FLOATING OVER CAPPADOCHIA

No trip to Turkey is complete without a visit to the weird rock formations in the area of Cappadochia. When I saw the line of white buses headed up the highway toward this famed spot....even in the "off season"....I knew we were in for lots of bodies from all over the world.
Yup....I called it....! There were busloads of Japanese(of course!)...Germans....French....Chinese....and a few other Americans.....with some Canadians thrown in. There was even a group of Spanish tourists being their usual loud selves and taking over the best picture spots.
So if you ever go....be prepared!
Cappadochia is spectacular and really memorable...even to the police station located in one of the spires which I have posted a picture of here. However the best moments are early in the morning on a fabulous balloon ride up and over all those people. Of course they too have figured out that balloons are the best way to see everything and the air at 7:00AM is filled with colorful balloons all bouncing up and down over the amazing countryside. You play and bounce around for about 1 hour and then when you land the crew is waiting for you with a bottle of Champagne to toast the sunrise and your happy return to earth. Cappadochia Balloons was the first company to do this and is still considered the best and safest in the business and it was very much of a treat for them to host us that morning.
So....tourists aside....tourist trinket shops aside.....(why do we pollute the world with these?)...Cappadochia is truly a unique place in the world where for generations and centuries....the early peoples of the world visited and made cave homes etched into these spires. Perhaps they were smarter than us all along. Warmer in winter and cooler in summer....the locals still enjoy the caves even today while we enjoy our hotel (also made from the caves)...but complete with swimming pools and spas and a gourmet restaurant.
Tomorrow back to Istanbul and home to the states. Turkey has been a wonderful experience and there is still more to see and enjoy. Maybe next year I will come back and try my hand at sailing a Gullet (small sailing yacht). Then again...maybe I will let someone crew it for me and show me the best places to go....without those extra tourists around.