchange and his exact words were, “it doesn’t matter what else you see, you have to go to Turkey, and if you can you MUST go to Cappadocia.”

I have traveled a fair amount in recent years, so am usually quite weary to get advice from people I just met, but for some reason I trusted this stranger, I believed in his enthusiasm and before I knew it, I was on a small plane taking me to the remote area of Cappadocia in Eastern Turkey. It was unlike anything I had every seen before.

I felt like I was lost in a lucid dream. The closest thing to describe it to would be something from a Dr. Seuss book. The area was first mentioned in scriptures from the 6th century BC. Houses were dug out of large volcanic peaks that poke out of the ground. Your daily way of life is cave life. You stay in unique rooms with the most breathtaking views, eat food freshly prepared by the locals, and hike the area which allows you to go into ancient caves, temples, and ruins and learn about multiple quests to conquer Cappadocia. Greeks, Romans, Turkish and Christians all wanted this land at some point, and all have left their mark.

The absolute highlight comes at the early hours of 3:00 AM where you see white shuttle buses weaving throughout the narrow alleys picking up guests from different caves. We are all being transported to a large field. Cappadocia is known for its hot air ballooning. As light appears in the sky, we boarded a hot air balloon and away we went. Hundreds of hot air balloons took flight and in the sky was a mosaic of abstract rocks and colorful balloons with a sunrise that is unlike anything you will ever see. This experience is completely unique to this area and something that MUST be experienced. You just gotta see it for yourself.

By: Nicolas Zdunich, a member of BCSA Writers in Residence team and a former #tweetsabroad scholarship winner. Nicolas majors in Communications and Public Relations at Thompson Rivers University.