On Cloud Nine with Kappadokya Balloons

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Ibrahim loaned us an alarm clock, Suleyman arranged a 3.30 AM wake up call and I phoned at 3.45 to make sure conditions were favourable.  They were - and shortly thereafter a vehicle arrived to take us to their Goreme office where we had a light breakfast of hot drinks and snacks before setting off

Lars our Swedish pilot operates Kappadokya Balloons with his English wife Kaili.  Flights take place at sunrise and last from 60 to 90 minutes depending on conditions.  They are backed up by a great ground crew.  There were only two balloons in the air this morning, unfortunately we were in the prettier balloon, making it unavailable to feature in my photos!

Ready for the off, feeling a bit chilly and looking rather more confident than we felt

  Kaili and her eight passengers follow along

Not sure what to expect we were somewhat surprised by how peaceful it was up there.  Excepting the occasional blast from the burner it was totally silent with no sensation of wind 

Soaring high above the Red Valley at times brushing the tops of the fruit trees beloa.  Had there been fruit we would have been able to reach out and pick it.  Not far below Lars spotted a red fox and followed it along the valley

 

 

We appeared to drift from one glorious location to another but in truth Lars had a lot more control than I had realized was possible

Down To Earth with a bump

Some times we could see our ground crew,  several rendezvous were arranged but conditions continued to be great so Lars sent them off to meet us somewhere else.   We were in the air for 1 hour and 45 minutes

 

Eventually we had to come down, landing in a field of glorious spring flowers.  The ground crew caught Kailie's basket as she landed but Lars advised us to adopt the landing position as he expected a bumpy touch down 

It was less than dramatic and the basket remained upright.  Safely back on the ground we were treated to Cloud Nine cocktails, (Champagne and cranberry juice) cookies and cake 

Then it was time to help our patient ground crew to pack up the balloons, which involved nothing more strenuous than rolling around on them until they gave up and collapsed 

As luck would have it we landed quite close to Ayvali and arrived back at Gamirasu in time to have a more substantial breakfast

 

Iceridede Valley

 

Carved high up on the walls above the stream are many dovecotes.  Few are as pretty as these.  Doves, symbols of peace and love seem especially dear to the hearts of Turks.  We were hoping for some lovely romantic explanation for this apparent devotion but Ibrahim assured us they were cosseted for their 'guano', rich in phosphates and ammonia.  Oh well

Just us, the birds, bees, butterflies and flowers

  'Ibrahim's Valley' a peaceful place to walk and explore

               Gamirasu Monastery Fresco 

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