At 5:30 AM we had liftoff – and it was then as we started to slowly rise above the trees I realized that we were not alone. We were 1 of 55 hot air balloons as far as I could see and count. They looked like marbles floating beneath me – brightly colored and designed looking perfectly round from my viewpoint above them. But what struck me about this complex marble game was something that was missing – noise. One would think that when you get 55 of anything together that there would be noise. However as I gazed over the basket filled with 19 other people and a captain, it was perfectly quiet. All of these powerful, massive moving objects were silently ascending into the quiet morning sky.
They say that taking a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia Turkey is a ‘once in a lifetime experience’ – which quite frankly I scoff at whenever anyone uses that term. But what made it really exciting and unique for me wasn’t the fact that we were floating over the strange and unique land formations of Cappadocia – it was that there were 54 other balloons also in the airspace above the land formations.
Talk about a rush hour.
But somehow the captain navigated the air space calmly and it allowed me to simply hang over the edge and take hundreds of pictures of this, colorful, silent work of art in the sky. I had only once before been in a hot air balloon, and I was hoping that this experience was going to go smoother than my last experience which left me pretty banged up. The day was calm though, which allowed our experienced captain to land the big balloon basket directly onto a flatbed truck exhibiting talent and teamwork.
This ‘once in a lifetime’ experience happens daily in Cappadocia with an early 4AM pickup from your hotel and then a quick safety briefing over some meager breakfast. Then you are whisked away to your balloon which holds about 20 passengers. You watch the inflation of the balloon and soon you pile into the basket and up, up, and away you go!
View all Hot Air Balloon Cappadocia Pictures
More Information:
Kapadokya Balloon Website
Price: 165 Euro or 380 Turkish Lyra for 1 hour
I was a guest of Intrepid Travel and Kapakokya Balloon for this balloon experience. However, the opinions are my own.
By Eurotrip Tips August 24, 2012 - 8:34 am
SOOO beautiful! Definitely on my bucket list 🙂
By Darlene Foster August 25, 2012 - 8:10 pm
OMG This is my total dream, to visit Cappadocia. To see it from a hot air balloon would be mind blowing. Your pictures are amazing. I am going to save this post and look at it often to visualize myself there.
By Lindsey August 25, 2012 - 10:58 pm
Wow, such a surreal landscape! Seeing it from above after the amazing experience that would be rising with 54 other balloons must have been stunning!
By JoAnna August 28, 2012 - 10:41 am
I love hot air ballooning photos. The light, the colors. It’s all so beautiful. But I am curious about why Turkey is so popular for this activity? What is it that makes it such a big deal?
By EJ Juen Jr September 5, 2012 - 5:23 pm
Your pictures are so clear and the angles are so great, I can feel the thrill just by looking at them. I wish I get to experience it for real. Definitely added to my bucket list.
By Diana March September 12, 2012 - 9:00 pm
You’ve definitely got a keen eye for photography Sherry. Not only am I doing the Camino de Santiago next April/May, I am travelling on to Turkey. Your images are certainly inspirational and a balloon flight is obviously a must. Thank you for sharing these amazing images
By Paul Smith October 21, 2012 - 6:29 pm
Definately want to get there soon, can get some amazing photos at ground level also. If you like mass balloon ascents, you should also check out Bristol Balloon fiesta, first weekend in August.
By Irina October 25, 2012 - 11:42 am
I love how you captures this experience, especially the last one!
By Corinne October 31, 2012 - 10:57 am
Love Cappadocia, love your shots! I also love that you “scoff” at the “once in a lifetime” comments, because I relate. I like to use that comment when it’s NOT something I want to ever do again, not something I’m loving doing! Great post Sherry.
By Deb December 3, 2012 - 8:17 am
Wow Sherry! These are really incredible! I didn’t know that you did Cappadocia. That is one of my dreams. I must say though, I think I’d be a little worried with all those hot air balloons in the sky. We just took one over the Masai Mara and we were the only ones in the air.We only saw others way off in the distance, were you worried at all about running into anyone? Sure makes for incredible photos though!!!
By Sherry December 3, 2012 - 8:23 am
Ha! Yes – it was quite a traffic jam! But I loved seeing all of the balloons in the air at once…it was like a giant game of marbles!
By Austin July 23, 2013 - 5:22 am
Very nice pictures. Its always good to try new things in life. The new thing i want to try is Hot Air Ballooning.
By David Hayes September 30, 2015 - 4:08 am
Loads of ınformatıon – very good article