Day 13: Balloon ride, underground city, fly to Instanbul
It's happening! The weather cleared enough for us to go on a balloon ride. We get up at O-dark-thirty
and are bussed to the Royal Balloon Company building.
They serve us coffee and danish and divide us into groups.
Outside, some of the pre-dawn balloons are taking off.
We are suprised by how many are already going.
They bus us to the launch area, and the number of balloons in the air is amazing.
Our balloon being inflated.
Getting excited to go.
Adding some heat to our balloon...
...until it starts to right up.
It is a 24-person balloon, plus pilot, and loading up was quite the ordeal for some.
Firing up for takeoff.
Our pilot, Serkan, checking his instrumentation.
We are pretty much loaded and ready for takeoff.
Sleepy but happy.
We look back at the largest volcano in the region, in the pre-dawn light.
The baskets are divided in four groups of six people, plus the pilot and tanks in the middle.
Our attention is divided between the beauty of the balloons in the air...
...and the grand scope of all of the formations on the ground.
They say there are around 165 balloon flights per day.
These crazy people get up early with us, just to watch the parade of balloons.
More spectators on the ridge.
Every direction you look is more balloons.
It's almost like being in a movie.
This is a lot of pictures, but it really was a magical experience.
Pilots enjoy themselves maneuvering in and through the rock formations.
When you are down inside the rock canyons, the lighting becomes completely different.
Kimberly captures a few moments of the ride as we dip down into one of the canyons.
It is pretty cold that morning, and we appreciate it every time he turns on the burners.
We are going to land the balloon basket right onto this trailer. Not sure you can do this every
morning, but with 2-3 MPH winds, it was pretty calm.
Getting out of the balloon is also an adventure for some people. Unfortunately, we do not
have a picture of Kimberly being carried down by swarthy Turkish men.
Wade looking very satisfied.
The ground crew greets us with mimosas and chocolate-dipped strawberries.
We each get a medal from the pilot for "surviving" our adventure.
One of our group did a color-enhanced version of the sunrise flight.
We go back to the hotel for breakfast, put our bags out, and head to the airport. On the way, we
make a quick stop at an underground city.
Here is the model with the layout.
Making our way through the first level, which was used for stables.
A shot through to some other rooms.
We wait at the top of the ramp for the other group below to clear out.
Kimberly making her way down to the next level.
These big wheels were used as security doors that could be rolled into place.
A ventilation shaft gives some sense of the depth we are at.
Kimberly coming back up.
A good shot of one of the security doors.
