Royal Ballooning

Royal  Ballooning – Stupendous, Meditation in flight

www.royalballoon.com

We splurged and took a balloon ride, we checked around in the town and it turns out there are 14 companies at the moment doing these rides all at various prices, when we checked into our hotel our delightful host “Saval” said, “I’d really like you to experience “Royal Balloon” rides,  they are the best and if your only ever going to do it once in your life,  go with the best!!  So we did, they picked us up the next morning at our hotel at 5:30am, we drove to their office and were served a great breakfast while they watched the weather to see if it was going to be too windy or not, well after about an hour they decided we were good to go so we climbed into the van and off we drove to the balloon site for that day.

We got to watch as they unravelled their balloons and attached the cages, they were great, we were allowed to run around with the camera and get some great shots, one even inside the balloon where a guy was helping it to inflate.  

We went up with 15 other people but once that balloon leaves the ground somehow you don’t notice anyone else is with you, there is nothing quite like drifting over the land in complete silence, a wonderful feeling, it reminded me of when Ive been at the IMAX theatre and you feel like you are actually in the movie, well this time we were,  it was great.  Our pilot was very experienced and happy to direct us as best he could in and out of the valley of Goreme, over monasteries, fairy chimneys, valleys, towns, red mountains,  it was soreal.

While we were in the air we probably saw another 10 balloons flying around, very cool.  Trevor joked with the pilot, as we were coming into land,” how about you land the basket right onto its trailer below”, well to our surprise he did just that, very skilled indeed.  The treats weren’t over yet,  once he lifted us all out of the basket we were met with champagne and medals, it was a great experience and such a great bunch of people with the Royal Balloon group.  I couldn’t believe how many people it actually takes to get the balloon up into the air and back down again.  I thought it would be cold up there at that time in the morning but the heat from the propane keeps you toasty warm.

Thanks to everyone at the Argos Hotel especially Saval and at Royal Balloons for making Cappadocia such a memorable and magical experience for both of us.  We have been travelling for over 6 months now and I would have to say that Morocco and Cappadocia have been the most magical experiences for us so far. You really must plan a visit to Turkey and the Argos Hotel at Cappadocia,  take a ride in a Royal Balloon and sip on the local Cappadocia wine.  Its something that you need to add to your bucket lists.

Truly the Royal treatment!!