It's the morning I most looked forward to, as it was top of my bucket list - hot air balloon ride. I had researched all the popular places to do it and Cappadocia appealed to me most because of the fairy chimneys. I had been keeping my figures crossed for good weather as it is regulated by Civil Aviation Authority, they have to give the green light every morning before sunrise for the balloons to take off. You won't know whether it's a Go or No Go until the very last minute. As you can see, we took off! It was so exciting seeing them "firing" up the balloons. We were running around screaming (excitedly) taking pictures and videos like kids (many of us were seniors).
The operator company was Hot Air Balloon Goreme. The cost was 270 euros per person.
We were assigned into the 8 compartments in the basket either in groups of 3s or 4s. The pilot and the photographer had their own in the middle. The pilot "steering" the balloon by the wind direction and speed at different altitudes. He controlled the ascent and decent by the flame, firing up to go up firing down to go down.
We didn't even realize we were already in the air, that's how steady it was. In the videos, you could see how hyper we all were...even Betty, who first refused to come because of her fear of height, was smiling with joy. Everyone was busy capturing these insane moments on the phone and camera (Godfrey the only one with a big professional camera). According to our pilot, there were 150 balloons in the sky at the same time.
Firing up!
All Aboard!
Here we go!
Up Up and Away!
Beautiful sun rise!
Godfrey's shot
This was Godfrey's professional shot.
We are above the Fairy Chimneys!
After the exciting 45 minutes (too short) hot air balloon ride, we went back to the hotel for breakfast and checkout.
Then we visited the caves of Goreme Oren Yeri. This is another designated World Heritage site. The caves have frescos dating back to the early beginning of the Catholic Church, unfortunately some of the frescos were defaced by the Turks.
Inside the caves, it was not allowed to take pictures. The description on this board pretty much described what we saw inside.
"Goreme Open Air Museum Nunnery
People who chose to live a lonely life of seclusion such as hermits, formed an important social group despite the fact that they had nothing to do with the churches and monasteries.
These people did not even work to meet their basic need. They received the basic necessities from the population and the monasteries, who respected them.
Daily worship in these small monasteries was taking place under the supervision of a member of the clergy. For the Christians who lived in these structure, the situation was unlike that of the groups in Egypt and Syria who enjoyed a more privileged life. Everything was shared, the sick were tended to, and there were no differences that would cause a rupture with the common people. The seven storey rock cone/outcropping to the left of the museum entrance is known as the "Nunnery". The dining hall, kitchen and some rooms on the first floor, together with the ruined chapel on the second level, can still be visited. The Church on the third storey, which can be reached through a tunnel, has a cruciform plan, a dome with four columns and three apses. The temple on the main apse is barely preserved in Goreme's Churches."
After that, we went for lunch in a beautiful cave restaurant - Uranos Sarikava. The front entrance was impressive with art on the stone wall along the long hallway leading to the dinning room. Main course was braised beef shanks in an earth-ware. It tasted like Chinese stew, very tender and saucy, not bad.
Though man made and has no historical significance, I must say the decor was very artistic from wall to wall, ceiling to floor.
This grand entrance reminded me of some movies, what was it? Indiana Jones?
Our next stop was Sultanhani.
A town located on the highway between Konya and Aksaray provinces. The Sultanhan caravanserai was built in 1229 by Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I when Aksaray was an important stopover along the Silk Road that crossed through Anatolia. After suffering partial destruction in a fire, the building was restored and extended in 1278 under the reign of sultan Kaykhusraw III. The monumental caravanserai then became one of the best examples of Anatolian Seljuk architecture. The caravanserai enjoyed its glory times during the Seljuk period, but lost its importance during the Ottoman era. The monumental entrance gate was made of marble and richly carved. We didn't go inside. Based on information on the internet - the wide courtyard inside is surrounded by storage rooms, stalls, kitchen, and chambers where animals and people were accommodated. There is a small a mosque in the middle of the courtyard which was used by the travellers for prayers. The covered courtyard was for the winter and had a monumental entrance. During the harsh weather conditions both merchants and their animals were staying indoors in order to stay warm.
That night, we stayed at the Bayir Diamond Hotel & Convention Centre, Konya. It was a nice modern hotel, comfy room, good choices of food at dinner and breakfast buffets.
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