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Day 46: With one day only in Cappadocia, we decided to take the sights at our own pace by renting a car. Heading east from Goreme towards Urgup, we encountered some of the strange mushroom rock formations by the side of the road. These odd outcrops were formed when a hard layer of rock was overlaid over softer rock which then eroded over time. Passing through Urgup we visited the Derwent Valley, which contained some of the most concentrated clusters of Cappadocia’s famous “fairy chimneys” - sandstone pinnacles which are broad-bottomed but which taper to a fine point.

Next stop was the beautifully restored caravanseri a few clicks out of Kayseri. One of the original stops on the Silk Road connecting China to Istanbul, in its time the sandstone building was a protected resting place for travellers on the long journey. It’s now used as an evening performance space for Whirling Dervishes.

After a lunch stop back in Goreme, we headed south via Nevsehir to the underground city of Derinkuyu, where we took a guided tour through the depths of this impressive eight storey underground city complex. Not a place for the claustrophobic, with narrow passageways most only large enough to allow a single person to pass, we descended several levels through bedrooms, a rudimentary chapel and kitchens complete with olive oil presses.

With the benefit of our own transport we were able to head 10km west to Ozluce, one of the less-visited of the underground cities. We almost missed it and were only alerted to the location by a local man who came running after us with the key and then turned on the lights once we entered. This underground city had a very different feel, comprising larger rooms with with arched roof supports, tall enough in most parts to stand comfortably and connected by a single large throughway. It was a good spot to visit as the comparison with the narrow crawl spaces of Derinkuyu could not have been more stark.

Our final stop for the day was at Uchisar Castle, the irregular rocky outcrop which enjoys excellent sunset views over the surrounding countryside and back towards Goreme.