We rose before the sun, adrenalin pumping, excitement building. The jolting ride out to the take-off site could do little to dampen my enthusiasm as we began to see colourful shapes in front of us, hot air balloons inflating from their fiery core. As we clambered into the basket, my stomach began doing little flips, but soon calmed as we rose serenely through the early morning sky to greet the new day from the air.
My first hot air ballooning experience had a surreal, dream-like quality to it, and it’s almost impossible to describe the euphoria I felt watching the sun rise above the rocky horizon, with the first rays picking out the beautiful colours of the balloons around us. Truly a magical experience.
We flew with Voyager Balloons, who were professional and friendly. There are loads of operatives in Goreme, and obviously I didn’t get a chance to try any others, but I would recommend Voyager.
Have you been in a hot air balloon?
