It is hard to imagine a good reason for being up at 3:15; but if ever there was one, this morning's adventure is it!! We are waiting for our ride and Ben and Randy have the clever idea of waiting down by the main road at the foot of our steep driveway. After a van passes twice, they flag it down and find they are looking for us! It is a bit after 4:30 and it whisks us away to our hot-air balloon ride over Kapadocia! This is a larger van than our tour guide's because there are LOTS of people going on a balloon ride! When we arrive at the launch (?) site we see a herd of neo-balloonists and a table with hot water and various colored powders. We guess at their identities as coffee, creamer, hot chocolate and, er, tang?? I combine the first three while Ginger checks us in. I made a bad choice, or perhaps just got the proportions wrong. At any rate, I'd rather be taking photos than standing around clutching a hot paper cup!
At first we only see one or two baskets; but more and more arrive on their trailers being pulled by large pick-up trucks. The whole balloon kit comes on the same truck and it is fascinating to watch the crew unroll the balloon on the ground, attach it to the basket and set up the fan that fills it with air. The basket is firmly roped to the truck and it is a good thing because the next step involves heating the air with jets of flame! What a great visual with the initial flames making the balloons glow against the early morning darkness!
When we boarded our van, we were given tickets to wear around our necks. As our balloon is one of the first to being the inflating process, our group is led through the waiting throng to prepare to board. Our code is TC-BYE which I find rather inauspicious!!
There are seventeen people in our basket. Just think on that a minute as you contemplate the size (small) of the basket. I'm the last to board from our end and it is as complicated process as inflating the balloon! These short legs don't reach as far as most people's and climbing up the holes in the side doesn't really get me high enough to swing my leg over the top, not to mention the fear or clocking one of my fellow passengers! Surprisingly enough I do manage to find a space inside and at least I'm smart enough to take out my other lens before dropping my bag on the floor. There would have been no way to get it later!
Our captain give us brief instructions which I can't hear over the noise of the gas keeping the air hot - which we very much want! Randy is wedged in next to me and tells me that if told, we are to face out, grab the handle and bend our knees. Not sure the last is possible!
A photographer snaps our picture and we realize that we are off the ground, but no one noticed exactly when! It is so smooth! This is a marvelous experience. When the gas is off there isn't a sound as the world below looks like those stereo photos that were all the rage a century or more ago! This is so much better than a plane!
You are so close that I could see a rabbit on the ground! At one point we though surely we would crash into an upward jutting rock! We think our captain is just showing off as he "guns the engine" and we pick up just in time! He does a similar trick with a power line!
It is fun to watch our shadow and the twenty-five or thirty other balloons in the air with us! Many are from our company with the same beautiful rainbow of primary colors as ours; but there is a bright yellow one, a solid blue one and in the distance a fleet of lilac ones! Because the pilot has very little control over our direction we are all being blown in about the same direction and our chase crew must stay in radio contact to know where to pick us up.
As we prepare to descend, the captain tells us to look up and the balloon will smile at us
The landing is remarkable! The balloon is brought down right onto the trailer! The ground crew positions the basket and the balloon begins to deflate while we debark. That's a trip, too! I wind up sitting on the edge of the basket and a strong young man takes me in his arms and deposits me on terra firma!
There is a table awaiting us with champagne and orange juice and as our mimosas are served our pilot tells us that the first balloon trip was taken by two Frenchmen with a rooster, a sheep and a duck. When they returned safely to land they celebrated with, of course, champagne! Ever since balloon captains have followed the tradition to honor them! Our captain pops the cork and sprays us all before beginning to pour. He makes a creation out of the cork and its wire cage and when Nick guesses it is a balloon, he receives it as a gift!
We are also given certificates with our names on then, taken from the form we filled out before the flight. Thinking it was some sort of legal release I used my real first name. (If you don't know it, you won't learn it here!) By the time it went through the Turkish language filter it became something quite unique and if I ever become a belly dancer, it would be perfect!
We are delivered back to our cave and most of our family decides on a little nap before breakfast at 8:30. I don't nap well, so I try to catch up a bit on the blog and pretty soon the cavemen emerge on a hunting/gathering mission. Andy, Randy and I are the first to explore the breakfast buffet. We've come to expect excellence in the marvelous country and, once again, we are not disappointed! There is sliced cheese, salami (much better than our version), feta, two kinds of olives, crumbled cheese, hard-boiled eggs,watermelon, another delicious but unknown melon, honey and other toppings a bundt cake and a delightful outdoor seating area. There are glasses beside the coffee pot and Andy and I pour our coffee and go outside. To our chagrin we learn that the glasses were for the apricot (?) nectar and there are coffee cups at the table. Oh well. Andy pours his into his cup but I figure I've already got it, so may as well drink from it! I'm just not too sure I can make it all into the cup without being even more embarrassed!
Sezin arrives before we are finished cleaning our plates of the last of the bread and honey. We are learning that she is always early so we never have to worry about her. We all head down the stairs from our terrace dining room, take our places in the van and prepare for the second part of our day. It is all of 8:30!
Today we will be exploring three of the valleys in the area. The tuff (that easily carved volcanic ash) erodes easily, too, but has a capstone that is more resistant, resulting in fairy towers, similar to Bryce Canyon but not as ethereal.
The first valley is called Imagination Valley because it is easly to see shapes and creatures in the rocks. This one is usually caled The Camel. There are lots more and everyone climbs the tricky and slippery trail to get a better vantage point.
