One of the main iconic tourist outings in Cappadocia is the hot air balloon tours at sunrise. Alex wasn’t interested in doing the hot air balloon ride, but I was really wanted to, so it worked out well because kids under 6 years old aren’t able to go on the hot air balloon. We found Royal Balloons had the best reviews on TripAdvisor and called them for the booking the day before. I was a little scared the balloons would be full as we had heard that you need to book in advance. However, the fact that I was a single rider and we were not in the height of tourist season seemed to be on my side, as there weren’t any issues with getting a spot. I got the balloon ride for 1,110 TL (about $250 CDN). It was worth every penny and was probably one of the most spectacular experiences I have had.
Early Morning Start
The morning of the balloon ride starts out quite early. Free pick-up is included in the package and I had a pick-up time of 5:10 a.m. We were taken to the Royal Balloon offices and had about 40-45 minutes for breakfast. The breakfast was amazing and there was quite the spread! They had all kinds of breads, eggs, vegetables, cold cuts and more! We got in the bus to start heading to our balloon launch site around 5:55 a.m. They drove us out to the launch point, but it was pretty amazing to see all the other hot air balloons setting up as we drove along to our site. There would be fields with several of them preparing at once. Our pilot later told us that there were approximately 150 hot air balloons launched that day, and most other days of the year. There are 100 balloons in the initial launch; then approximately 50 more in a second launch that took place about 30 minutes after us. The roads were definitely abuzz with all the hot air balloon companies bringing people out and preparing the balloons.
Launching Our Balloon
At the launch site, our balloon was just finishing getting blown up when we arrived. Our balloon could hold a maximum of 16 guests, but there was just 12 of us that day. We boarded the balloon, but one incredibly helpful tip I came across was to be the last person in your section to board. The basket is divided into 4 sections and a maximum of 4 people could be in each section. If you’re the last in your section to board then you get unobstructed views below - it worked like a gem!
We received our briefing from our pilot and learned that he’s the chief pilot of the company - so knew we were in good hands. Our pilot Geert is actually from Belgium, but moved to Turkey 15 years ago to fly balloons and has been here since. He said when he first started flying, there was only something like 6 companies and 12 balloons, and now there is 25 companies and 150 balloons! It is definitely a high priority on most people’s lists when they come here.
We took off and started to explore where the wind took us. There were people out everywhere taking pictures, as it really is an incredible sight to see all the balloons in the air! We even saw couples taking photos in their wedding dresses & suits with all the balloons behind them.
Right as the sun was coming up provided some of the most spectacular photos with the bright/vibrant colors of the balloons.
We got some incredible views of one of the cave cities and learned that in this particular town (which kills me that I can’t remember the name of it!) people lived in the cave houses until the 1950s! After a small earthquake they moved out of the cave houses and built around the caves. But now a lot of the caves are being restored as cave hotels, as everyone wants to stay in one when visiting Cappadocia.
We explored Love Valley as well. The balloons would go down to be at the level of the rock chimneys, so it was a matter of making sure that no other balloons were beneath us, before we could descend down to get a closer look as well.
We started to descend back down to the ground and were right next to another Royal Air Balloon. The two balloons ‘kissed’ - touched balloon to balloon - and ended up landing near each other on the ground.
As we descended down our pilot landed the large basket right on top of the trailer! He later explained that they land on the trailer in order to save the crew the task of lifting almost a 700 kg basket on the trailer everyday. Once we landed on the trailer the truck and trailer transported us to a flat area for the balloon to start deflating and all of us to de-board.
Post Flight Celebration
In celebration of our flight they set up a little table with champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and cookies. We enjoyed some refreshments while the balloon collapsed and was put back in the very large storage bag.
Devaluation of the Lira (2018)
One of the topics of discussion was how the lira’s recent devaluation had affected many of the local Turkish people with the cost of goods. While it created a great value for the tourists, it has increased the costs of the local Turkish person. As not only are imported goods (70% of goods in Turkey are imported) increasing in value, but some local Turkish businesses are also increasing their costs even though their product is locally sourced. We saw some of this happening while we were visiting. Several of the restaurants we visited had put stickers over their past prices to account for a higher price. One of the restaurants we ate at while in Goreme had a pile of menus inside and were putting the stickers on while we sat outside and ate. We even noticed significant prices differences among common items (i.e. water) - and we’re assuming that it was that the lower priced place just hadn’t adjusted its prices yet.
We were transported back to our hotels/places of accommodation and I was back with the family by 8:15 a.m. When I got home they were having breakfast and I was greeted with ‘ba-unn, Ba-unn’ by Connor. I found out that Alex and the kids had come to watch the balloons on the ridge overlooking Goreme and they had seen the balloons up in the sky.
Pigeon Valley
After the kids were finished with their breakfast and dressed, we headed to Pigeon Valley to try to hike. We stopped at one of the panoramic viewpoint restaurants between Uchisar and Goreme; however, one of the men said it might be hard to get down to the valley trail with the kids. We attempted but it was pretty steep and I was afraid I was going to slip and fall with my son in the carrier. So we turned back and tried to find an entrance in Goreme with no luck. We later found out that the trail head was up in Uchisar, but we ran out of time to do it.
Goreme Cave Hike
Instead we found a small trail we could hike to look at some cave houses just across from the Goreme Open Air Museum and checked out a couple of the cave houses there. As we climbed up, we found some of the caves still being used by the locals - the ones we found were used as stables for the cattle and horse.
After trying to find the trail, the kids were super tired and cranky so we decided to head back to our Airbnb in Orthisar for some naps. We stopped at one of the cafes in town to get some Pide - Turkish pizza. When we got back to the Airbnb we didn’t have an ideal place for our son to nap as the bedroom was pretty light with the sun shining in and Clara was in the living room area. So we put the mattress from the pack ‘n play that the host provided in the bathtub - it fit perfectly and he got a solid nap that afternoon.
Uchisar Castle
After their downtime we headed back to Uchisar to visit the Castle. This castle was the main point of defense within the Cappadocia region. The castle had a few little cave rooms, but the main attraction was the view it offered. The view was amazing down at the valley below and over to Goreme.
The kids were still cranky and our daughter didn’t want to hike, so we stopped for an early dinner at a little restaurant below the castle called “Good Memories”. They had a little table on the floor so the kids wanted to sit at that! Our waiter even sang to entertain the kids, which they enjoyed.
We then decided to have a quick stop at the playground and go back for an early bedtime.
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