An account of the morning of our first day in Cappadocia
Our hot air balloon ride on our first full day of touring in Turkey has been put in our memory book of magical things that we have done in our married life. We are in Cappadocia which is not a city but an area - probably like saying we were in "the Cascades" or "on the Wasatch Front", or "at the beach". We had to be at the entrance of the hotel at 5:30 am which was painful after our long overnight transit from Kazakhstan to this small town in Cappadocia. The most ideal time for a balloon ride is early in the morning so you are airborne as the sun rises.
Cappadocia is a BIG tourist area in Turkey and balloon rides are even BIGGER. There are many companies who offer rides, and there are hundreds of balloons in the sky in the early morning. I, foolishly, thought we might be the only ones doing this, but soon found that our company had several balloons this morning and so everyone has to get there early enough to sign and so forth. While we were waiting we could sample morning snacks.
Then we heard the announcement - "The ten Americans, please!" and out the door we went and into the van.
At the take off location there were numerous pick-up trucks clustered around their balloons and all the workers were busily inflating them.
Then it was time to "board the balloon" (probably not the official expression). The basket was really big and I think there were twenty-five or twenty-eight in it. Getting in was like climbing into the bed of a big big diesel pickup with really aggressive tires - and few hand holds. There were four places on the basket where you could put your hands and feet (but one slot was blocked by a steel brace), and then it was up and over - some went like a gazelle being pursued by a cheetah and others were a bit more clumsy - think heavy work boots covered by a huge glob of sticky clay - getting their trailing leg over the basket's edge. But everyone made it with no embarrassing incidents. We were strapped in with a belt placed around our waist and then clipped to hook on the basket...so were were safe. Then employees took pictures of us.
And we were off. Ignition! Acceleraion! Lift off! Sunrise!
"Houston, we have achieved sunrise orbit!"
The sun is just peeking over the horizon.
It was so magical and quiet and still and not cold and beautiful! I took so many pictures and will post most of them because I want to be able to remember them for ....at least 30 years.
Here is looking directly down from the basket. The orange things are hand holds for the workers to grab onto when we come down for a landing. Are you wondering if I spit? Well - just keep on wondering.
We were floating over an ancient area with all of these mountains, formed by volcanic ash, into which, eons ago people carved living quarters or escape quarters, churches (very small ones) and so forth. The pilot of the balloon took right over many of these, practically low enough that we almost grazed the ground - some crazy teenager would likely have jumped basket at any moment. It was so fun for us to realize that were not floating over vineyards in France but, instead, over 'fairy chimneys' and ancient cathedrals in Turkey.
This is the top of a church. You can see the tiles. (Actually it looks like the head of a sleeping dog or a lamb) And then some windows and door.
A farm below us - there is a cow at the top.
Approaching modern civilization.
The rectangle at the bottom left is a swimming pool - part of a water park.
A truck chasing its balloon
A balloon has just landed and is deflating
This is our truck and trailer waiting for us. The pilot seemed to easily maneuver us right over the trailer and plop us down on top of it - there were three guys on the ground who grabbed the handles and did some pushing and twisting to get us exactly positioned on the trailer.
On the very tippy top of the balloon there is what, I think, is called the parachute---more aptly it is a fabric plug.. So the pilot pulls a cord, which releases the plug and air flows out the top.
And we're down.
The Carters are down too.
The end of the balloon and the ride.
Ten intrepid Mormons and the pilot.
Here is a link with great info about this area of Turkey
http://www.ancient-origins.
In the afternoon of the first day we went to visit two "museums" - one explained and demonstrated Turkish rugs and the second did the same with Turkish ceramics. Both reminded us of our trips to Venice where you can ride for 'free' in a vaporetto out into the lagoon and then to one of several islands where glassblowing is practiced to the finest degree. Of course, one had to sit through the demonstration of glassblowing and then visit the gift shop. The same was true here, but we really didn't mind.....except in the rug museum when the salespeople continued to show to us rugs after we had said no.
Let's start at the rugs. Here is our guide. He spoke very good English.
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First we saw a demo of 'wool on cotton' rugs. The weavers hands moved so quickly that you couldn't even see her fingers moving. The women were making a simple knot on every two strings (either warp or weft...can't remember). The guide invited anyone who wanted, to sit beside her and give it a try. Elder Christison gave it a try - - and, confidentially, he did poorly :-)
This area of Turkey is well known for hand woven rugs, and according to our guide, many women do weaving in homes everywhere. There are certainly many rugs available from street side vendors.
This woman is doing a silk rug which has much finer thread and much more intricate designs and costs lots more.
Silk rugs? I wonder where the silk is sourced? From silk worms grown right here in Turkey!
This is where the wool or silk is dyed.
And the show room! Oh....the rugs were lovely - all sizes and color combinations! Here is one...
and more..... and more..... until the showroom floor was covered several layers deep.
I felt so sorry for the salesmen as they seemed absolutely desperate to sell a rug. One rug was flipped onto the floor that had natural browns and beige and, it tickled my fancy - my fancy, not my pocketbook. I made the mistake of standing up to look at it, and I became a target. It was only $5000! But the price went down the longer I said "no". Dad and I completely agree with the old proverb that 'rain falls on the just and unjust'. In this case, we knew that r'ed koolaid spills on expensive Turkish carpets as easily as it falls on cheap rugs from Target'. No, a rug was not in our future; we have a 1940's farm house, with beautiful wood floors that don't need to be covered by anything. Besides, there is mud right outside of our front door. Finally, in order to get away from the hungry salesman, we simply stood up and walked out of the building. One of our group did buy a rug so all was not lost for the 'museum'.
Next we went to a ceramics studio/showroom. This was operated by a man who is famous in the
world of pottery..... his name is not Albert.
He was quite entertaining as he created a tea pot before our very eyes.
And, we learned that President Davis is a pottery maker too, and he was persuaded and cajoled to give us a demonstration of his skills.
He too created a masterpiece suitable for the showroom which was filled with beautiful works of art - very expensive works of art. I looked seriously at a ceramic hot air balloon = you can barely see them hanging from the ceiling. in the photo. I eyed a black and orange one (for Oregon State) but it ws $45.00!!!!!
On Tuesday we also visited the Fairy Chimneys! These are the formations we first saw from the hot air balloon. They are everywhere - and called fairy chimneys because......I guess sometimes (in the distant past) there was condensation that evaporated and it looked like vapors are emanating from the top and so they are fairy chimneys. That's what the guide said!
And, I will end Day One with this photo. No, I do not know the reason why the sign is there, but our Senior Volunteers insisted on standing under it and ........ yeah.
Day Two will be in next post.
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