Waking up for a 4am start isn’t most people’s idea of holiday fun, but when a hot air balloon ride to watch the sunrise is on the horizon (on the horizon.. get it) sacrifices have to be made!
I have wanted to travel to Turkey for a long time, and ever since I met a girl in a Hostel in Beirut who showed me photos of Cappadocia I knew I had to visit! After a few amazing days in Istanbul (more on that to come), the next stop on my itinerary was Cappadocia, specifically the town of Göreme.
When I arrived at Göreme I was a bit surprised at how much of a tourist town it is. I always wish I could have travelled back in the sixties when these places were just being discovered by travellers.
Today there are a lot of Chinese and Korean tourists, the majority of who seem to travel in groups shunted from site to site by tour buses. Although I did meet a cool Chinese girl in my Hostel who told me about her experience of being robbed in Morocco and her response was to hit him with a chair, grab her phone and run away! Haha.
I spent my first few days in Göreme getting a feel for the place and was pleased to find that by hiking out onto the walking trails into the valley you escape the crowds and get an up close and personal look at the landscape.
I booked my hot air balloon ride through my Hostel with Turkish air balloons, and it was arranged that the company would pick me up at 4.05am (ergh!) where I was taken to their centre for a pre flight breakfast. Now to be honest, I’d have rather had the extra half an hour sleep, as eating was the last thing I felt like doing, but I drank a few coffees and waited for the guide to announce whether or not the conditions were okay to fly. Apparently the week before five balloon rides had been cancelled due to weather conditions. Eek..
Luckily he gave us the go ahead around 5am and by 5.15am we were on our way to the field where we watched our balloon get inflated and fired up.
Cappadocia is famous for its hot air balloons, and on any given day you can see around 700 in the air at sunrise. Some balloons had already ascended when we got to the field and it was fascinating to watch the colours soar into the morning sky.
By around 5.30am we were up in the air. I can’t say it wasn’t a little scary. Seeing the flames so close to the material of the balloon. Not to mention when the balloon at one point descended right near one of the stone structures which looked it would be quite a painful landing to say the least! And then peering over the basket to the drop below.
However, after around 15 minutes or so, once we were up and away, I started to relax and enjoy the scenery.
There was something to watch in every direction, from the sun rising, to the rainbow of colourful balloons in the air around us, to the stone pillars, structures and valley below.
After around an hour of balloon riding, we landed where we were greeted with a mimosa each, as well as a certificate of completion for the balloon ride! A perfect ending to a fantastic morning!
It was definitely an experience to remember!
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