Next up was the underground cities of Derinkuyu and Kaymakli. This is not for the claustrophobic! These underground cities span up to 8 floors underground, with windy tunnels leading through them. Bring a flashlight in case the generator-powered lights go out. Some of the tunnels are very narrow with very low ceilings, so be prepared to end up doing a lot of crouching. The tunnels were used as an escape city when the cities were attacked above ground. You will see a giant circular rock that they used to roll into place to shut off the city from the invaders. It is thought that tunnels used to connect all of the houses in the town to this underground network.

Everything they needed to survive is found here. Ventilation shafts, kitchens, dining halls – the only thing we were wondering about was the restrooms. The two underground cities you can tour are apparently very similar. We satisfied ourselves with just seeing Kaymakli. To get there, we took a minibus to Neveshir, where we took a local bus to Kaymakli. It was pretty easy. When we got off the bus in Kaymakli, the driver refused to drive on until he saw we were walking in the right direction towards the underground city! These people are so incredibly nice. We had to cross the road, walk up a small street lined with souvenir shops and stalls (we knew we were getting close!) and hang a right at the end into the underground city.

Like in the open-air museum, getting around tour groups can be a bit of a hassle in the caves. I believe Kaymakli has the advantage here: It is less popular. Guides will try to sell you their services at the entrance. They are really not necessary. They will promise you you will get lost, you won’t understand what you’re seeing, etc etc. Whatever. It’s impossible to get lost, as the passages are all one-way with big arrows pointing up or down. You’d have to be blind. (ok so my epinion’s title isn’t quite true, but I just had to slip that in to my epinion’s content somewhere)