As we arrived in Cappadocia I could immediately feel something was different about the place. It was dusk and everything was drenched in a golden orange and purple haze as if someone had staged gargantuan coloured lights in each corner of the region. What makes Cappadocia completely fantastical though, is the soft stone which can be carved to produce doors, windows and homes.

I had seen pictures of the town, Goreme, we were staying in, but nothing prepares you for the whimsical experience of sleeping in a modernised hotel carved into a rock. Our hotel room had electricity and was warmed by the fireplace in the corner of the room. We had running water, a high-pressure shower, everything you would expect in a high-end hotel, only we were in a cave. It was incredibly special. The room was cosy, yet larger than most hotel rooms and beautifully decorated. The hotel itself had a rooftop area where you could enjoy the vast view over a glass of wine. It was quite a spectacular view, being so high up.

This city was hard to comprehend- stunningly beautiful yet incredibly unusual. Doors and windows were carved in every exposed bit of rock implying that someone had made home there, yet many of them were so obscurely high up with no reasonable way to reach it from the ground. It looked like something out if a children’s’ storybook.

The day after we arrived we walked to the Goreme Open-Air Museum which was originally built as a Monastery and inhabited hundreds of years ago. The vast difference to anything else you would find around the world though is it is a commune built out of large caves. There were various chapels with astounding images painted on the ceiling and walls, living quarters including kitchens and dining rooms. Several rooms were carved out of the rock obscurely high up with only a thin set of precarious stairs to the entrance also carved out the rock. I’m not sure anyone dealt with vertigo back then!? We explored for a couple of hours, leaving feeling enlightened by how people once lived, heading back to the comforts of our hotel room in our own little cave.

Early the next morning we were up at 5 am and exploring again, only from above. We decided to experience an adventure in a hot air balloon. We picked a reputable company who picked us up at the crack of dawn and drove us to our hot air balloon, which was waiting in what looked like a derelict dessert. Once we were up though it was quite magical, even if I was sleepy-eyed and a little disgruntled at having to get up so early. We sailed over fantastical rock formations which had the likeness of a ginormous mushroom. They littered the bare, dense landscape as if dropped from the sky standing brazenly in what would otherwise be mundane. I am not sure I have seen anything so illusory produced by nature. Our guide explained the ‘giant rock mushrooms’ were formed by the wind, but the small windows and doors were carved by people as they were once used as houses and churches.

We spent the next few days exploring the astounding area, never once coming away from seeing something without immense feelings of awe. Cities built in BC, carved out of rock underground and going down as deep as 7 stories or even more. Countless mountain bike or walking trails where encountering hidden caves transformed into homes or churches, now abandoned was recurrent. Vast areas of dry and barren land, once inhabited by thousands with only the remains of doors and windows carved out of the rock face. The landscape always surprised and always inspired.

Being there at the time of Easter though made it particularly special. The area is predominantly Muslim, yet its beginnings were formed by Christianity. The houses underground and in caves were built by Christians who had fled there, hiding in fear of persecution. Most places we visited were in impeccable condition despite being thousands of years old and often out in the open, braving the elements. Everyone we met in Cappadocia was incredibly courteous and kind, never tiring of directing us to something else which was ‘not to be missed’.

We were unable to view everything in the short time we were there, I am sure it would take weeks and even then there would always be something new to discover. In fact, more underground cities and hidden dwellings are still being discovered and unearthed. But even though we were there less than a week the time in Cappadocia was immensely impacting.

There was no whisper of Easter on any street or corner. Easter eggs were unheard-of, and the bright colours were formed by the sun, rather than the banners and announcements of the season in stores. Yet Easter seemed more vivid than I had experienced before. I had not visited the area with any preconceived ideas or goals. But I left knowing I had experienced my own little pilgrimage.