5 Things to do In Cappadocia, Turkey on a Budget

Take pictures at Galerie Ikman- $12 USD

 kay I am no where near a professional photographer, and I am not usually one to pay to take photos of myself… but it is totally worth it to visit the Galerie Ikman carpet shop if you want some great Turkish looking photos. I personally rarely buy souvenirs, as they are hard to carry around while on the road and can start to break the bank. My favorite souvenir to get are pictures of myself in front of landmarks or any of significant scenery that makes my destination unique. So is it worth it to pay $ 12 (100 Turkish lira) to take dozens of photos of yourself in a carpet shop in Cappadocia? ABSOLUTELY YES! These are some of the best photos I have of myself traveling, and all of the colorful carpets are truly aesthetic! After visiting other countries that also
have colorful carpets such as Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan, I have always wanted some great shots with these beautiful rugs that I could use for my blog and to post on social media. I had my boyfriend take hundreds of
photos of me on his iPhone 12 (please note that you take your own pictures for this price, so if you are a solo traveler make sure to bring a tripod). The price for these photos ($12) is a fixed price. It doesn’t matter if you
take 3 photos or 200, it will still be the same cost (I tried asking for a cheaper price if I agreed only take a couple photos.) But trust me, once you start taking pictures and trying different poses, the time will fly by and
you will end up not having any storage left on your phone. You can also pay extra to have a professional photographer or drone service, but I felt satisfied with only paying $12 and still ended up having a lot of mostly decent pictures. I found that if my boyfriend just goes up the staircase located in the shop, he can get a very similar above angle that a drone would get. I am very awkward when it comes to pictures and never know how to pose, so don’t worry about not knowing what to do! Just try a bunch of poses, whatever feels right, because all of the carpets surrounding you will make you look awesome no matter what! Make sure to try and go when the sun is lower in the sky and not directly above you so that you have the best lighting for the photos! Paying $12 will get you 15 minutes of photo time, but we ended up staying about 30 because no one was there and the owners didn’t kick us out so,..why not make the most of the money even more?! Another location that I did
not personally go to, but have heard of is called “Sultan Carpet Shop”. They have Turkish lamps everywhere and also carpets, but you can not get the famous over the head angle shot as there are not stairs. The cost is
the same in both shops so its up to you to decide if you want to go to one or both!

Visit the valleys- FREE

There are two main and famous valleys in Cappadocia that are worth checking out! These include 1)Pigeon valley and
2) Love Valley.
These are free to visit and may require a car or other transport to get to, depending on where you are staying. These valleys are stunning with fairy chimneys and caves surrounding you as well as the mountains in the distance. These also have the famous “penis” shaped rocks that you will see in a lot of typical Cappadocia pictures. If you want to get up close and personal with the nature, chimneys, cave houses, and penis rocks that make Cappadocia such a unique and special destination, I recommend doing this free activity and visit the two valleys.