In Cappadocia we took a full rest day as we hadn’t really had one since leaving Istanbul. The campsite in the town of Avanos that we stayed at was a really friendly family run place with a bunch of facilities and even a swimming pool. The first day in Cappadocia we spent just resting in the campsite and wandering around the town. 

 
Avanos is a lovely town by a river and in a region that draws huge crowds it managed to avoid being dominated by hotels and guest houses. It’s not right in the heart of Cappadocia, but only 10km away from the main sights. With the bikes it was perfectly situated to go out and look around the region during the day and come back to a nice small but active town at night.

 

 
On our second day we went out to look around the region. Visited the open air museum which holds a lot of the best rock-carved churches and their frescoes (not allowed to take pictures in most of them)

 

  
       
We then tooled around in the Rose Valley for a while (once we found the trailhead from which to enter, quite difficult.)

 

   

I can’t really describe it properly, so check out these photos:

   
    
  
  
We returned to the campsite to find a wedding in full swing. It actually finished up quite early, before 11. I guess when there’s no booze everyone just goes home earlier.

  
Our last day was spent around Avanos and doing maintenance on the bikes in the campsite. We also managed to find a French run bar in Avanos to watch the RWC match versus France, which was a bit of a laugh. We had a great few days of rest in a spectacular landscape in Cappadocia and after it all we were ready for the next leg of the cycle, out to the Black Sea.