Day9–Balloon ride, underground city, a hike, and a Turkish bath!

So we found out at the last minute someone had canceled and spots were available on the morning balloon ride. How could I not go? Yes, it was a bit pricey for an hour, but hey, the opportunity would probably not arise ever again.

So we were up at 4 am preparing for a 4:50 departure. The balloons fly early because the wind is more stable and the sunrise is stunning.

After being bussed to our balloon company’s central office, we were treated to fruit and coffee. We then were divided into groups of 20, which is the number our basket could hold; eventually we were loaded into another van and whisked to the top of a hill where our balloon awaited us.

A crew of 4-6 guys and the pilot were the balloon team. Our pilot, Murat, spoke wonderful English, and he gave us instructions, He had two rules: Stay in basket until he told us we could get out, and when we were about to land, we were all to face one direction, grab the rope holds, and bend our knees.

He also shared with us that about the area had 25 balloon companies and that each morning about 150 balloons take off and land. The average balloon ride is 60-90 minutes. To become a pilot, one has class for 3 months and then has to complete many hours of practical instruction before being fully licensed.

Murat lifted us off and we ascended up to 4500 feet. Now and then we’d descend to investigate a valley and rise again. As the sun moved over the hill, the balloons’ colors became more vivid. And luckily it wasn’t too cold. I had gloves and headgear with me, but was pleasantly surprised not to need them.

We landed in an area where our balloon team awaited us—they’d been in contact with Murat via radio, so we had a chase car meet us pulling a trailer. We all assumed our “landing position” and touched down gently. Three of the ground crew held us down and guided us onto the top of the trailer. Then began the toughest part of the entire ride—getting out of the basket.

Five of ten from our group decided to balloon

But we all managed to spill out and as the ground crew deflated and eventually folded the balloon, others set up a nice bit of champagne which I mixed with cherry juice. Very fun and exhilarating.

A brief ride back to town got us back to the hotel before 8. Since we were meeting the rest of our group at 8:45, I had a bit of time for breakfast and cleaning up.

So the group left for the underground city—that’s exactly what it was—a town of 3.000 people who lived in carved out rooms below the earth to hide from persecuting Romans. Imagine one of those ant farms—this is exactly what the place was like. Amazing.

This guy is selling potato chips he does on skewers

On to the Ihlara Valley (or canyon). This is close to the snow covered volcano. It’s a lush, deep canyon carved out of basalt with a rushing river running through it. 10,000 people lived in the 9 mile long valley. They built Christian churches here—again to avoid the Romans. We saw several churches and enjoyed the bird calls and sound of the rushing water. We hiked for 90 minutes, had a great lunch along side the river and bussed to a particularly eerie looking conical area where Star Wars (the first movie) was filmed.

The only known picture of Jesus sitting cross legged is in this cave church in the Ihlara Valley

Along the hike we saw interesting areas for refreshments

One can bring refreshments into this lounging area

The area where some of the original Star Wars was filmed

Four other gals and I had booked a “Turkish bath” experience at the local hamam. I really didn’t know what to expect, but for $30, I thought, why not? The sexes were divided and so the women went downstairs where we were given a locker. We disrobed and put on the slippers and wrapped ourselves in towels. Then we waited in a carpeted salon until a lovely older woman applied a clay face mask to each of us. Then into the sauna. The woman set the timer and said that after 15 minutes, we were to proceed to the shower and wash off the mask.

So we sat and sat and sat in the sauna—and since it was quite dark in there, we didn’t realize the “timer” was actually an hour-glass contraption that simply emptied. We’d all been waiting for a beeper or something, so obviously we over-saunaed.

After washing off the face mask, we were brought into a room with a large heated octagonal marble slab. We each lay on top of our towel and were drenched with warm water. Then the scrubbing began. We’d been warned that the scrub could be quite harsh, but this was simply a exfoliation scrub and it felt good. Then came the massage—front and back. My masseuse found the knots in my back and really worked on them. Felt great.

Then came the bubble/soap rub. Each of us was covered with mountains of foamy lather. Still lying on the marble slab, our masseuses rubbed in the soap from head to toe and ended it all by drenching us with water. Then off to the pool. It happened to be cool, and actually felt cold after the sauna and massage. And then? We covered with towels and relaxed on a lounger with tea. So lovely. The women used to do this often, and I can see it would’ve probably been a great meeting spot for them.

After this super fun. We had a bite to eat before trekking back to the hotel and finishing the evening with wine around the garden table. Love this group. Love this trip.