One of the fascinating places to visit in Turkey is the city of Cappadocia. When the video’s with the hot balloons came out on the social media, it was quite evident – a woman’s dream must have come true. Our 2022 has started on a hot Air Balloon. It is not a recommended day to travel to Cappadocia neither taking the hot air balloon. December and January are the most coldest parts of the year and in the air it was around 3 degrees while being 150 meters above the ground brings the all mighty coldness of the winter air.
It is recommended not to travel to Cappadocia from Antalya in December
We live in Antalya city part of the Antalya region which has ancient cities like (Phalesis, Olympus, Perge, Ephesus) , the direct flights from Antalya to Cappadocia is seldom. My Japanese wife has an interesting view on life and wanted to meet the new years in Cappadocia. Hence, our trip started on the 30th of December 2021 at 5 a.m. At the time the weather for Antalya was full of hurricanes and the rain was horrendous. Upon arrival at the airport we have found out that the airplane due to the weather could not land in Antalya international airport. The flight got delayed by 2 hours and it was via Istanbul, meaning that our connecting flight in Istanbul to Cappadocia would have already gone by the time we arrived in the city. Understanding our predicament, Turkish airline staff have swiftly updated our flight from Istanbul to Cappadocia to leave later at night.
The service level in Turkey is a little bit lower than other Western countries
The biggest benefit of having the right tools with you is that most of our waiting time we have spent in the lounge and this makes the travel easier especially with the kids. The food is unlimited and there are other facilities that allow the smoothness of the transition especially when waiting for the flight. When we have finally got to Istanbul, we have found out a huge line waiting at the ticketing office. Although the Turkish airline staff have changed our flight to a later one, we have never receive the boarding passes. Staying at the line we have found out a lot of people especially that travelled abroad were facing way more difficulties than us. Also, Turkish airline has promised us a lounge pass which we have never received. It did not really matter since we already have our own passes but still as part of the service was a bit disappointing.
When you book a hotel in Cappadocia make sure its central
The Cappadocia airport where we have arrived is 40 minutes away from the Cappadocia hotel where we have stayed. For the first two nights, we have stayed at the Double Tree Hotel by Hilton in Cappadocia. In comparison to the Double Tree hotels that we have experienced in South East Asia, it can be said that this building is out dated and far too old. I have even found out that the landlines that are used by the hotel is made by Alcatel-Lucent (this company was sold to Nokia half a decade ago).
All inclusive hotels in Turkey with the whole night entertainment
Most of the hotels around Turkey have a set course of meals and drinks with the entertainment for the New Years. This is one of the reasons why we have booked the hotel at the Hilton hotel as all inclusive (5 meals and unlimited drinks costed us 50 euro per adult and 30 per child). Children could not stand the loud music and after having 3 dishes went back to bed, while our party has continued with the wife. Of course the prices are not local friendly but was amazed us the most that we were the only foreigners in the ballroom and the rest were Turkish people enjoying local Cappadocian celebrity singing and dancing whole night long.
After the new years celebration it was quite fascinating seeing hungover people turning up for breakfast. It looks like that they all had a fantastic entertainment and enjoyed their relevant nights. After the breakfast we have moved to the infamous Cappadocia caves hotel.