Unusual ice-cream, broken cameras & belly dancers...

The best way to see Cappadocia (other than by hot air balloon) is by foot. So after admiring the sunrise balloons once again, we headed out on a hike through the surreal landscape.

We gazed up at the rock formations and cave-like houses (still used today).

We wandered through the pink rose valley…

And along vegetable patches from the residents.

Then disaster struck – whilst climbing up a rock to get a better view, I dropped my camera! Not ideal in the dusty, rocky surrounding and the lens was damaged and the camera wouldn’t open – nightmare. Fortunately I also travel with the iPad so post our 5km walk, I grabbed that to continue picture taking…but apologies for the drop in picture quality.

iPad in hand, we headed to Avanos – Cappadocia’s pottery town. Our tour guide quipped that “even the blind can find their way to Avanos” – due to the broken pottery paving the way.

First stop was a pottery shop where the owner showed us his craft…

And how strong his baked pots are!

Before I got a chance to try…

I’m not going to switch jobs though as my attempt at a sugar point had a serious fault!

We also wandered around his shop, admiring the skilled paintwork and interesting designs…

Then we went into Avanos for lunch where I had balloon pita with tomato paste (something I was growing very fond of in Turkey)…

Followed by a feast of BBQ chicken!

To add to the food feast we then walked along the river which splits Avanos in two (Kızılırmak – also the longest river in Turkey) to Mado, a Turkish ice cream parlor!

After salivating over the enticing menu, I chose walnut baklava with ice cream.

However this ice cream is different to any ice cream I’ve ever eaten – you need a knife and fork to eat it!

Mado ice cream is a strange texture – dense and almost gum-like which is all down to their secret formula!

It’s origins come from mixing molasses, honey and fruit with snow. It’s made from goat’s milk and using a special beating method.

By this point I was stuffed!

I had a lazy couple of hours by the pool (while everyone else when for a hamam) before heading into the nearby quad bike tracks for a run.

We went for dinner at a ‘Turkish Experience’ place - Uranos Restaurant.

It is a restaurant carved into the rocks serving traditional Turkish food and local Cappadocian cuisine.

But the reason for going wasn’t so much the food, but the amphitheatre style set-up with various dances taking place in the middle of the venue, including belly dancing.