Day 34 - Don Curry takes a balloon ride

Don Curry knows that you can only truly capture the beauty of Cappadocia when you have seen it from above, when you get an overview. That's why dozens of hot air balloons take off almost every morning to let hundreds of tourists float over the Cappadocian landscape. The bad weather had prevented any launches in the mornings of the past two days, but today they could start again - and Don Curry was there...

His alarm clock rang at 5:00 a.m. At 5:45 a.m., the pick-up service was waiting in front of his hotel to take him to the headquarters of Voyager Tours, where he had booked the balloon tour through his hotel. The minibus was packed, Don Curry would not be the only balloon rider today. The headquarters was located 20 km away from Göreme. There, they paid and then served a small breakfast: a coffee and a sweet bun. Then the groups were divided into minibuses. Don Curry had chosen the longest flight, which was supposed to last 75 minutes. There were only 6 other passengers for this tour, while the shorter (and cheaper) flights had to cram up to 24 people into one gondola. The minibuses with the passengers designated for each balloon set off - to Göreme. There, work was already in full swing on a wide field. Literally lots of hot air had to be produced so that the huge balloon envelopes gradually stood up. In the basket for 20 people, the 7 passengers and 2 pilots had plenty of space to move around and take pictures during the ride. Because a balloon does not fly, it travels - according to the official German language regulation.

First, it drove upward. When the envelope was fully inflated, Don Curry had three 20 kg bags thrown into his quadrant of the basket to compensate for the missing partner; then the balloon took off, very slowly and almost imperceptibly. In the half-darkness of the beginning dawn, Don Curry could see more and more balloons that were gently lifting off the ground. Around 80 balloons would be in the sky over Göreme today; up to 150 balloons are allowed at this spot at the same time.

But even 80 balloons in various colors and designs make the sky bloom, creating such a magical atmosphere as if a huge dandelion had entrusted all its seeds to the wind at once. Ballooning is a very gentle way of traveling, Don Curry pondered. If it weren't for the regular roar of the propane gas flames to generate lift, it would be a deliberate, quiet gliding into truly heavenly spheres. Don Curry noticed not only in himself, but also in almost all other fellow passengers, a blissful permanent grin. Only one person constantly wanted the pilot to climb even higher. But he had to decline that because of strong winds at higher altitudes.

But why fly as high as possible? How much more joy it brought to be almost within reach of the peaks of the rock formations in Love Valley, and even to be able to circle around them. Don Curry relived many areas of his hike from yesterday, including the vineyards - only this time from a bird's eye view and without any effort.

Gradually, the balloon-saturated sky cleared, the cheaper regular tours ended after 60 minutes. Don Curry's balloon continued to drive and float, in the end only a meter above a field, until the vehicle with the special trailer was in place so that the basket could land directly on the trailer. Without the inflamed propane gas, the balloon quickly deflated, and Don Curry and his fellow travelers were allowed to enjoy a glass of Cappadocian rosé sparkling wine and toast to their successful journey and landing. They even received a certificate for the completed experience.

Don Curry was transported directly back to the hotel from the field, had breakfast, packed, and checked out of this extremely pleasant Anatolian Houses hotel. He used the bright sunshine of the morning to drive to the Devrent Valley again and capture the bizarre rock formations in their full splendor.

South of Cappadocia is the Soganli Valley, a little-known but extremely worth seeing cultural treasure in breathtaking landscape. Already when entering the valley, you have to buy a ticket, and Don Curry even received some information in good German. Afterwards, he was supposed to return and have lunch at the local restaurant. Don Curry politely declined and chose to enjoy pure church pleasure today. In the remote Soganli Valley, just like in Göreme, surprisingly many churches have been carved into the rocks, although they lack the wonderfully well-preserved frescoes that the Göreme Valley has. They are also much harder to reach because they are not on the valley floor, but in some cases, have found their place at a great height, even safer from possible enemies. Don Curry climbed or walked to a total of 5 churches, all of which had their peculiarities: one was three stories high, another had an irregular rock lump as a substitute for a dome, and others still had remnants of once magnificent wall paintings. Before he set off for two particularly high-lying rock churches, the owner of the restaurant at the parking lot approached him, giving him some valuable advice in good English and suggesting that he return afterward and have lunch at his restaurant. Don Curry politely declined here as well.

Further south, near the city of Nigde, is the Gümüsler Monastery. From the outside, it looks like a hole in the rock wall, but when you step through this hole, you suddenly find yourself in a cloister-like two-story courtyard with rooms on all sides. On one side, you enter a two-story church. Especially the lower part can boast almost undamaged frescoes, even the columns are entirely painted with geometric patterns. An apocalyptic representation in the upper part, on the other hand, has faded considerably and is barely recognizable.

In addition to the fairy chimneys, rock formations, and cave churches, Cappadocia also offers another very special feature: underground cities that extend up to 10 stories deep and could accommodate hundreds of people. Everything is here, living and storage rooms, workshops and churches, stables, and cisterns, as well as a sophisticated system of fresh air supply - and all of that was laboriously carved into the rock floor. Although it was quite exciting, Don Curry quickly realized that the people back then must have been considerably smaller. He could only stand upright in very few rooms, and especially the countless stairs forced him into an extremely bent posture that hardly allowed him to see ahead. He has rarely looked forward to the end of a sightseeing path so much.

The next destination offered him a lot of fresh air in unlimited nature, which pleased him. The Ihlara Valley is also one of these inaccessible refuges of Christian architecture in an increasingly hostile environment. Several well-hidden cave churches have also been preserved in this valley. The inaccessibility of the valley is already evident from the access: almost 400 steps have to be climbed to descend from the upper rock wall, where the parking lot is located, into the canyon-like valley. The same steps are also the way back, and Don Curry encountered numerous heavily breathing climbers on the way down as he briskly walked down the stairs. The cashier had told him that three of the most beautiful churches would close in 30 minutes, so Don Curry hurried in particular. He found the first church immediately at the end of the stairway, but then he turned in the wrong direction. Although he discovered another church after 500 m, to which he climbed many steps, it was not one of the particularly beautiful ones. Now he changed direction, climbed to the next church - and found it locked. Too late! Nevertheless, Don Curry enjoyed the wonderful landscape of the valley with the lively flowing river and the rich vegetation in the middle of a rocky valley. Don Curry decided not to climb the 400 steps back up; he preferred to hike the 4 km through the Ihlara Valley to the village of Belisirma, where the other exit of the valley was located. A taxi was already waiting there, an ancient Fiat from the 80s, with which Don Curry was chauffeured back to his parking lot for just under €5, converted.

Only 10 km away from the Ihlara Valley is the small village of Güzelyurt, which is also known for its rocky surroundings, numerous churches in the neighboring Monastery Valley, and for its cave dwellings. Don Curry had checked into one of these for the night. Since these dwellings are distributed throughout the town, he was guided by the central reception about 100 m further until he was given a cave-like room with a view of the formerly inhabited rock wall opposite. Well, this room was more built with bricks than carved into the rock, but it still had rustic charm. The dinner, which was included in the room price and offered as a buffet, was also rustic. In addition to various appetizer salads, there were also cold potato pancakes that could be eaten in advance. For the main course, Don Curry opted for a very spicy chicken pan with rice and a mixture of vegetables. However, the choice of drinks was severely limited. Water or ayran. There was nothing more. Nevertheless, Don Curry remained satisfied and looked forward to not having to hear an alarm clock at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow...