Follow My Vaca: November 2015

Mangerie Brunch

A little hard to find, and up a couple flights of stairs, Mangerie has a beautiful outdoor patio overlooking the Bosphorus in what looks like a modernized home. We were seated on the balcony, and had originally come here for the Turkish Breakfast, but couldn't help but indulge in a few other dishes from the menu.

We started with a couple cocktails and some spiced nuts as we perused the rest of the menu.

Local olives and bread

Another Cocktail

Traditional Turkish Breakfast

Additional Mezes

Steak Tartare

Scallops

Overall the food here was delicious, and the ambiance delightful.

We finished off with some coffee since we still had the whole rest of the day to go!

Turkish Coffee Served with Turkish Delight

Hot-Air Ballooning

A very popular activity in the area is hot-air ballooning. The best time to go is in the early morning, partly because of how the winds are, and mostly due to how beautiful it is watch the sun rise over such a magnificent terrain. Below are a bunch of pictures from before and during our flight. This is basically a photo post, but words feel unworthy.

Cappadocia - Where we stayed

So there are a handful of regions in Cappadocia, but for us we wanted to stay somewhere that we could enjoy the beauty of the area even from our hotel. We settled on a cave hotel in Goreme called Kelebek and were very happy with our choice.

Kelebek was both great for coordinating our tours, transportation, and baloon ride but also offered a fantastic local valley brunch, partnering with a family nearby.

Sitting Area Outside our Room

Goreme seen from above

Uchisar Castle in the Distance

Goreme with Rose Valley in Background

Atop Uchisar

Cappadocia - Home of Pretty Rocks

Our first real stop in Turkey would be Cappadocia.

The place is boiling over with history and culture, which I could write pages about - but Wikipedia probably does a much better job anyway. It is worth noting there is a ton of history here.

The idea that I'd like to convey the most is how beautiful of a place this is, in a fully unconventional sense.

White Valley

Rose Valley

The different formations are due to a history of an active volcanic region, resulting in a bunch of different kinds of rock - sedimentary, volcanic, and some generic hard rock - that result in a beautiful landscape and occasional independent structures called fairy chimneys

Taking Bets on When This Guy Falls

Pair of Chimneys looking Phallic

ABC Bike Tour Bangkok

This post could have been something bigger, but sometimes laziness dominates good work. We did a bike tour while in Bangkok (ABC Bike Tour,) which was quite an enjoyable day. It included some back alley tours of the inner city, a tour of a couple different markets, a boat ride, and the opportunity to try a bunch of different snacks. The big takeaway from this post should be that Miang Kham is delicious.