Sunday Feb 11th

WooHoo!! Blog #100! Triple didgies baby! As I type, I sit on my first of two busses this Sunday evening, this one to the Kayseri bus station where I hope to catch a 9pm overnight bus to Istanbul. How exciting. 

It has been a truly ridiculous couple of days. I’ll pick up right where I left off, which was about yesterday morning. As instructed by my hot air balloon company, I waited in my hostel lobby at 6:30am. A large white van rolled up outside, a man got out, opened the door, and asked for Griffin. I said yes, and followed him into the van. A few other people were already seated inside. We made a few more stops before joining a sea of identical vans, all in a parade towards the outskirts of town. There we were treated to the sight of a hot air balloons being prepared for take off. The balloon starts laying on the ground with the basked and attached jets lying on its side. The jet is pointed horizontally and blasted into the supine balloon. I did not realize how massively impressive the jets of flame would be. Between the spurts of blue hot flame, the varicolored balloons swelling before our eyes, and the general intrigue of the whole thing, I felt like I was witnessing a secret herd of dragons, ala Goblet of Fire. 

Another surprising feature of the balloons is their storage capacity. About 25 people fit in the basket with me, sorted into eight little enclosures, surely to ensure our weight distribution as well as fair access to the views. We loaded up and our cheerful captain Tolga took us into the sky. 

What a feeling! If we had been in a plain cornfield, the experience of riding in a hot air balloon would have been something to write home about. But no, we were floating above some of the most gorgeous desert geology I’ve ever seen at sunrise surrounded by at least a hundred other hot air balloons of different colors and varieties. It was truly surreal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that is so completely photogenic. 

The landing was just as fascinating of a ritual as the takeoff. There are massive fields that the pilots aim for. They can really only control the altitude, so their trajectory is just about anyone’s guess. Each balloon is associated with a different crew and company (I’m sore some have several balloons). Since the landing spot is pretty much complete guesswork, the crew has to drive their trailer to any random place that the balloon lands, literally catching it in the trailer of the truck. It was so funny to watch the car speed through dusty fields, weaving beneath us like someone catching something important dropped from a third floor window. Just behind the truck were the vans that dropped the passengers off right at their accommodations, but not before a small non-alcoholic champagne toast and a pitch to buy the company’s video recording of the whole endeavor. 

It was hard to process what had just happened, so I just decided to jump right into the next adventure. After a delicious breakfast at the hostel, I embarked upon a hike through a couple of the nearby desert valleys. On my way out of town I acquired the company of two stray dogs with sandy fur. I made up a story that they were a couple, Missy and Tom, who were leading me to their secretly cool spots. Wandering through desert roads with views of plateaus, mesas, valleys, and sandstone pillars made me feel cool enough. Now, I had two old-spirited locals guiding me. I won’t lie, I let out a few “whoops!” here and there. I spoke to the dogs in Italian, just like my uncle Tony. Andiamo, Veni Qua, Vai, etc. 

The hiking itself was sublime. First I followed a dirt track north for a few miles before heading back south through Pigeon Valley, a sandy gorge dotted with ancient cave dwellings. I followed the dogs onto a small, side trail once and was rewarded with a massive cave all to myself, but then had to bushwhack and crawl under a fence back to the safety of the main trail. All in a day’s adventure. From there I continued south, onto Love Valley, which had no signs of civilization but was composed of building and billowing sandstone forms that made me feel like I was strolling through a boiling white chocolate sea frozen in an instant, then dusted with powdered sugar. Really just otherworldly. 

I arrived back at the hostel rather tired and thirsty, so I ate, drank, and rested. The night passed without much ado, aside form a fascinating conversation with a woman who is working at the hostel for a few weeks in exchange for food and housing, and a climactic and only somewhat predictable end to a thrilled novel I picked up in Izmir. 

This morning I awoke with the rest of the hostel around sunrise. It seems like the whole town kickstarts around 6:30 in the morning, just in time to watch the sun rise, maybe with balloons. Interestingly, the balloons only fly under the right conditions. Apparently, the four days after my flight were all no-gos. How lucky for me and my fellow passengers!

After returning from a glorious sunrise soak, I ate  quick breakfast and packed my things. I had my eyes set on an ambitious hike for the morning, and I had to be back by 2pm. The only kink in the plan was that the hostel check out was at 10:30, so my options were to find a place to stow my bag or bring all of my belongings with me for the hike. After rucking all of my belongings up the giant mesa that overlooks the town of Goreme, I brushed my teeth with the best view I’ve ever brushed to. It was a major workout to be sure, but the view was a treat to match. I had the entire plateau to myself. A rare treat indeed. I won’t say too much about this hike other than that it was in a new area, wove through pink and red sandstone formations that were breathtaking, and was just freaking awesome! It’s so hard to describe the landscape. 

The reason I had to be back by 2pm was because the evening before, I had booked myself an ATV tour of the valley. The tour itself turned out to be just a few hundred yards on wide dirt roads to a couple view points that I’d already hiked through, but it was still insanely fun to whip a fucking ATV through the desert in Turkey. After that I just hung out around town until my bus, which catches us up. 

It’s been an insane weekend full of delicious views and exhausting hikes and adventures. My legs and feet are sore, my cheeks are sun-pinked, and my eyes droop. I’m very optimistic about my sleep on the nightbus.