Thank you both for your kind words about my photos.
Taranaki Chick, as far as budget, I was joking around with friends and saying that, at the price for late March travel, I couldn't afford to stay at home. I had to use up miles before they expired, so my air ticket to Istanbul from New Orleans was I think between $60 to $90 after I paid the tax. Don't remember exactly but it was under $100 for the round trip ticket. So my budget to get from Louisiana to Turkey was pretty minimal.
A lonely planet poster from Spain gave me a link, so I could buy the ticket from Istanbul to Kayseri for a reasonable price using a Turkish travel agency that specializes in cheap tickets to Kayseri. I paid about $145 all-in to have flexibility to be able to change my ticket if I missed my flight, but there were discount tickets for even less, up to about half the price I paid. I can look up that link in my private mail if you need it. Just PM me!
I ordered ground transport to/from Kayseri airport, I think this was another $25? Around that. It wasn't bad, considering the distance -- over an hour's drive to Goreme.
In Goreme I stayed at the Dream Cave, and it was really a minimal price for a nice private room with private bath, I was quoted in euros, but actually paid in dollars, but I think it ended up being around $25 a day after it got changed and charged on my credit card. Breakfast included. Really a nice host. It was a younger male host, but I never felt uneasy or that he would try to "hit" on me as a solo female. Very comfortable situation. However, there were also hostels available if you wanted to save more money or did not feel easy being in a solo situation. Don't know the price but I've got to assume they're even cheaper, depending on the time of year. Keep in mind, my trip was the end of March and there was still snow!
You could enter Goreme National Park and walk on the trailheads for free. Enjoy it before some Turkish Ronald Reagan gets in there and puts in all kinds of user fees for the hikers. You pay to enter some attractions such as Goreme Open Air Museum, Dark Church, etc. but the fees weren't real huge compared to the US.
It's a wine growing area but wine by the glass was tourist priced but not ridiculously overpriced, say, $4 a glass average. Restaurant meals were the same way, they're not giving anything away, but they're not ridiculous either. I don't have the appetite I did when I was younger but I figured $20 a day for food and I had money left over to blow on the glass of wine, ha ha. However, these days, I don't have the appetite of youth and I only eat two meals a day, and my breakfast was included, so I was putting the whole food budget toward dinner. Breakfast comes with piles and piles of bread, that will only end up going to the pigeons if you don't eat it, so I would put the left over bread in a ziplock bag for my hikes. So breakfast really covered lunch as well for me. A younger person, especially a younger large person or a younger male person, would probably need to have a bigger food budget.
Renting a car or taking a tour where someone else drives, as I did for Ilhara, was probably close to USA prices for that day, but I'm not recalling the exact number now. I do know I spent so little money the other days that I didn't mind the expense of joining the tour. If you have a real tight budget, do more free hikes around Goreme and Uchisar, there are plenty more I didn't get to, and don't hire a car/tour to get to Ilhara.
This is definitely a trip that someone can do on a very tight budget and still enjoy the best of the area. In fact, being "broke" will discourage some of the guys from trying to sell you carpets (tee hee) so you might enjoy the area more than the obviously well-to-do person.
