Waking Up
The wake up call came in at 4:30am and, after showering, I was ready to roll by 5am. I figured I'd pack up everything when I returned. I had about 90 minutes between the hot air balloon ride and the tour. I figured that would be enough time to pack, eat breakfast, and check out of the hotel.
Balloons, Balloons, Balloons
The tour company arrived about 15 minutes after the committed pickup time, not a big deal. After pickup we went to to the main office, where several dozen people seated at tables having breakfast. Since pickup was before 5am, before most hotel started serving breakfast, the company offered breakfast at the main office before the flight. The breakfast offerings consisted of cookies and juice - it sucked. Based on what was offered for breakfast some of us began to wonder how the balloon flight was going to be. The hotel offered a few different balloon providers ranging from 110 to 160 euros ($140-$210)
As we entered the main office we were given colored lanyards which divided us into groups. Shortly thereafter we boarded a bus and were off to the launch site. When we got to the launch site several balloons were already in the air, but most were preparing for launch. The basket was broken up into 4 quadrants or sections. The crowd just boarded onto the balloon's basket without any sort of guidance from the staff. The staff also had no idea how much each of us weighed aside from looking and guessing. This was a bit concerning to me because I know confirming weight and balance of an aircraft is part of any pre-flight inspection - especially in smaller aircraft. I've never piloted a hot air balloon, but I was certain the same principle had to apply. I figured most of the people were small, so I went with the crowd and just observed. I recognized someone from the previous days tour and followed them on to the balloon. Shortly thereafter the staff moved me to a different section, angering an Asian man who was more than happy to have the corner spot I now occupied. He didn't speak English, but throughout the flight he would elbow me and make it clear he was not happy with my presence.
The flight was to last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. It ended up lasting an 1 hour and 20 minutes. The entire experience was incredible and well worth the steep price. When we were back on ground I had wondered what all the balloons in the air had looked like from town. Since I'd be returning to Istanbul later in the evening it would have to be something I'd do if I ever returned to Turkey.
The landing was soft and uneventful. After we landed we had a champagne toast and were shuttled back to our hotels. Once back at the hotel I had some breakfast, packed my bags, took a 10 minute nap before starting the next tour.
Me and the Pilot
Red Tour
The tour van was ready and waiting at 9:30am. The red tour is an hour or two shorter than the green tour I did the previous day. The agenda was still long - Göreme open air museum, Çavuşin village, Pasabagil, Pottery Factory, Devrent valley. Ürgüp Fairy Chimney, and a carpet store tour. After the van took us to the central office to pay for the tour, we boarded a different van. This time around there were only 3 people on the tour aside from the operator. The operator was the same from the day before. I initially thought he was an ignorant racist, but eventually came to like him. I also noticed the same girl who was on the balloon tour and the previous day's tour - excellent. She had a creative eye for photo ops and we often swapped cameras so we could get pictures of ourselves throughout the various sites. The tour group was great since we were all around the same age. The small group made the tour a lot of fun.
Göreme open air museum
Cavusin Village
Can you see find?
Pasabagil
Pottery Factory Tour
After we had lunch, we head to the basement of the building for a pottery tour. Lunch was buffet style and the chicken I had was pretty good. Drinks were not included and very expensive - 6 TL ($3.50) each.
Both the pottery factory and carpet store were mostly sales pitches and solicitations - enough to make you wonder how the tour company was compensated for bringing in the cattle (us). The restaurant was pretty large and full of many tourists. I'd later find out through the guide that lunch was provided free given everyone on the tour attended the sales presentation.
The presentation begins with a man who sculpts pottery using a foot powered wheel. He made a small jar with a lid. Shortly thereafter we were taken to a room where people were painting the baked pottery. Afterwards we were taken to a sales shop where we could purchase various expensive items. Mostly plates, but some vases were also available for sale. Some of the plates and vases were impressive, but very costly.
Devrent Valley
This particular valley has a number of stone formations that appear to be sculptures. The guide insisted they were all made naturally and not carvings. We saw formations that resembled penguins, camels, and a space coyote. I commented on the space coyote, but the reference was lost on the group.
