23 June, Aksaray to Göreme, 92km
Blue Moon Motel 80TL (breakfast included) (negotiated down from 110TL)

Today we climbed 100 hills. Okay, okay ... 50 hills that felt like 100! Climbed through potato and pumpkin fields, past grazing sheep and their friendly shepherds, cycling a portion of the ancient silk route with caravanserais advertised to left and right. Climbed under intermittent cloud cover, with a cooling breeze making the tough terrain less arduous. We had to walk only one brief segment and that on the first hill outside Aksaray between the hospital on the edge of town and the five-star hotel on the top of the hill beyond the city limits. Our first downhill of any real value came 76km into our day through the city of Nevşehir; our second between Uçhisar and Göreme. We arrived in this small town in the heart of Cappadocia feeling fresher than we had any right to expect, and pretty chuffed with ourselves if the truth be told. It was after 19:00 by the time we had located a hotel and showered, and so it was with a very real hunger we went out to dine on slow-cooked lamb and moussaka, knowing our sleep would be long and deep. 

Between Aksaray and Göreme

Between Aksaray and Göreme

Nevşehir

Uçhisar

Uçhisar

Between Uçhisar and Göreme

Göreme