Floating over Cappadocia in a Hot Air Balloon
The balloon basket gently lifts off the ground, its passengers clutching to anything within reach for balance. Our confident captain presses hard on the lever, releasing more flames and heat into the balloon. Up we go!
I don’t enjoy heights. I never have. I often feel nauseous when I’m too high off the ground (bungy jumping and skydiving won’t be making an appearance on my bucket list any time soon).
This was my first time in a hot air balloon, so you can imagine the thoughts that were running through my head as the balloon continued to rise. Excitement competes with nervousness and anticipation. Why am I doing this again?
Ah, yes. To witness the peculiar fairy chimneys and infamous “Love Valley” from high above the clouds. I’m told by many that Cappadocia is one of the most spectacular environments to take a hot air balloon tour, competing with the likes of the Serengeti National Park in East Africa.
For those that are unfamiliar with Cappadocia, it’s a historical region in central Turkey that’s famous for its eerie rock formations, colourful canyons, bizarre looking fairy chimneys and ancient cave cities.
Sunrise over Cappadocia, volcano in the distance
The journey begins at the awful hour of 5:00AM. Whenever I find myself rising before the sun I know it’s going to be a special day.
I exit my moist cave hotel room and make my way across the street to the office of Kapadokya Balloons. I join about 20 other sleepy guests as we are guided towards white tourist vans. We pile into the vans and arrive at the grassy departure zone about 20 minutes later.
The Kapadokya Balloons team quickly jumps into action. Giant fans blow the hungry flames towards the balloon, filling it with hot air. Gradually the colourful balloon takes shape and starts to rise. It’s a safe mode of transportation, but my nervousness intensifies. This parachute of hot air will soon be carrying me and 15 other passengers hundreds of feet above the ground.
It doesn’t take long to fill the sturdy basket with eager passengers. The sun is starting to rise, so our pilot quickly gets our group off the ground. The time has come to witness Cappadocia’s magic.
Unlike a plane at take off, this balloon departure is quite smooth and quiet. If I wasn’t paying attention I probably would have missed it.
All aboard…
…and we’re off!
The balloon passes through otherworldly rock formations as the sun rises in the distance. The air is cool and fresh. It’s quiet and peaceful at this hour, but the energy in our basket is at an all time high.
Our pilot guides the balloon within mere feet of the pointy rocky cones, slowly rising and dropping to expose new view points. It seems unnecessary to get so close to the rocks, but it does provide another layer of entertainment.
Evidence of ancient civilizations is visible everywhere, with thousands of caves carved directly into the side of steep canyons. The caved cities are unimaginable. How did they do it?
I’m amazed at how smooth the hot air balloon ride is; I expected to feel turbulence or periodical drops. I don’t like the feeling of falling you get when on a roller coaster, so I am pleasantly surprised at how calm and peaceful everything is – I actually begin to enjoy floating like a bird.
We continue to pass through colourful canyons until we are joined by another 25 hot air balloons. I’ve never seen so many hot air balloons in one place before – it’s quite the show.
The soothing “Call to Prayer” echoes from the nearby city of Goreme, vibrating off the rocky canyons. The city is miles away, yet it feels like we are within meters of the minarets.
Our pilot’s name is Graham, a native of England that has been living in Colorado in the off season. With 25 years experience piloting balloons, he’s seen a lot of magical landscapes in his day, including the deserts of Egypt and wild plains of Kenya.
Graham points to landmarks and gives the group a brief explanation. I know I should be listening but I’m occupied. My trigger finger is out of control, snapping photos every few seconds.
I’m conflicted. I want to put the camera down and soak up every minute of the experience, but there are so many incredible photo opportunities. I do my best to find balance, but it’s a struggle. The camera is winning the battle.
As the sun rises, the rocks and canyons turn to a fiery orange colour
Our balloon floats high about “Love Valley”.
I’ll let you use your imagination…
Inside the colourful balloon.
Pilots take their turn descending into Love Valley, getting up close with the strange rock formations.
The city of Goreme is surrounded by eroded canyons and fairy chimneys.
Colourful balloons and clear blue skies.
The vistas are truly one of a kind.
It’s impressive to watch the pilots guide the balloons through the canyons.
As this photo illustrates, the giant balloons dip deep into the canyons for a closer look.
This is one of my favourite photos from the tour.
The small vans and people add a sense of scale.
Notice the years of erosion in the canyons, creating lines and different colours
Traffic jam over Love Valley
Floating high above the other balloons.
A sea of balloons preparing to land as the morning sun rises.
Perfect landing!
This pilot actually landed his balloon on the back of the jeep trailer!
The hot air balloon deflates as passengers prepare to unload.
Our group celebrates the wonderful experience with some breakfast bubbly.
A nice finish to the tour!
And that’s a wrap!
Read more from our travels to Cappadocia:
- Photo Essay: The Magical Landscapes of Cappadocia, Turkey
- Video: Hiking the Goreme Valley in Cappadocia
- Video: Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Tour in Cappadocia, Turkey
- The Cave Churches of Göreme in Cappadocia, Turkey
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Have you taken a hot air balloon tour before? If so, where was it and what did you think?
Share your experience in the comments section below, we’d love to read about it!
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Hello there, it seems that your trip is interesting, to be honest I never tried riding the hot air balloon. I am just wondering how long is your trip? and how does it feel?
The trip was about an hour. It was a fantastic experience that I highly recommend!
