No sleep in today, it was a 500am rising to get ready to be ferried to the balloon takeoff point.

A long, winding journey on a rough road as part of a caravan of buses had us arrive at a field where you could not get any idea of how many people or balloons were about. It was a sea of headlights and for some reason several police vehicles with lights flashing.

Got fed a packaged snack while waiting and then offloaded to watch the balloons get unloaded off trailers and then inflated. As the sunrise neared it was time for the 28 passengers to be loaded on board, which is not a simple exercise. Clambering on board is not full of grace.

All aboard, briefed on landing protocols and it was burners on full blast as we and 100 other balloons took aloft and deftly jostled for air space.

In full sunlight it was amazing to see the brightly coloured balloons at all heights ducking in and out of rock formation so cleverly , where in some instances you could touch the rocks.

Some of the cliffs were lined with sightseers and on the flat ground a raft of young women in long flowing dresses posed for pictures with an amazing backdrop. There was even two wedding groups taking photographs.

As we soared  higher all of the sites we visited yesterday became visible, albeit at a different angle. Again it was photo taking heaven, but deciding on what is a keeper proved difficult.

After an hour we gently floated down to earth, with everyone in the brace position. A very smooth landing was followed by some amazing maneuvers to slightly reinflate the balloon and mount it on the trailer. Then it was a repeat of the earlier exercise this time to get out of the basket. We both made it safely.

Post flight we had a celebratory champagne and got issued our certificate of completion. It will sit neatly next to my 22 Yard Swimming  Certificate issued as a youngster.

On reflection it’s a pretty big exercise which is done daily, weather permitting, for 7 months of the year. With 100 balloons, 6 crew for each and 2800 passengers, along with bus drivers and guides there are oround 3600 people engaged for 4 hours requiring a military precise exercise. At about $400 a ride it generates great revenues for the operators.

It was back the hotel, a quick breakfast and then a transfer to join our tour in Goreme.

With 10 others we set off, firstly travelling to the worlds biggest stone carved monastery. It was huge and multi tiered. It’s thought it was for monks with the mirrored image one across the valley for nuns. The nun’s version has experienced caveins over the years and is not accessible.

There were many different areas including kitchen, dining, prayer rooms/ churches and of course a wine cellar.

Access was via some steep dirt paths and then stairs both modern and ancient. The churches had some well preserved Fresco’s. Some of the connecting tunnels were low , narrow and poorly lit.

Finished there and headed to the Hidden Valley, where 300 steps put you on the canyon floor aside a lovely stream. The mountains along both sides were again carved out and in ancient days used by Christians as hiding places. Some of the lower level ones are still used as tea houses and operators have decorated them with lots of scarecrow like figures.

Wandered for about 4 Kms to the finishing spot , a riverside restaurant where we enjoyed lunch.

Another 40 minute drive then to the Underground City a place where locals took refuge in wartimes etc. With a maximum height of 130cm and a metre wide in some spots it was not built for me. I enjoyed a coffee and watched all of the distressed faces, including one of our group who returned after discovering he was claustrophobic. 

A much svelter Jane did the whole lot  and whist it was interesting she agreed I made the right decision.

The trip to the next spot showed a couple of things about Turkey. One – don’t go into prison unless you want to experience what looked like prison camps during the war, with rows of barbed wire and multiple observation towers with several armed guards.

Two- there will never be a brick shortage, as in the space of about 10 kilometres there was a dozen , each with acres of stock.

Next was two visits to boost the earnings of the guide, an expensive jewelry store like the other day and a specialty food store. Suffice to say she didn’t earn much commission from our spending.

Tour finished with visits to two places we visited yesterday, so we re-enjoyed the views.

Back home for a little bit of rehydration and then dinner at the Barbarian Restaurant,  where plattered  medieval  styled food was served. It was plentiful and we had to reject the free dessert, as we couldn’t get through the main course.

Took our last night time view of the town and headed back home after a fascinating couple of days. Next stop Istanbul and it’s 20 odd million people.