Ballooning

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12 October 2012

We got up at 5a.m. on a starry morning for what turned out to be an unforgettable sunrise
balloon flight. The perfect conditions with a clear sky and light winds enabled
our skilful pilot to go very low below the rim of several of the valleys which
surround Goreme as the sun rose above the horizon. This was particularly moving
for Wendy, being so close to the ground she was able to properly appreciate the
outstanding scenery being enjoyed by the rest of us. We then ascended to 3,000
feet to give an overall view of much of Cappadocia. The trip ended with a glass of local champagne on landing and a Turkish breakfast back at the campsite when we were all able to share our excitement.

Later on in the day we went to the Goreme Outdoor museum which is a collection of rock
churches many of them with outstanding frescoes. Then it was a walk around the
town followed by a visit to a church across the road from where we are staying
which was good fun as we were able to scramble through narrow tunnels to the
inside of a pigeon loft and into secret chambers.

There is a Turkish carpet showroom on the campsite and in the evening they gave us a
presentation and tried to tempt us to buy some of their wares which were made
from many different materials and came from different areas of Turkey.

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