Ballon Fight in Goreme

The bus arrived Nevesehir, the hub terminal for Cappadocia region, at six in the morning. We woke up to a local passenger calling us, and were escorted off the bus into the terminal building half asleep, not knowing who he is. He turned out to be a travel agent trying to sell us a guided tour. Disappointed to see such people outside of mega-city, we declined to take his offer and waited for the shuttle bus to Goreme.

 

Shoe String Hostel

Goreme is a small town located in the middle of a landscape full of cone-shaped rocks sticking out earth. Erupted volcano covered the earth with a great amount of ashes thousands of years ago, and some area became petrified, others were washed away by rain and wind over the years. What remains today, teeth-like rock formation with nooks, were used as caved residence for people settled in this area.

The first things in site off the minibus, were stone buildings in between sharp statue of rocks and a countless number of hot-air balloons floating in the sky. We walked around town, calm in the early sunlight, looking for a place to stay. We found a hostel with a cave room as per Sahe's wish, and after a rest, we walked around the beige town. Although the streets are lined with shops and cafe, there were no one trying to pulley us into their territory as they shamelessly did in Istanbul. Seeing selflessly friendly people made me realize never to judge the locals while in a city.

There was one other thing that Sahe wanted to do while in Goreme. It is to go on a hot-air balloon ride. From 500 meters (1,500 ft) to less than a meter off the ground, the direction solely depends on the way of the wind. There are over ten balloon companies in Goreme, and it is one of the common attraction to see the rock formation from above. As much as I wanted to try it, going up high is something I always wish to avoid, and so I sent Sahe off alone.

Hot-air ballon can only go up when the air is cold. A shuttle bus came to pick her up at five in the morning, and I decided to watch her from the highest point I can allow myself to be in. I found a nice area to situate myself and saw dozens of balloons on the ground, growing their domes like mushrooms. One ballon was already off the ground, but others waited for the dawn. One slowly slid off the ground, and then another, then another. Soon the sky was filled with siluhette of balloons, appeared like holes in the sky. When the sun finally rose above the mountain in the distance, bright colors of balloons lit up as they moved away from the ray towards the town, and one by one they landed on the hill on tue other side.

Sahe was on the one in the middle

It was nice to start off a morning after seeing the sunrise. Later in the day, Sahe and I made sure to see the sunset together from the same altitude.