The second valley is Monk's Valley because it contains the Church of St. Simon. These fairy chimneys are a bit different because the capstone is thicker than in the first valley and the contact is much more pronounced. There are several caps which appear to be on the verge of falling, just like our balancing rocks at home.
The steps up into the church are just screaming the guys' names and one by one they see how far they can get. Youngest first; oldest highest; and the middle child is a green kangaroo (book reference).
Before we leave we stop at an ice-cream vendor who has ice cream made from goat's milk. Sezin describes it as "chewy" and who can resist? There is chocolate, vanilla, lemon and, I don't remember; he had me at chocolate! Even if the ice cream hadn't been superb, which it was, the entertainment was worth the price! The vendor is wearing a traditional vest and he uses a paddle to scoop and fill. He puts one paddle's worth in a cone and hands it to Ginger. She takes it but is left holding an empty cone! There were two in the stack and he keeps the top one which has the ice cream! A variation of this routine goes on for a while before she gets her treat! All of us are laughing hysterically and he seems to be enjoying himself, too!
From here we go to a small town in which hand-made pottery is an important craft. The Hitites perfected the use of the kick wheel and until very recently a young man had to be able to throw a pot before he could get a girl to marry him! Girls had to be able to weave a rug. There is a statue in the town center which demonstrates this rule. Today, neither gender cares very much about the old traditions and they go to school and university to attract a mate!
We observe a master potter produce an beautiful lidded pot and then they ask for a volunteer. Andy is the only one brave enough and the rest of us sit and sip our apple or Turkish tea and giggle at the owner's patter! He is a stitch! When the master helps with Andy's pot, the owner position's Andy's hand so that the audience can't see who is doing the work! He says that he sees perfect pots every day so he really values the unique ones, like Andy's!
Then the salespitch begins. First he shows us the old Hitite sun god vessels which were used for wine. You've seen them; they have the hole in the middle and look like a donut with a handle and a spout. The large ones are big enough to put your arm through, up to the shoulder, so it is easy to pour the wine!
We go into the "production" room where one artist is drawing the detailed and painstaking designs. Three other artists, all girls, are applying the colors. The owner introduces Andy as a very good potter, with the implied - this is my sister; you like her!!
Then we enter the actual showrooms which are so bright and colorful they are almost an assault on the eyes! Some pieces are traditional Hitite designs and colors, others are traditional designs but in black and white. There are family patterns in every color and other, traditional designs. Pieces can be special ordered in any size and color and can be delivered to the USA. The government is encouraging the traditional artists and helps with the cost of shipping.
Each piece is more beautiful than the last and the prices are pretty beautiful, too, if you are the shop owner! I try really hard to escape but wind up going home with a wine goblet and the plain, simple little cup which had been my original selection. I'm just no match for this guy! Andy got a cup just like my little one, but he had to exchange his brand new hand-made one for it!
Next stop - the Open Air Museum with lots more cave churches. One has a dining room with a table and benches carved right out of the rock. When we get back to the van it is 34 degrees C. or >>> F. this is the first day that has felt hot and it is only in the middle of the day.
Lunch is a special treat! Our driver, Mustafa, has asked his wife to prepare a traditional meal for us! He has a lovely home and his wife is charming and a marvelous cook! Everything is served by her and their three daughters, 15, 14 and 11. We sit at a traditional Turkish table which is about eight inches off the ground. Everyone sits cross legged and the table cloth covers you lap like a napkin!
There is lentil soup as the first course, then hand-made raviolis with tomatoes and olives, served with stuffed grapes leaves, next comes chick peas and meat in a broth served with chopped salad followed by watermelon.
We had talked earlier about Mustafa's wife having made two rugs as part of her dowry. After putting away the short round table at which we ate, she brings them out to show us. They are remarkable! They are all wool and the dyes are all made from local plants. They look brand new! None of the girls, including Sezin, know how to do this!
After this magnificent feast we fight to stay awake so we can see the third valley. It is very different and doesn't contain the yellow tuff. Everything here is snow-blindness white! Before exploring the last of today's cave churches we stop for authentic Tur;kish coffee. It is served in tiny cups with foam on top and presweetened. It is accompanied by one small turkish delight covered with coconut and containing pistachio pieces. The coffee is delicious and the candy just sets it off. Sezin says that the old ladies take your cup, turn it upside down and read your fortune in the grounds. If there aren't any left in the bottom, but are only on the sides, you will have good luck!
Now we go to visit The Fortress, the largest fairy chimney, which was used as a watch tower because it is the tallest in the area. As with the others, there are interconneted caves and rooms all the way up!
On the backside of the fortress there is a little stand that collects money for the pigeons and sells god's eyes and other trinkets. There is a dead tree covered with more god's eye than you can imagine and it is remarkably eye catching!
On the way home we catch sight of the highest of the three volcanoes which enclose Kapadocia.
We get home in time to nap (some of us) before dinner which will be right here in our little boutique hotel! Oh happy day! No where to walk before or after dinner.
The owner's wife has prepared her mother's recipe for yogurt soup and we'd never have guessed that was what it was! Delish! Then chopped salad and stuffed grape leaves. The main course was baked chicken with very flavorful potatoes and rice. Dessert was four spectacular little pastries with a sauce made with sesame oil. Indescribably delicious! We're done by 8:30 and actually get to sleep in! Suzen won't be collecting us tomorrow until 9:30! O heaven!! A full night's sleep!
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