One reason for visiting Göreme, Turkey, is the hot air balloons. More precisely, going for a ride in one. When looking into it, I became unsure whether or not this was for me. Being stuffed into a basket with a good amount of people, divided into sections, within which you might be able to move, or not, high up in the air. Worst case scenario, I’d be paying lots of money for being terrified, as in claustrophobia and acrophobia would kick in.
How then to experience this amazing spectacle? From the ground. I solved it by finding a hotel with a viewpoint, that is a breakfast room on the top floor, with huge windows I could swing open to the side like a door. I couldn’t be more outside inside 🙂 Sat alone in the silent dark at 7 am, full of expectation, not knowing in which direction to keep a lookout, I was very much caught by surprise, when I suddenly spotted something looking like the top of a lightbulb, thinking “nah, it can’t be it”, because it was just down the road, but it indeed was. Then, little by little, the sky was filled with hot air balloons, creating this amazing scene.
I have no doubt the ultimate choice is going on a ride, but you don’t have to. Lots of hot air balloons depart from a field in town – it’s on the left as you leave towards Goreme Open Air Museum, beyond the cone-shaped rocks. I imagine you could go there, to the adjacent roads, or basically anywhere. Of course, the higher up, the better, like Sunset View Hill. I considered both the field and the hill, but was too tired and lazy to run off 🙂
Balloon view area
