Ballooning in Cappodocia

We are back in Istanbul now and have spent our rest day wandering about the town enjoying the sights. We visited an amazing underground cistern from roman times with 160 massive columns holding up a vaulted ceiling and fabulous reflections from the lights on the water - I'm sure one of the Sean Connery James Bond movies was filmed here. No photos as we didn't carry the camera but did buy the post card so you will have to wait.

But yesterday in Cappodocia was the best - ballooning high above the rocks and exploring one of the underground cities 8 levels down below.




We were with the Royal company, one of about 80 balloons that morning and it was breathtaking and not a bit scary!! Cappodocia is apparently the best place in the world to balloon with 300 flying days a year and according to Sven our Swedish pilot our day was perfect. We had 16 ( plus Sven ) in our basket and were up for about 80 minutes flying over the various valleys and villages that make up the region.




And landed without a bump straight onto the basket trailer ( with a bit of help from the ground crew ) and were carried out of the basket to the awaiting champagne and a medal to celebrate our flight !!!!




Didn't think anything could ever top this off but the underground city went pretty close. Built by the Christians for hasty retreats when the marauders were passing through this city was huge and like a rabbit warren with many interconnecting tunnels and then kitchens, living rooms, stables and even a 9km tunnel connecting one city to the next!!! It was pretty crowded to start off with but the tours thinned out the further down you went and 30m below the surface we could roam about pretty much by ourselves with the guide just keeping an eye on us.


Graeme and Barry having fun in the winery and one of the tunnels - crouching room only.


See you soon

Love Wendy and Graeme