That was me in April of this year! @Kate Brown Wilson the ride seemed like about 10 minutes, but I believe it was about an hour. Not super cheap @ US$200 for the ride but well worth it. It really is otherworldly up there – much more so than the photos show.
Hello there Rob thanks for your reply, Wow! that experience proves that it is really great aside from that its affordable, can’t wait to see your other collection of photos.
Thanks for your feedback Rob.
Agreed – it really is unlike any other place on earth!
You know what’s funny? Usually I hate having so many other tourists doing/seeing the exact same thing at the exact same time (we all get in the way of one another!), but with air balloons it’s actually better that way. Seeing dozens of other hot air balloons in the sky actually makes for better photos than if you were the only ones there!
It’s so true. The other hot air balloons create a completely different spectacle. It was neat to see them bob up and down, competing for the best views.
We just posted on our experience in Cappadocia, dancing between the chimneys. Such an amazing experience. I can’t believe the precision that pilots have to maneuver these. It was our first ride in a hot air balloon and will always be remembered.
It really is impressive to watch the pilots guide the massive balloons through tight canyons and pointy rocks. I must confess, I was pretty nervous a couple times when our pilot got within a couple meters of the canyon face.
One of the best photo essays I’ve seen on ballooning in Cappadocia! Really give a great perspective of the vallies!
Appreciate the kind words Gillian! 🙂
That looks unbelievable! Especially with all the other balloons up there as well – what a community!
Hey Brock!
Yes – it was an incredible trip, one of those “once in a lifetime” moments.
The other balloons certainly added to the experience.
Nice images. But – wow! – what a lot of balloons. I did this a few years ago and only saw one or two other balloons. Nice that more people are getting to experience this now.
It’s certainly the hot ticket in town! And for good reason 🙂
Wow!! Those are really nice pictures. It looks like you had much fun. I am hoping to do something like that soon.
wow! fantastic place for hot air balooning.
What amazing photos as for the experience itself too. There seemed to be a lot of balloons (not a negative thing, adds to the shots) so do they do this tour every day or only on weekends or what?
What an incredible experience! I love the views and it looks pretty cool with all the balloons. I definitely want to take a balloon ride when we go to Cappadocia..
wow! i am so jealous!! it looked like a beautiful day to fly!!! my flight was cancelled shortly after take off!!
now i feel compelled to go back to goreme just so I can have a successful flight.
I am dying to go to Cappadocia and Pamukkale of Turkey this year. and I hope I can experience the hot air balloon! Thank you for the share…Have you just travel alone?
Great photos! I too had my first hot air balloon rise recently. It was over Napa Valley.
My husband and I were actually married 10 years ago in a hot air balloon. Unfortunately it was too windy to fly that day and we’ve been trying to go ever since. He wasn’t even with me in Napa when I finally got to take that ride.
We’re searching for the perfect place to have that very special first ride together.
hallo,reading about this trip is such an adventure!!i am so afraid of heights,though i think that with this spectacular view of the canyons are worth seeing.i think the view from up in the air is simply amazing,am even ashamed that with the wild plains here in Kenya,i haven’t taken a Hot air balloon.its now a challenge to take a trip soon.thank you for sharing
Woa! This is something I’d like to do once!
I haven’t try this one and I want to experience riding on the hot air balloon.
I was so amazed at how smooth it felt. I am afraid of airplane flights and usually a nervous wreck on them. I was quite worried going on our balloon trip, freaking out actually. Up until the moment that we lifted off. Then I guess I realized how cool it was. I only had a few points of problem when he went really high, but otherwise near the ground it was a ton of fun.
I don wonder how much of the enjoyment is the loopyness of having to wake up at 5am.
I have fear in height and I want to conquer it by riding this air balloon. For sure it will give me cracking feeling above the air.
What an amazing experience and fabulous photos. I would have also been torn between trying to capture as much of the experience with the camera and just soaking it all in. I’ve read a few posts about hot air balloon rides and I now think that I will be looking for an opportunity to take one!
Great photos, would love to roll in one of those but the pointy rocks look kinda scary.
I was so amazed at how smooth it felt. I am afraid of airplane flights and usually a nervous wreck on them. I was quite worried going on our balloon trip, freaking out actually. Up until the moment that we lifted off. Then I guess I realized how cool it was. I only had a few points of problem when he went really high, but otherwise near the ground it was a ton of fun.
The views are real good and amazing, I would like experience it.
thanks for the post.
Wonderful pics.I like this trip, definitly I will try to riding on the hot air balloon.
Reading this reminds me of our balloon flight over Cappadocia last year. Wow! What an experience. Having ballooned in Africa and other places, we just weren’t prepared for the number of balloons all dotting the skies. Traffic jam is a very apt description!
Wow those are some breathtaking photos! Looks like you guys had a great time. I’ve always wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride…guess it’s about time to move that up on my bucket list! 😉
Balloon flight is one the best experiences one can have in their life time. Its good to experience new stuff sometimes.
Your shots are amazing! I took a hot air balloon ride in Bagan, Myanmar, and loved every moment. These rides really are magical!
Hello there, it seems that your trip is interesting, to be honest I never tried riding the hot air balloon. I am just wondering how long is your trip? and how does it feel?Wow those are some breathtaking photos! Looks like you guys had a great time. I’ve always wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride…guess it’s about time to move that up on my bucket list! 😉