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  • Day 58

    D58 Turkey - Cappadocia

    August 31, 2019 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    A Snapshot of Our Day

    Photo 1 - Hands down one of the biggest highlights so far; this view made the 4.30am wake up worth it. Flying with 150 other hot air balloons is definitely a once in a lifetime experience, and the sun kissed views caused the group to be a lot quieter than usual. Our pilot Samir was hilarious, and had dubbed his balloon ‘The Titanic’. He chose to drop this fun fact on us after he tactically flew us past a huge rock, which ironically resembled an iceberg. The celebratory cake and champagne handed out on landing helped with settling any residual nerves!

    Photo 2 - You’re welcome guys.

    Photo 3 - Just your local pooch getting his morning yoga session in; downward dog anyone?

    Photo 4 - Another glimpse of the Fairy Chimneys; not getting too many inappropriate comments from people yet, but there is still time.

    Photo 5 - A birds eye view of Göreme, the town that we are staying in while in Cappadocia.

    Photo 6 - We visited Derinkuru Underground City which is another World Heritage site. It was amazing to follow the arrows down through the maze of tunnels and now empty rooms, which went on for 5 levels! This city was built with one purpose - to provide emergency shelter for the local people when it was required. Good thing it wasn’t a permanent solution as it was incredibly humid and pourous down there!

    Photo 7 - We then spent some time wandering through the local market, which sold everything from large plastic tubs, taps and gas stoves to spices, mountains or fresh fruit and vegetables, and baked goods. It was clearly a much poorer area; all the items we looked at were dirt cheap, and the stares we got from the locals suggested that they didn’t expect us to be there!

    Photo 8 - I was in absolute heaven and it’s a miracle that we only left carrying some peaches and apples.

    Photo 9 - We finally paid a visit to the Fairy Chimney Open Air Museum and had a great time walking in and around these incredible formations.

    Video 1 - Unfortunately, Anthony was too unwell to join the rest of the group this evening as we went to a Turkish Celebration evening at a local function centre. Our guide Mete had told us about the variety of dances we may see; all from different regions of Turkey including where he was born. So while we enjoyed a feast of unlimited mezze dishes and drinks, we also enjoyed the display of Turkish cultural history. We all ended up on the dance floor at one stage or another, which made it one of the best nights out so far!
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