I bet you thought Capadoccia was over. You read my last post in minute detail, scrupulously committing to memory every last scrap of information I included, thinking that was your only chance for news of Turkey's interior. But good news everyone! That was just day 1! Here's what happened oh-too-early the next morning...
The balloon company picked me up at the hostel while it was still dark. My two roommates were ballooning as well, but they went with a different company that left half an hour earlier. So ha! We drove to the company headquarters, where they gave us snacks and split us into groups. Then each couple groups took a different van and headed off into the hills, where the half-inflated balloons sprawled across the ground like giant slumbering beasts. Maybe jellyfish?
They blasted fire at the beasts to wake them... Okay, enough metaphor. They heated up the air inside the balloons by blasting the engines.
Slowly they rose up...
Until they floated free!
This picture really belongs above the last one, if we're proceeding chronologically, but I like the flow of those last three together :) The basket is pretty cool. It's divided into nine compartments, eight for passengers and one for the pilot and copilot. Four people per compartment, and you have to climb in using those square holes you can see in the left of the photo. Your feet get a bit cold standing in the basket, but your head and upper body are constantly warmed by the fire. The pilot controls the balloon (as much as he can) by turning on the flamethrowers to heat up the air and raise the balloon or by tugging one of the ropes to open the vents and spill some of the hot air.
Looking up into the balloon--things are big!
There were at least 30 other balloons up there with us, even in the off season.
Inverse balloons. Note the one on the right is firing its thrusters to rise up.
The copilot seems to be there as security in case anything should happen to the pilot. So he ends up having nothing better to do than take pictures for the passengers.
Sunrise from the air. See, I said it was too early!
The cave houses from above.
The most impressive part of the whole operation has got to be the landing. The pilot takes the balloon down and forces it to hover a few meters off the ground while the truck drives under it. He spills air quickly (note the open ring at the top of the balloon,) and guys come over to jump on the basket and tug the guide rope so the balloon collapses sideways, spread out on the ground, instead of straight down on top of the basket.
The traditional celebration for a successful balloon flight is champagne, so all the companies lug their folding tables and glasses out to the landing sites for a toast. That's our pilot in the foreground with the red scarf.
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