Kapadokya Balloons

Its 4 o’clock in the morning when the alarm sounds. We were asked to call Lars, from Kapadokya Balloons in Goreme, to see if he had some space left in one of the baskets. We were exited as the Cappadocia area is rated as one of the best places, (maybe the best) in the world for hot air ballooning, The nearly windstill conditions and the extreme landscape make this a perfect site to fly. Kapadokya Balloons is well known in the area as the best and safest company.

Elles made the call and weeehaaa, there was a possibility to fly today. We were awake in a second and jumped in our clothes. Excited we left the guesthouse quietly as its was still dark and rushed to the office. We were greeted with a cup of tea and half an hour later we drove to ‘our balloon’ which was ready to be deployed. It was amazing to see how they filled the balloon. First with a propellor and later warming the air with flames.

The landscape that resembles being on the moon, is best seen from the sky at sunrise, we were told. The thousands of weird shaped pinnacles are a sight not to be missed. After the safety instructions it was time to fly. Gently we lifted of the ground and hooverd like a feather in the wind. The great thing about flying here is that its possible to fly high but also very low. The near windstil conditions make it possible to manouvrer the balloon through the little canyons. We even picked peaches from the trees!! The flight lasted about an hour. We flew through canyons and over parts of Goreme, all very very exciting. The landing was perfect and, as a tradition, the flight was celebrated afterwards with a beer on the spot where we landed. Believe us, beer never tasted this good at 7 in the morning!

For more information about ballooning with Kapadokya Balloons check their website at www.kapadokyaballoons.com