Day 12, Tuesday 20 May
3:56am. Wake up call.
But totally totally worth it!! We went on a hot air balloon over Cappodocia!!
We got picked up at 4:30am and taken for a breakfast that was pretty *meh* - the hot food was barely luke warm. Then they drove us out to the launch site past *lots* of other balloons that were already being inflated or taking off. We got to ours as it was nearly inflated so only had a minute or two to wait before hopping on. I learnt my lesson from my ride in Canberra, and knew which side of the balloon to be on. And it was *epic awesome* !! Absolutely fabulous. A much better experience than my Canberra ride. I might have accidentally taken over three hundred photos. Twice our pilot dropped right into canyons to get right up close to the trees and rocks. It was soooo cool! Loved it loved it loved it.
Firing up the hot air balloon
Balloons and sunrise over Cappadocia
Rock formations in Cappadocia
Balloons and sunrise over Cappadocia
Dropping right down into a canyon in Cappadocia
Dropping right down into a canyon in Cappadocia
Photo by Mum
Rock formations in Cappadocia
Meskendir Valley
Balloons over Cappadocia
Hot air balloon in Cappadocia
Hot air balloon in Love Valley
Hot air balloon over Cappadocia
Dropping right down into a canyon in Cappadocia
Dropping right down into a canyon in Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Hot air balloon over Cappadocia
Me and Mum in the hot air balloon just before landing
When we came in to land, our pilot and the support car maneuvered themselves so that we dropped the basket right onto the trailer! We thought that was totally amazing.
The support car coming to pick us up
Opening up the top of the balloon to let the hot air out
After we got off we had some champagne and were given medals to commemorate the occasion. Everyone was raving about how wonderful it was. Certainly a highlight of the trip.
Getting out of the balloon and setup for champagne
Celebratory champagne
Then we headed back to the hotel for a bit more breakfast.
Headed out again, this time to the Underground City. This was another amazing place. A complete maze of rooms and tunnels that people used to live in.
Hillside view near Göre on the way to the Underground City
Inside the Underground City
Inside the Underground City
Photo by Mum
Inside the Underground City
Ventilation shaft in the Underground City
Some of our group in the Underground City
Mortar in the Underground City
But I was getting super super frustrated with my camera. Â Since near the beginning of the trip it's been having problems focussing, mostly when at full wide angle. Â I don't know if it's the lens or the camera, but it was very upsetting. Â In the dark in the Underground City it was especially bad, having trouble focussing at all :(
From there we did a tour of a number of photogenic locations to look at the various rocks and rock houses.
Evil Eye Tree at Pigeon Valley lookout
Rock homes in Cappadocia
Tiraz Castle under the Evil Eye Tree
Mt Erciyes from near Ortahisar
Ortahisar town and rock formations
Old stone houses in Ortahisar
The Three Beauties near Ãœrgüp
Rock formations in Imagination Valley
We had lunch at a restaurant near the river. The soup was a bit bland but the salad was really nice and the rest of the food pretty good too.
After lunch we went to a ceramic museum and gallery and a few of us bought some very pretty things.
Güray Ceramic Museum
Anatolian bronze age kitchenware
Roman era lamps
Plate and urn
Decorative plate
Hand painting the plates
Pottery making
Some of the pieces for sale in the museum
Then a few more photo stops before returning to the hotel.
Rock formations at PaÅŸabaÄŸları Müze ve Örenyeri
Rock formations at PaÅŸabaÄŸları Müze ve Örenyeri
Ground squirrel
Rock formations at PaÅŸabaÄŸları Müze ve Örenyeri
Rock formations at Love Valley
Uchisar Castle from Uchisar Photo Spot
After downloading the majority of the day's photos, we went and had a drink with some others before dinner.
Then it was time to finish organising our luggage repacking before bed.
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