Even before I moved to Turkey I've heard from just about everyone that Cappadocia is the coolest place in Turkey, if not the world. In fact, a friend of mine from Chile spent a year traveling the world and said that Cappadocia was by far the most fascinating.
It took me 2 1/2 years to finally get there, but I can now understand and agree with all of those people. Located in central Anatolia, Cappadocia is composed of several small towns which have been interconnected culturally for thousands of years. The towns; Uçhisar, Göreme, Ürgüp, Kayseri, Avanos and Nevşehir all offer very different topographies, activities, histories and cultural selling points. I am going to do a blog about the work I was doing in Cappadocia later, but for now, I just wanted to share with you all just one activity that is a must in Cappadocia; the sunrise hot air balloon ride.
We got picked up from our hotel at 5:30 am and shuttled to the launching pad for the hot air balloons.
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| Our balloon |
Before our balloon ride got started, we watched as the crew prepped the balloon in line before us...
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| The hot air balloon in line before us getting fired up |
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| Add caption |
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| lift off! |
And then it was our turn...
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| our balloon getting fired up |
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| the awesome crew getting the air and gas just right |
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| going up! |
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| and we're up |
I should mention that I have somewhat of a fear of heights. There had also been bad weather the day before, which led to the company postponing our flight a day, and the morning we flew there was still a bit of wind. However, watching the incredibly professional crew set everything up so carefully and knowing that they wouldn't fly in bad conditions was very reassuring.
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| all the other ballons taking off after us |
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| view out in the direction of Avanos |
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| mom, bright and early |
After floating along for about 15 minutes, we started approaching the town of natural rock formations near Göreme. The rocks were formed from volanic eruptions, leaving cave-like dwellings in cone-shaped structures. While they're not sure when they were first inhabited, people have lived in them for thousands of years and carved out windows, tables, graves, altars, etc. to suit their living purposes.
Our "Captain" flew us into the valleys to get an upclose look at some of the rock formations and then would lift us up over the next ridge. Difficult to do normally, and even more so with the slightest hint of wind.
Once we had flown over most of Göreme, we slowly floated until we found a good landing spot.
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| a balloon landing before us |
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| deflation process |
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| about to come down |
And we landed! Our only specific instructions during the whole ride were for the landing - we had to face one direction, bend our knees and lean back a bit in order to brace ourselves and tilt the basket slightly backwards. There was a slight impact, as one might expect.
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| mom getting her flight certificate with Captain Carlos |
All in all, the flight was a little over an hour - from about 6:45 to 8 - and by the time we landed we were surprised at how warm it had been up in the air as opposed to the cold morning air down on the morning ground.
Anyone from D.C. or who has been to the Smithsonian "the Air Up there" which has been playing on repeat every day at the Air and Space Museum will understand the feeling of flying over land in such a way, but I have to say, this hot air balloon ride was unlike anything else. So cool.
Our "Captain" flew us into the valleys to get an upclose look at some of the rock formations and then would lift us up over the next ridge. Difficult to do normally, and even more so with the slightest hint of wind.
Once we had flown over most of Göreme, we slowly floated until we found a good landing spot.
