Balloon Over Cappadocia’s Fairy Chimneys Turkey

“My father was a kamikaze balloon pilot,” he teased us again, as we moved steadily closer to a fairy chimney that loomed larger the closer we got. Silence befell as we all caught our breath again, my own knuckles turned white as I tightly gripped the basket’s edge. With seconds to spare, Archie had pulled us up and away from the immense rock, unleashing his trademark raucous giggle as he did. I relaxed at the realization of Archie’s skill. We dipped in and out of valleys as easy as our toes in a bathtub. I turned my attention to the view around us, and was captivated not as much by the landscapes we had hiked over in the prior days but by the sheer number of balloons we shared the thin air with. I stopped counting at about 70, Archie confirmed that there can be up to 105. After dancing with the fairy chimneys in the valleys, Archie took us as high as he could, up to 2,400 feet, first creeping within mere feet of one chimney before whooshing us up dramatically.”

“I had no time to rethink the butterflies in my stomach and the rapid pace of my heart. After being shown the braced stance required if making a bumpy landing (that’s always comforting), we were soon making swift distance between ourselves and the land, members of the ground crew guided us forward, and then waved as they successfully sent us floating. It was so unexpectedly quiet. Near silent, in fact. All that could be heard were morning birds chirping in the distance. The group of boisterous strangers with whom we were sharing the experience felt cause to calm their talking as well. It was so peaceful. Serene. We were flying!”

“I’d never been in a hot air balloon before, so I wasn’t completely sure what to expect. The take off was a little bit scary. The basket tipped as it was about to go up, and I was scared it was about to tip over! But the pilot, and additional staff on the ground, were super calm and all seemed completely in control. It might have even been meant to do that. And then we had a really gentle proper take off. It was really gentle as we started to float higher – there was hardly any movement in the basket at all, so it felt really safe.”

“It was just an incredible experience to be floating in the sky, in silence, with all the other balloons around us. [...] The pilot of the balloon announced the sunrise. And it was just one of those ‘wow’ moments, when you know that you’re part of something special.”

“Even as we were driving, I wasn’t letting myself believe the hot air balloons would actually happen. I was still preparing myself to hear that they’d been cancelled. But as we got closer, I saw a few of the earlier hot air balloons in the air. And that was when it hit me – this was actually going to happen! The wave of emotions hit me as I looked out the minibus in the semi-darkness and realised that it was actually going to happen.”

“Once everyone piled in, we ascended. There are no words that can describe how beautiful it is to be up there watching the sunrise. I was especially fond of how peaceful and quiet it was, with no machine or motor noise, just the occasional blast of hot air from the center. Like most tourists, I had to take a couple of photos, but eventually I just put the camera down. I had to just be present and enjoy this for a moment. I could not believe that I was there. Little old me from Tennessee had been brave enough to go far away to Turkey, and there I was in a hot air balloon floating peacefully, watching the sun rise over the valley. It was a triumphant and unforgettable moment that instilled a wanderlust in me that still lives today.”