This morning I, along with 12 other of the tour group got up at 4:30am for a 5:00am ride to the hot air balloon launch! This is the one place in the world where there are so many balloons in the air at the same time every day. We were fortunate our company changes their launch site daily, depending on the morning winds as this is what determines where you go. We were able to fly over the many valleys of Cappadocia, including the Gerome Open Air Museum that we visited yesterday. I was kind of surprised by how this worked. We didn't just launch and go up and sail along. Instead, they did their best to take us down and up and between the fairy chimneys in the different valleys. We scraped bottom a few times on brush, etc., but there was no concern by the pilots! (Both had over 10 years of balloon piloting and one is also licensed in the US.) This is definitely an experience I would like to do again -- well worth the money!
This afternoon we went to the underground city of Kaymakli, which "features a maze of tunnels and rooms carved eight levels deep into the earth (only four are open)." "During the 6th and 7th centuries, when Persian and Arabic armies set off to vanquicsh the Christians....the Byzantine Christians would escape into secret tunnels leading to vast underground cities." There are at least 140 of these cities, although only 36 have been excavated. Some 3000 people lived at Kaymakli, spending months at a time... (From Lonely Planet Turkey Guide book.) I found I was only comfortable at the first two levels and went back to the surface when it was time to go through long skinny tunnels that you had to really scrunch down to get through! I saw enough though to see the thought that went into the details of these rooms to allow whole towns of people to hide underground for months at a time.
Our dinner was at another little town, in a venue that serves only group meals. This tour is giving us opportunities that we could never have on our own. This place was run by Adam and his family: his parents, wife, sisters and their husbands, and daughters. The tables were on a terrace overlooking another of the many valleys/gulleys of the Cappadocia region. We saw Adam's mother cooking up the "salcha" -- a seasoned tomato base that is used for much of their cooking.
We also had this on our bread that they made while we watched. All in all, each day just keeps getting more amazing!
After the dinner, some of us chose to go to watch a group of Whirling Dervishes perform their ceremony -- not sure what else to call this, as it wasn't really a "show", but rather like attending their religious ceremony. No photos were allowed. Basically, the men twirl in small circles (like kids like to do) into a trance like state in an effort to be closer to God. Ok, probably not the best explanation, but you can google it to find out what I mean! It was certainly interesting, and difficult to stay awake as it was late, warm in the room, and we had just had that very filling and delicious meal!
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