Cappadocia, the probably most expensive region in Turkey. Most people come here for their honeymoon and leave a lot of money there. So how is it possible to visit it for free? Read this article and find out.
How to get to Cappadocia for free?
Getting to Cappadocia for free is quite easy. Just hitchhiking, that is something which is working very well in Turkey. You can come from Gaziantep, Ankara or Antalya quite easily there. Probably the easiest is getting to Konya and then further.
Actually getting to Goreme (the place everyone is reaching) is a bit harder than Cappadocia, because for that you need someone who is actually going there or surrounding. Driving through Goreme isn’t something that common, most people drive around to reach other places.
Still it is not hard getting there, due to the high amount of people who are driving to the place. In Turkey hitchhiking is not hard in general, especially as you go further east.
How to sleep for free in Cappadocia?
Sleeping in Cappadocia for free is actually the easiest of all. You just go into the mountainous nature and search for an old cave and climb in it.
It is important to have warm equipment and an air mattress when coming in Winter and also it will be hard if you have a dust allergy, due to the high amount of dust inside the caves. You are quite hidden there usually, because most people are surprisingly not exploring it that much, at least when I was visiting.
When having a dust allergy or being claustrophobic, then better just bring a tent and put it up somewhere in nature and do some camping. It is easy and quite nice, then you just won’t have a cave experience. To this topic I wrote another article,click here to read more about it.
How to get food for free in Cappadocia?
This is the only tricky point in this challenge. Dumpster diving isn’t really possible, I haven’t even realized a supermarket and due to the mixed trash it is not working well in Turkey, so there is just one way left, besides table diving, which is mentally way harder to do in my opinion, than what I did.
In Cappadocia there are many restaurants, so just go to them and ask for some old bread. The biggest issue, besides overcoming the fear of being judged, is that there are not many restaurants, so after a few days you are done with all.
When asking for old bread they often invite you for a little meal, which is super nice and works quite well, even though it is a tourist hotspot.
What is the difficulty level here compared to the rest of the country?
I found it a bit harder than in the rest of Turkey. The food part wasn’t easy, especially being around all those tourists who are leaving a lot of money. You just feel like a lower grade and a lot of judgment, which felt bad. I was in the situation because it was happening during a challenge not because of lack of money.
It worked, but it is just mentally hard in my opinion.
How is Cappadocia when doing it for free?
When thinking of a place in which there isn’t much to do and almost all things you could do is something you need to pay for. Then how to be in this environment and going to spend nothing? This is just making the whole scenario worse and you are going to not enjoy it at all.
Of course it is great that you can save a lot of money and still go to see the balloons. Actually seeing the balloons away from the tourists was great and probably is actually something I prefer, same as sleeping in general away from everyone.
This was something very tempting to do again, because I was enjoying it a lot. Also spending a long time in restaurants in which you don’t pay to charge your phone is also something which makes you feel weird.
Summary
Living a life abroad while spending no money is possible and working out well, especially when moving around. Cappadocia, one of the most expensive regions in Turkey, is also possible to do, it isn’t involved with comfort, but it is something which you could do.
There are always options, in countries in which you can move around freely, and you can decide which path you want to take. I am just showing you a part which you could take, but it is not for everyone, it is hard and not comfortable. When spending at least a little bit of money, it could be for sure way more comfortable, but when you are on a challenge, then enjoy it and I hope you don’t do it alone, because alone it will be quite lonely in Cappadocia, the honeymoon place in Turkey!
