Blogs from Göreme, Cappadocia, Central Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East

Heute war ein bad-hair-day. Aber davon abgesehen begann der Tag auch sonst schlecht: Um 6.00 Uhr begann es zu schütten und es war ärgerlich zusehen, dass um 6.30 beim Beladen der MR noch trockene Flecken unter den Maschinen waren. Bei der Abfahrt war alles klatschnass. Frühstück gab’s in dem riesigen Gewölbe, in dem früher in der Karawanserei die Tiere untergebracht waren. Ausfahrt aus Safranbolu über enge, steile Gassen, die teilweise mit riesigen, sehr unebenen Kopfsteinpflastersteinen belegt waren. Rutschig und ungut. Die anderen fuhren dann rechts über einen kleinen Pass, ich links und über gut ausgebaute Straßen. Nach 100 Meilen trafen wir uns und ich war wieder auf dem Pfad der Tugend. Der Straßenbau hierzulande ist schon erstaunlich. Es gibt zum einen Autobahnen, die Maut kosten. Und dann gibt es ein Netz von vierspurigen Straßen, die fast ... read more

Good Friday AM...up at 4:00 again today....bad news at 5:00 too much wind to fly. Back to bed until loud pounding on door at 7:00. HURRY....We are going to fly! In air by 7:40 after being literally picked up and tossed into basket!!! Most amazing adventure ...no words to describe....our most excellent pilot, Mustafa, even had an evil eye hanging in basket to protect us from harm. It worked :-) and once back on ground we celebrated with Champagne, cake and beautiful red strawberries. Once back at hotel (only 9:00am) we enjoyed a Turkish breakfast and started our leisurely stroll through the village, up a long hill to the Goreme Open Air Museum. Here there are many chapels cut into the hillside . inside each are still beautiful Byzantine frescoes with scenes from both the Old ... read more

We went on a ballon ride at 6:00am I think it was too early but worth it. They fed us at the office it was like all the other breakfasts. Jill, Elise, Rachel, mom and me where paired with 8 other people and the pilot. Our pilot was hilarious he made jokes, he asked if we had been on a hot air balloon before we said it was are first time and he said it was his too! The view was unbelievably beautiful as the sun rose from the depth of the darkness and shone light to the world! We went through the valley of love and were really close to the ground we then shot up and went 930metres above the ground, we were only feet above the ground when we went over a ridge ... read more

We got up at 5:00am. The sky was clear for the first time. We've had rain all day every day so far. We bundled up, because it would be cold. We were going up in a hot air balloon. The company feeds you breakfast and then drives you to the launch site. The balloons are half filled and in the pre dawn light the fires filling the balloons makes the whole balloon glow. We quickly climb the woven basket and jump inside. I had not planned to do this, but it became irresistible once we were here. The lift off is almost unnoticeable, and then you are away. We had been at the edge of Love Valley so within seconds we were amongst the columns. The pilot drops down almost to the valley floor columns rising ... read more

Woolly says – I woke up freezing with rain pelting down on the tent, I was not a happy Mammoth. With the temperature at 12 degrees it felt bitter bearing in mind the steady 27 to 30’s we have been living in. Ian went on a rummage through Ollie and found warmer clothes for me and Jo. She looks very cute in a pair of Ian’s jeans rolled up by the foot and one of his T Shirts to provide an extra layer, not to mention a pair of his socks over hers. He also dug out my hoodie, woolly hat and scarf for me…..what a star!! Suitably clad we made it into to Ollie by midday. It was a very late start for us but there was little point in doing anything until the deluge ... read more