Carpet Company
The Carpet Company was an interesting stop. At the beginning of the tour we got to see several woman weaving carpet together. A salesman would later say the shop had a special agreement with the ministry of tourism because of how many woman they employed. The man claimed they made carpets ranging anywhere from $1,000 to $200,000. Before the tour ended, the man showed us samples, all hand made, of silk and cotton carpets. He also offered us a beverage of our choice. He insisted I try some Turkish liquor that he claimed was 80 proof. I'm not sure if he was trying to shut me up or loosen my wallet...maybe both. The man emphasized a turkish two knot construction that he claimed was the best. He also insisted all Turkish rugs were made by adults, not children. I was dubious though. One of the girls, Sylvia, started asking questions about the product without any intentions of purchasing.I heckled her a bit for not knowing better and for the next 30-40 minutes the man really pressed hard on making a sale to her. In the end no carpets were sold.
Clockwise:
Carpet man displaying silk handmade rugs, woman weaving carpets by
hand, me slurping a liquor while the carpet man make a sales pitch
Ürgüp Fairy Chimney
This stop would be the last of the tour. It was a quick stop, more or less an opportunity to take a few pics of the landscape and leave. Before leaving I suggested a group shop, which the driver happily took for us.
Back to Hotel
The hotel is owned by a family, I think a couple of brothers and their spouses. One chatted with me at breakfast and gave me a short tour of the hotel. As we went through the tour, I was impressed with how detail oriented the man was. There were a lot of things that hotel focused on were very customer service focused and not necessarily revenue generators. The Lounge is a good example. The Lounge is a large separate area that used to serve as a restaurant. They re-purposed the room once they build a new restaurant on the other side of the hotel. The Lounge is decked out with a flat screen tv, numerous couches, and WiFi. The area is meant to allow customers to relax between checking out and departing Goreme. My bus was scheduled to leave at 8pm, so the Lounge would be a great place to kill a couple of hours before heading to the bus.
The wake up call came in at 4:30am and, after showering, I was ready to roll by 5am. I figured I'd pack up everything when I returned. I had about 90 minutes between the hot air balloon ride and the tour. I figured that would be enough time to pack, eat breakfast, and check out of the hotel.
Balloons, Balloons, Balloons
The tour company arrived about 15 minutes after the committed pickup time, not a big deal. After pickup we went to to the main office, where several dozen people seated at tables having breakfast. Since pickup was before 5am, before most hotel started serving breakfast, the company offered breakfast at the main office before the flight. The breakfast offerings consisted of cookies and juice - it sucked. Based on what was offered for breakfast some of us began to wonder how the balloon flight was going to be. The hotel offered a few different balloon providers ranging from 110 to 160 euros ($140-$210)
As we entered the main office we were given colored lanyards which divided us into groups. Shortly thereafter we boarded a bus and were off to the launch site. When we got to the launch site several balloons were already in the air, but most were preparing for launch. The basket was broken up into 4 quadrants or sections. The crowd just boarded onto the balloon's basket without any sort of guidance from the staff. The staff also had no idea how much each of us weighed aside from looking and guessing. This was a bit concerning to me because I know confirming weight and balance of an aircraft is part of any pre-flight inspection - especially in smaller aircraft. I've never piloted a hot air balloon, but I was certain the same principle had to apply. I figured most of the people were small, so I went with the crowd and just observed. I recognized someone from the previous days tour and followed them on to the balloon. Shortly thereafter the staff moved me to a different section, angering an Asian man who was more than happy to have the corner spot I now occupied. He didn't speak English, but throughout the flight he would elbow me and make it clear he was not happy with my presence.
The flight was to last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. It ended up lasting an 1 hour and 20 minutes. The entire experience was incredible and well worth the steep price. When we were back on ground I had wondered what all the balloons in the air had looked like from town. Since I'd be returning to Istanbul later in the evening it would have to be something I'd do if I ever returned to Turkey.
The landing was soft and uneventful. After we landed we had a champagne toast and were shuttled back to our hotels. Once back at the hotel I had some breakfast, packed my bags, took a 10 minute nap before starting the next tour.
Me and the PilotRed Tour
The tour van was ready and waiting at 9:30am. The red tour is an hour or two shorter than the green tour I did the previous day. The agenda was still long - Göreme open air museum, Çavuşin village, Pasabagil, Pottery Factory, Devrent valley. Ürgüp Fairy Chimney, and a carpet store tour. After the van took us to the central office to pay for the tour, we boarded a different van. This time around there were only 3 people on the tour aside from the operator. The operator was the same from the day before. I initially thought he was an ignorant racist, but eventually came to like him. I also noticed the same girl who was on the balloon tour and the previous day's tour - excellent. She had a creative eye for photo ops and we often swapped cameras so we could get pictures of ourselves throughout the various sites. The tour group was great since we were all around the same age. The small group made the tour a lot of fun.
