Up, up and away in a beautiful balloon. We had an early and for some a nervous start today. We were picked up at 5.15am and taken to Voyager balloon headquarters where they gave us drinks and something to eat before heading to the launching places. As we approached it was just becoming light and we could see lots of balloons that had already taken off and many others being inflated or lying on the ground. It was stunning to see so many balloons flying in the one place. Our balloon held 16 people so 12 from our group and 4 others. Each 4 persons had to climb into a section of the basket and we were given instructions on how to bend our knees and hug each other while gripping onto the basket ropes. All the while they were filling the balloon with bursts of flame and hot air some of the hot air coming from the wise crackers in our group. The morning was still with no wind and our balloon pilot said it was perfect for take off. Soon we were up and away floating over the ground and the pinnacles, sometimes the pilot took us close to the cliffs and rotated the balloon so we all got a view. We were in a basket with the happy snappers with the long lenses so no way were we getting near the edge. Eventually we managed to manoeuvre ourselves into a good position and both managed to take at least a hundred photos of balloons up close, the cliffs and valleys. We were up for 75mins and especially enjoyed it when the gas was not fired up and it was quiet and peaceful floating above the ground.
We were all happy to return to "terra firma" even though we had enjoyed the time floating through the air.
We returned to our hotel for breakfast and time to rest before a trip into the village of Urgup for shopping or a beer.
We all thought the two hours given would not be long enough but it was not as interesting as it looked mostly tourist trinkets. We were happy to return to our beautiful cave hotel and have a rest after our early morning.
We met up later for a drink and chat and a look at the other caves. Each one was designed differently depending on the shape of the cave. The little village Ayvali where Gamirasu Cave Hotel was located was no more than a few winding lanes and two small grocery stores. I image the hotels would provide most of the employment for the village.