Hot air ballooning in Cappadocia

Thursday, April 16, 2015

The van arrived at 5:50 to take us to Royal Balloon for our hot air balloon ride. Abby and I had been promised a hot air balloon ride on August 20, 1978, the day after our wedding, compliments of LuJean and her husband. However, it was too windy that day in Indianola, and we were unable to go up. So now, almost 37 years later, we would have our first hot air balloon ride, and it would be in Cappadocia, Turkey.

We had breakfast courtesy of Royal Balloon, and then bus number 3 took us to the field for the balloon launch. There were eighteen of us in one gondola, plus our pilot, Seniz Tuzco Timur. The balloonists like to take off at sunrise, when the air is reliably calm, which in Urgup at this time of year is at 6:00 a.m. On our side of the gondola was a Turkish couple, madly in love, who had just become engaged the day before, and also a trio from Beijing, who spent a lot of time taking selfies.

I stood next to the pilot, and was able to chat with her about piloting the balloon. We had five 95-liter tanks of propane on board, and another, external, tank had been used to inflate the balloon prior to launch. Seniz has been piloting for 18 years, and seemed quite capable and confident. She had gone to a technical college to learn how to pilot the balloon.

Ballooning in Cappadocia is governed by the civil aviation authority, ever since three tourists from Brazil were killed three years ago in a rough landing. Balloons fly about 300 days a year, with the aviation authority deciding when it is too windy to fly. Before the fatal accident, it was up to the pilots to decide. The aviation authority limits the number of balloons that can go up to 100 at a time; previously, there had been 120 or so balloons jockeying for air space. We were in the first wave of balloons to go up today; another wave of 100 balloons would take off after we landed.

I had served on a balloon launch crew in Indianola 43 years ago. The launch has not changed much in the intervening years, except that the balloons are bigger in Cappadocia – sixteen people per gondola, rather than four. Seniz said there are gondolas that can take up to 28 people. The balloon starts on its side and is filled with hot air by using fans and the propane burner. Gradually the balloon gains enough buoyancy to right the gondola. At that point the 19 of us – Seniz first – climbed over the side. We got some instruction on how to brace ourselves for landing and then, with a flick of Seniz’s gloved wrist, we rose skyward with a blast of propane.

A hallmark of Cappadocia ballooning is floating close to the ground through the badlands landscape of eroded canyons and “fairy chimneys,” which in the United States are sometimes called hoodoos. The fairy chimneys are created when a capstone of harder rock prevents a column of volcanic tufa from eroding as quickly as the rock around it. Sometimes the capstone is visible above the fairy chimney, and other times the capstone has fallen off and is no longer visible, except as rubble at the foot of the chimney.

Seniz drifted us through a canyon, so we could get a close look at the landscape, and then opened the throttle to carry us up to 600 meters above ground. She pointed out the grey pickup truck and trailer that were following us to recover the balloon and gondola. The land below that was not badlands was devoted either to wheat or to vineyards. Seniz said that Royal Balloon has insurance to pay for crop damage. Because both wheat and grape prices are low right now, the farmers prefer to receive crop-insurance payments.

We slowly descended toward a field where several pickup trucks and trailers were waiting with their ground crews. As we got lower, Seniz let go ropes on each side of the gondola that dropped down to the ground crew. Seniz opened vents on the side of the balloon so that it rotated to align with the trailer. Our momentum and the pulling and tugging of the ground crew resulted in a perfect landing right on the trailer! 

We climbed out of the gondola to be greeted with the customary champagne toast. There was also orange juice and sparkling water for those who felt that 7:00 a.m. was too early for champagne. Mark and I had mimosas. Seniz awarded us each a medal entitled “Royal Queen Flight” in a pseudo-Olympic medal ceremony. We hopped into the van and were driven back to Yunak Evlevi Cave Hotel, where we had a second breakfast.