Cappadocia from Above and Below

Visiting Cappadocia was easily the pinnacle of our time in Turkey. The unbelievably unique terrain combined with human ingenuity made for an exquisite destination, particularly one to see from above …and below!

First, a brief history… Ancient volcanoes coated Cappadocia in a soft, ashy rock called “tuff”. Through thousands of years of erosion, Mother Nature crafted this place into a spectacular landscape of colors and shapes, including odd fairy chimneys and finger-like valleys. Roughly around 1,800 BC, ancient inhabitants carved the soft stone to build caves for them to live in. They utilized the fairy chimneys as homes and churches. From the first to fourth century AD, Christians avoided persecution of the Romans (and later the Muslims) by living underground. They constructed elaborate cities by tunneling rooms in the lower levels of stone. Today, these sites make Cappadocia an awesome tourist destination.

Everything about Cappadocia is totally unique. In an effort to live like ancient troglodytes, many of the hotels exist in ancient caves. Contrary to my cave expectations, Elika Cave Suites merged luxury and history. The bedroom was very comfortable, and the restaurant was gorgeous.

On Saturday morning, we awoke at 3:30AM for our hot air balloon ride with Royal Cappadocia. As you can tell, we looked as rough as we felt. The balloon company picked us up from our hotel and drove us to the office where we ate breakfast and waited out the weather advisories. As soon as the officials cleared the balloons for flying, we boarded a bus and headed for the balloons!

We stood on the stop of a mountain in the chilly morning (now about 6AM) while the crews prepared the hot air balloons. Initially, they laid them on their sides, as the hot air fills the balloon. We were one of the last balloons to take off, so we got to watch the sky blossom with hot air balloons!

As we took off, our pilot told us that she likes to call the hot air balloons “candies in the sky”. I thought it was the cheesiest thing I’d ever heard, but it was so true! The colorful balloons decorated the sky in front of us.

Meadows and I had never been on a hot air balloon before, so we didn’t totally understand the concepts. It’s makes sense, but still pretty crazy when you’re living it: the pilot can only adjust how high you fly, and he/she does this by igniting the burner to increase the temperature within the balloon.

We climbed in the basket and set off for our magical flight. It’s really more like floating than flying! We drifted with the wind currents, which conveniently took us over the surreal Cappadocia landscape.

One of our first landmarks was the fairy chimneys. Though they appear to be from a fantasy world, these structures exist as a result of different types of rock and the effects of erosion. The harder basalt stone (which now serves as the pointy roofs) withstood the erosion more effectively than the softer tuff of the chimney pillar. Ironically, the erosion that birthed these enchanting structures is the very same phenomenon that endangers the fairy chimneys’ future.

Our highly skilled pilot navigated the balloon to drop down into the fairy chimneys – close enough to touch! I still cannot believe how the giant balloons weaved in and out of the obstacles without ever crashing.

This was about the point that a Turkish guy on the other side of the basket handed Meadows his GoPro. Confused and a little annoyed, Meadows took it and held it up for the man. The Turkish guy pulled out a ring box and proposed to his girlfriend!! Let’s hope Meadows’ footage was good 🙂

We also saw some fascinating valleys. The tuff eroded in such a beautiful way; it’s almost like ice cream melting!

At some points, we soared insanely high. The highest we ever got was 1,000 meters – that’s over 3,000 feet! We looked down and could see the tops of other balloons.

We got to see the pigeon houses, where locals used to collect droppings for use as fertilizer. And we could see our own shadow!

The view included orchards and vineyards. My favorite part, though, was the sight of hundreds of artful balloons calmly floating along. I found it so peaceful.

I expected the landing to be a bit bumpy and uncomfortable, but these guys have it down to a science! A team on the ground drove a truck with a large trailer and parked where they predicted we would land. We landed on the trailer. It’s important to remember that we landed in the heart of the Goreme Open Air Museum, surrounded by odd pillars and bumpy terrain. I cannot imagine the skill and experience that goes into parking such a large (and somewhat uncontrollable) aircraft onto such a small trailer!

Upon landing, we enjoyed champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, cookies and more. Our pilot even presented us with medals! I don’t totally understand what we did to deserve a medal, but I proudly accepted it. [FYI: We flew with Royal Balloon Cappadocia – they’re the BEST!]

In an effort to justify my medal, I helped deflate the balloon!

 

We made it back to the hotel just in time for breakfast, which was massive. We devoured our food and then napped. When we awoke, the entire hot air balloon ride felt like it must have been a dream!

In the afternoon, we visited the Derinkuyu underground city. This particular city goes 8 stories below ground level. Another one nearby, Kaymakli, plummets 18 stories down!

The planning behind the city is truly fascinating. Around 20,000 people once lived in this particular development! The city features cellars, chapels and a ventilation shaft.

Meadows even convinced me to visit the graves.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, but I was grateful for fresh air and the ability to stretch out! Thankfully, no one in our group was claustrophobic.

Once we left, we decided to explore Goreme by foot. The views from the ground were just as breathtaking!

And as if we had not been ambitious enough in one day, we climbed the Ortahisar Castle.

In the evening, we dined at a traditional Cappadocian restaurant and reflected on our awesome day.

We awoke Sunday morning and said goodbye to our cave suites and Cappadocia.

I haven’t mentioned that Meadows and the team have a car in Turkey. Meadows does most of the driving – both hilarious and terrifying since he doesn’t speak Turkish. Driving to Cappadocia was a dream though. The skies looked like an old school Microsoft background! After three hours of this view, we were back in Ankara.