what in the world are fairy chimneys?

So far my mini trip from Istanbul has been great! I'm currently in Konya. I got here this morning from goreme, a town in the capadocia region. I was really expecting capadocia to be completely overrated, touristy, and really just boring. More of the same everywhere you went in the area. I was wrong. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The landscape reminds me the American southwest in the background of fairy chimneys and rock cut Byzantine churches. It's really incredible, this place. The first day I was on my own and just wandered around goreme, one of the towns in which people live in houses carved from the rocks. Today they are all hotels. I met a really nice Turkish man who is a guide and we chatted for awhile an then he got me a really good price on a hot air balloon ride. Wait. What? Hot air balloon? Is this real? I don't think I have experienced such a thing before in my life. It wa incredible. The next few days I saw the rest of capadocia with an italian guy I met in istanbul who was there at the same time. Hes been really helpful with my italian. I think i spoke more italian than english yesterday. We went to an open air museum. Basically a valley with more cave homes and churches you can climb around on and hike through. Really beautiful. We climbed more than one mountain and a rock cut castle for some awesome panoramas. Then went below ground to an ancient subterranean city. Again, what? The hostel I stayed in was great as well. I stayed in their large dorm room, essentially 20 small matresses lining the walls of a big room on the roof with porches on every side and a terrace. Being a small town, at night the sky is so clear. I did not want to leave capadocia, but I needed to move on if I am going to see everything I want in this short amount of time. So this morning I arrived in Konya, a large and conservative town south of goreme. The home of Sufism and the mausoleum of rumi. I met an Italian girl on The bus. She was The most talkative person i have aver met and The most forceful. We saw The mevlana museum and an old masque together and Then she left. Im currently sitting in a café on a hill named aladdiin, listening to the call to prayer, drinking way too much tea. It's nice, but I don't so much like Konya. After I see catalhoyuk tomorrow, I'm heading to Antalya. Mediterranean here I come!