The view from my balloon this morning, yes that's right ...
from
a
balloon!
It was so worth another pre-dawn start today to experience the majestic beauty of gently rising from the ground in the basket of a hot air balloon. Getting into that basket was, well shall we say challenging. The organisers weren't big on instructions 'get in' ... not really enough information there.
Ungainly would be a polite way to describe my climbing up the outside and hurling myself forward into the conveniently empty section where the four of us were to stand. Wendy's entry would best be called alarming as two burly blokes came from behind her grasping ankles and shoulders and launching her feet first at her assigned spot. The menfolk leaped in with ease, but that was to be expected.
but we made it and that's all that counts
this is a sunrise I'll never forget
It is so quiet, except for the pilot working the gas flame thingy and the walkie-talkie, the coordination it must take to get all these balloons in the air at the same time without colliding!
apart from the thrill of being in a hot air balloon there is the stunning view of the unique landscape.
Why does time speed up when amazing things are happening? An hour flew by (pun intended) and we watched with jaws agape as the pilot landed the basket on the back of a trailer that was exactly the size of the basket. Precision in any profession is admirable but this was gobsmackingly astounding.
From this adventure we were whisked off for breakfast at a traditional farm - all part of the package at the wonderful Kelebek Cave hotel. We were joined by two other couples, one Chinese and one Turkish. Our guide, who had spent some time in Australia and NZ and had enthusiastically embraced our sense of humour, conducted the tour in English. We commented on how considerate this was since English was no one else's first language and they were very understanding. I still think it's very generous of them show us their country and not to expect us to learn any of their language.
The ride to the farm was sort of like the dune buggy bashing we did in Dubai without any of the mod cons like sides of the car, or windows - there was a roll bar though, we held on while we listened to historically funny stories from the guide (who was also the driver and yelling at us over his shoulder).
and we arrived here, so tranquill
breakfast was cooked and served in the traditional way
Six strangers, from different countries, cultures and religions shared this amazing meal and luxuriated in the commonality of our human experience. We didn't know what the foodstuffs actually were, but the Turkish couple encouraged us 'just try' - identifying the sweet, the savoury, the local unique in this region, etc.
Oh the flavours! Just divine!
The cooks had some of their jewellery handiwork on display for purchase. The exchange rate is very kind to us in Turkey, plus they are doing it tough over here so we bought some - it has the added bonus of being just gorgeous. At the end of the tour the Turkish couple (on the right in the pic below) gave each of the women one of the necklaces they had bought for us,
"as the only Turkish people on the tour we'd like to give you this gift"
the kindness of strangers and the camaraderie of fellow travellers is a joyous thing.
By the time we returned the the hotel at 11:30am we'd already done a 7 hour day, rest was necessary! The girls recovered pretty quickly (shopping energy) so we all went out in the afternoon, not surprising the boys soon required more resting so returned to the hotel to leave the serious work that is retail therapy to us ladies. Turns out though that I had the only key to the room, woopsy. One day you should ask MGM or Tony what their plans were for this window... 7' off the ground and about a foot square, (sorry still can't do the metric thing).
The Turkish certainly know a thing or two about ambience and the culinary arts, this is our dinner destination tonight. Called Top Deck and, as you can see was underground so their grasp of branding nuances night be a bit wonky and it took us a long time to find it (we were after all looking up). When a local from his terrace restaurant shouted down at us "down there" we realised it was actually about 5 mins from our hotel (in the other direction to the one from which we chose to approach it).
And I capped this day off with the best Swedish massage I've ever had.
I know I should have gone for the Turkish bath, but I'm glad I didn't :)
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