Chez Galip

Chez Galip in Avanos is one of Cappadocia's best-known pottery workshops — and home to one of Turkey's most eccentric museums. Avanos sits on the Kızılırmak River, whose red clay has been used for ceramics for millennia, and master potter Galip İnce is among the region's most recognized craftsmen. The real curiosity lies beneath the workshop: a cave whose walls are blanketed with over 16,000 locks of hair left by female visitors from around the world. The tradition began in the 1970s when a departing friend tucked a strand of hair behind as a keepsake. Twice a year, Galip holds a lottery among donors — each lock comes with a slip of paper bearing the donor's name and address — awarding a holiday in Cappadocia as the prize. Visitors can also try their hand at the pottery wheel and purchase ceramics on site.