Cappadocia Balloon Rides

[Warning – Spoilers ahead! The balloon ride should be experienced in person and I encourage you to take a trip to Turkey to do so. Hopefully, this won’t spoil your experience, rather inspire you to go on one! Also, note that my experience is only in the winter season, in early Dec. Summers are 10x more beautiful, from what I’ve heard]

Early morning wake up call

You start your day pretty early. We started at 6 – taken from our hotel to the location. There, we saw the balloons:

The beautiful thing about watching these balloons rise is the sheer size of it, contrasting beautifully against the winter sky. Note that the wind conditions are a massive factor for take off and is managed directly by the local airport authority. You’ll heard them calling out for confirmation and altitude adjustments.

Reach the heavens

From there, we were stuffed into a container that has 4 blocks (for the riders) – in each, they stuffed 4 people. This will vary depending upon the package you’ve chosen. You can find a more expensive, more personal ride.

After around 15 mins of fighting the wind, you’re taken up to the highest point, where the majestic snow capped mountain sits contrasting the orange-ish blue winter sky:

Ultimately, after about 45 mins, you’re brought back on the ground and served fruit champagne. You can ask them for something hot, which is what i did.