Göreme open air museum
Cavusin Village
Can you see find? 
Steeper than it looks - I slid down the last 20 feet :(
Pasabagil
Pottery Factory Tour
Handcrafted Pottery
Creative
After we had lunch, we head to the basement of the building for a pottery tour. Lunch was buffet style and the chicken I had was pretty good. Drinks were not included and very expensive - 6 TL ($3.50) each.
Both the pottery factory and carpet store were mostly sales pitches and solicitations - enough to make you wonder how the tour company was compensated for bringing in the cattle (us). The restaurant was pretty large and full of many tourists. I'd later find out through the guide that lunch was provided free given everyone on the tour attended the sales presentation.
The presentation begins with a man who sculpts pottery using a foot powered wheel. He made a small jar with a lid. Shortly thereafter we were taken to a room where people were painting the baked pottery. Afterwards we were taken to a sales shop where we could purchase various expensive items. Mostly plates, but some vases were also available for sale. Some of the plates and vases were impressive, but very costly.
Devrent Valley
This particular valley has a number of stone formations that appear to be sculptures. The guide insisted they were all made naturally and not carvings. We saw formations that resembled penguins, camels, and a space coyote. I commented on the space coyote, but the reference was lost on the group.
Camel
Space Coyote
The Carpet Company was an interesting stop. At the beginning of the tour we got to see several woman weaving carpet together. A salesman would later say the shop had a special agreement with the ministry of tourism because of how many woman they employed. The man claimed they made carpets ranging anywhere from $1,000 to $200,000. Before the tour ended, the man showed us samples, all hand made, of silk and cotton carpets. He also offered us a beverage of our choice. He insisted I try some Turkish liquor that he claimed was 80 proof. I'm not sure if he was trying to shut me up or loosen my wallet...maybe both. The man emphasized a turkish two knot construction that he claimed was the best. He also insisted all Turkish rugs were made by adults, not children. I was dubious though. One of the girls, Sylvia, started asking questions about the product without any intentions of purchasing.I heckled her a bit for not knowing better and for the next 30-40 minutes the man really pressed hard on making a sale to her. In the end no carpets were sold.
Ürgüp Fairy Chimney
This stop would be the last of the tour. It was a quick stop, more or less an opportunity to take a few pics of the landscape and leave. Before leaving I suggested a group shop, which the driver happily took for us.
Me, Jin, Saygu, and Sylvia
Back to Hotel
The hotel is owned by a family, I think a couple of brothers and their spouses. One chatted with me at breakfast and gave me a short tour of the hotel. As we went through the tour, I was impressed with how detail oriented the man was. There were a lot of things that hotel focused on were very customer service focused and not necessarily revenue generators. The Lounge is a good example. The Lounge is a large separate area that used to serve as a restaurant. They re-purposed the room once they build a new restaurant on the other side of the hotel. The Lounge is decked out with a flat screen tv, numerous couches, and WiFi. The area is meant to allow customers to relax between checking out and departing Goreme. My bus was scheduled to leave at 8pm, so the Lounge would be a great place to kill a couple of hours before heading to the bus.
Hotel Lounge Area
Suite
Arch Room
Bus Depot
I was lucky I caught the bus. The woman who issued my ticket indicated the correct route, but an incorrect pickup point. Had I followed the meet time on the ticket I would have missed the bus by well over an hour. Earlier in the day I was chatting with the woman who working reception (I think an owners wife, they are all awesome) about leaving and where the bus depot was. The woman at the reception desk noticed an error on the ticket and called the bus depot to understand what time the buses left. Shortly after reconciling the ticket issue I went up to the Lounge and called a friend to make arrangements about coming to visit. That particular friend lives in Germany, which was my potential next stop. After chatting via Skype with my friend, I booked my air ticket and hotel for the first night. Munich Germany would be the next stop! After a quick lunch of chicken kebab at a favorite local restaurant I was off to the bus station right around the corner. I had seat #1 since I booked several days earlier. This left little to no room to stretch my feet. The bus stopped every few hours, so it wasn't too bad. Overall the bus ride was marginally comfortable. About on par with a very, very long flight flying coach. The ride was bearable, but the accommodations were not as luxurious as the advertised.
Bus to Istanbul
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