The alarm went off at 4.55am. Thats not a typo.
This was so I would be in time for the 5.15am pick up to go in a hot air balloon over the surreal landscape of Cappadocia.
It was touch and go as to whether we would go up or not, the weather was a bit dicey. In the end the decision was made to go up and head around a different side of the valley to avoid rain and a possible incoming storm. The view was amazing. The landscape of Cappadocia is something else altogether. Rock formations where people have carved caves and houses out of the rocks.
Essentially 60 million years ago a large eruption consisting of basalt and tufa covered the landscape. Overtime the tufa has eroded leaving behind rock formations which look like chimneys. These formations are so big and malleable that for thousands of years people have carved houses out of some of them (and still live in them).
We had a fantastic flight and a smooth landing. I was near the CB radio and some of the pilots were broadcasting in English (lots of NZers are pilots here) and overheard a few things you dont want to hear when you are floating 200ft above the ground (including about storms, rain and cancelling flights). Our pilot was really good though.
We had a champagne brekkie afterwards and then back to the hotel to meet the rest of the group for a hike.
It was a short hike through Pidgeon Valley-named because the Romans would keep pigeons there in specially carved niches made into the rock. Nowadays, not many pidgeons, but a rock that looks remarkably like a giant phallus and another that looks like a smurf.
Afterwards we visited Derinkuyu Yeralti Sehri, an underground city which extends at least 7 stories underground and goes for miles. There are a few underground cities around this area because of the ease of digging. Apparantly they are connected to each other by small tunnels. The stairways are narrow and you need to stoop to move through them. It invokes feelings of a claustrophobic nature, dont think about how far under the ground you are!
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