Living in Cappadocia's Caves: A Conversation with Yusuf, Goreme Local of 40 Years
Yusuf Ozdemir is 52 years old and has lived in Goreme his entire life. He grew up in a cave house carved into the tufa rock — not a "cave hotel" designed for Instagram, but an actual family home where the kitchen was a carved-out room and the pantry stayed naturally cool year-round. He now runs a small carpet shop on the main street, where he tells tourists about natural dyes and quietly observes how his hometown has changed.
We drank tea on the terrace of his shop, overlooking the valley. In the distance, a few balloons were still descending from the morning flight.
What was Goreme like before the tourists came?
"When I was a child in the 1980s, Goreme had maybe 2,000 people. Everyone lived in cave houses. Not because it was exotic — because it was practical. The volcanic rock is easy to carve, it stays cool in summer and warm in winter, and our grandparents' grandparents had been doing it for a thousand years.
There were no hotels. No balloon rides — that started in the 1990s. No Instagram. People came occasionally — archaeologists, a few European backpackers — but tourism wasn't a thing.
We grew grapes, raised animals, and made wine in the cellars. My father kept pigeons in a dovecote carved into the cliff behind our house. The pigeon droppings were fertilizer — that's why there are so many carved pigeon houses in the valleys. It wasn't decoration. It was agriculture."
When did everything change?
"The balloons changed everything. When the first commercial balloon company started in the late 1990s, suddenly the whole world saw those sunrise photos. Then the UNESCO designation for the Open-Air Museum brought government attention and funding. Hotels started appearing in the 2000s. Cave houses became cave hotels. My neighbor sold his family home for a price that seemed insane at the time — now it's a boutique hotel charging EUR 200 a night.
The pace of change in the last 15 years has been... I don't have the word. Dizzying? My daughter works at a hotel reception desk and speaks four languages. My father spoke Turkish and a little Arabic. In one generation, Goreme went from a farming village to an international tourist destination."
Do you resent the tourism?
"No. And yes. Tourism gave my children opportunities I never had. The money flowing into Goreme has improved roads, healthcare, schools. My shop does well because tourists buy carpets.
But I miss the quiet. The Goreme I grew up in had donkeys on the streets and neighbors who knew every family for generations. Now there are ATVs roaring through the valleys and hotels playing music until midnight. The fairy chimneys don't care — they've been here for millions of years. But the village underneath them has changed in ways that sometimes make me sad.
The worst part? Some locals can't afford to live in Goreme anymore. Property prices have risen so much that young families move to Nevsehir or Urgup. The village is becoming a hotel district. That's not what a village is supposed to be."
"They come for 24 hours. One night, one balloon, one museum, goodbye. You can't understand this place in a day. The valleys take time. The underground cities take time. Just sitting on a terrace watching the light change on the fairy chimneys takes time — and that's not wasted time. That's Cappadocia.
Also, they only see Goreme and maybe the Open-Air Museum. There are dozens of valleys most visitors never enter. Soganli Valley, south of here, has cave churches with frescoes that rival the Open-Air Museum and nobody there. Ihlara Valley is a 14 km gorge with a river and Byzantine churches — most tourists skip it because it's 80 km away.
And the underground cities — Derinkuyu, Kaymakli — tourists rush through in 45 minutes. These places sheltered 20,000 people for months during invasions. Think about what that means. The ventilation systems, the stone rolling doors, the wine presses built underground. Spend an hour. Read the information panels. It's one of the most remarkable engineering achievements in human history and people take a selfie and leave."
What's your favorite spot in Cappadocia?
"Pasabag. What tourists call 'Monks Valley.' It has these multi-headed fairy chimneys — pillars of rock with caps balanced on top like hats. A hermit monk carved a chapel inside one of them centuries ago. You can still climb up and see it.
Pasabag is free to enter, open all the time, and most tour buses stop for 20 minutes. If you go early morning or late afternoon, when the buses have left, you can stand among those chimneys in silence and feel the age of the place. Millions of years of erosion carved those shapes. Humans have been living among them for millennia. And for a few minutes, it's just you and the rock."
What about the cave hotels — are they authentic?
"Some are. Some are built to look like caves but are actually concrete with a stone veneer. The authentic cave rooms are carved into the actual tufa rock — you can see the marks from hand tools and the natural texture of the stone. The walls are thick, which makes them naturally cool in summer and warm in winter. Real cave rooms have slightly uneven floors and low ceilings in places.
The best cave hotels maintained the original carved structure and added modern plumbing and electricity. Sultan Cave Suites, Museum Hotel, Koza — they're expensive but the cave rooms are genuine.
My advice: when you book, ask if the room is carved rock or built. Look for photos showing the raw stone walls. If it looks too smooth and uniform, it's probably not a real cave."
Tell me about the pottery tradition.
"Avanos, 10 km from Goreme, has been making pottery for 5,000 years. The Kizilirmak — the Red River — deposits iron-rich red clay that potters have used since the Hittites. My uncle was a potter. The technique of shaping on the wheel hasn't fundamentally changed.
Chez Galip is the most famous workshop — a bit theatrical for tourists, but the pottery is real and the demonstrations are genuine. Smaller workshops along the Avanos main street are quieter and you can often try the wheel yourself. A simple bowl costs TRY 30-50. A decorative piece costs TRY 100-500 depending on size and detail.
Buy pottery here, not in the souvenir shops in Goreme. The quality is better and the prices are lower because you're buying from the maker."
Is there anything about Cappadocia that still surprises you after 40 years?
"The morning light. Every single morning, when the sun comes over the eastern ridge and hits the fairy chimneys, the whole valley turns from grey to gold to pink in about 10 minutes. I've seen it thousands of times. It still stops me.
And the stars. On winter nights, when the air is cold and dry and there are no tourists, the stars over Cappadocia are extraordinary. No light pollution from the towns — they're small enough. The Milky Way stretches across the whole sky. I take my grandchildren out to see it and they don't believe that many stars exist."
Quick Recommendations from Yusuf
Best time: September-October (warm days, cool nights, harvest season)
Minimum stay: 3 nights
Best free experience: Sunrise over Love Valley watching the balloons from below
Best meal: Testi kebab at Dibek in Goreme
Best-kept secret: Soganli Valley, 50 km south — cave churches without crowds
Most overrated: The Instagram terrace breakfast photos (the food is average, the view is the point)
One thing to understand: "These rocks have been here for 30 million years. The balloons have been here for 30 years. Come for the rocks."
For planning your Cappadocia trip, read our 23 essential tips and our autumn travel guide. Pair Cappadocia with Istanbul for the complete Turkey journey. If ancient carved cities fascinate you, Petra is the natural comparison.
