Turkey

It's been more than seven months since the beginning of self-isolation. To be honest, I started to miss the hustle and bustle of travel life. We just did a very cool trip, so I’m bringing back the travel part of my blog.

The destination was Turkey. We arrived in Istanbul at 7 PM for a short night layover, did a little sleep, and jumped on an early flight to Kayseri.

Cappadocia

It was the primary target of the trip. I always wanted to see firsthand the famous balloons over Bagan. A few years back, we almost made a trip to Myanmar, but at some point, we changed the plans. This time, due to the pandemic, our options were very limited. Fortunately, Cappadocia was available.

We arrived at Kayseri around 8 AM. Our host arranged a shuttle bus for us (€10 per person), and in around 1 hour, we were at the reception of our hotel in Goreme.

Even in October, it's pretty hot here under a midday sun. All humans and animals are mostly chilling out in the shadows. Since we arrived in the morning, we didn't have a plan for this day, so we were wandering around exploring the surroundings.

If you're into a night shooting, you will get yourself busy here.

Balloons: the ride

We had two main goals:

The former was planned for the next morning. Unfortunately, the number of balloons in the sky is not as big as usual due to the pandemic: around 50 versus 170. It was even fewer a couple of weeks prior, though: 20-something.

Pick-up time is around 5 AM. A bus took us from the hotel and delivered to the valley from where balloons take off. It's pretty cold and windy in the early morning, so I didn't regret taking a windproof jacket with me. Flight duration is about 1 hour. At the moment of the visit, the price was €120 per person.

A balloon's basket is divided into five compartments: the largest one is in the middle, for the pilot and gas tanks. Four slots on the sides are for passengers. Each side slot accommodates three people. It's very tight in there. If you plan to change lenses along the way, you'd better be prepared for it. I didn’t even try.

Also, if I were using my phone to take pictures/videos, I'd put it on some leash. Considering how tight it is inside, it's easy to be accidentally pushed by a neighbor and drop it.

In sum, it was a fantastic experience. Totally worth it. Pictures!

Uchisar

Later that day, we took a trip to the Uchisar castle. We rented a scooter and, as it turned out, it was a good call. Uchisar is a little village just a 10-minute ride from Goreme. It's the highest point in Cappadocia, crowned with a rock castle. The plan was to watch a sunset from the top of this tower, but the weather had other plans. When we reached the summit, the skies to the north didn't look good at all. There could be no question of any sunset. The only question was, will we make it to the hotel before the rain?

The ride back was fun. The hardest part was getting through the sand swirl in the Goreme lanes. The moment we ran into the hotel, the storm reached the place.

Balloons: the sight

On the next day, we were going to watch the balloons from our hotel's terrace. We woke up at 5:30 AM, but the skies were empty. No balloons were happening on that day due to yesterday's storm. I made a note to myself to check with the host if flights are actually scheduled before setting up an early alarm.

It meant only one chance left to see the balloons since we were leaving Cappadocia the next day.

Luckily, the next day, balloons took off. Watching it from the ground is no less exciting. Still in the dark, balloons wink at each other while warming the air. Then take off, one after another.

We stayed at the Arinna Cappadocia Hotel. They arranged a cozy place on the terrace with traditional pillows and carpets. Every morning (when balloons are in the air) staff serves fruit platters, glasses with juice, and hookahs so that visitors can take pictures. It looks really, really lovely, and we were lucky enough to take advantage of it.

The only a bit unfortunate moment was that when the most beautiful light kicked in, the majority of the balloons were already on the way down. But, heck, it was fascinating either way!

Cesme

Later that day, we took off from Cappadocia to Izmir. The main reason we headed there is to knock out the desert's dust and grab some sun & salty water before the winter with as few tourists around as possible. We stayed for a few days between Alacati and Cesme, it's a 1-hour drive from the Izmir.

Alacati—nice little town to pass. Cesme has a little castle with a view on the marina and Greece's island but I would not go there specifically for this.

Istanbul

After calm Cappadocia and lazy Cesme, Istanbul blows away, literally. The traffic is nuts (as are the taxi drivers). Crowds, crowds, crowds. If you're into big buzzing cities, that's probably your destination. I'm not that much, though.

This place has a certain charm, for sure. The Blue Mosque, even though it was in a partially disassembled state, is impressive. Small, quiet lanes are nice. But most of the streets are noisy and overcrowded. There is a lot of trash on the sidewalks. I got tired of the city pretty fast, to be honest.

It was my very first trip to Turkey. Without a doubt, Cappadocia was its best part. Get there if you haven't yet.