Yesterday was our last day in Turkey. It’s been a great trip, and Anne, Susan and I remain friends after a week of travel!

I started the day very early with a 4:30 am pickup by the balloon company. I was the first one on the bus, we were assigned pilots and most people paid at that time…I paid after at the hotel…cash only. Turkey runs on cash much more than most of Western Europe I think. (Amex is particularly difficult to use there.)

After a short wait, we were bused to the balloon which had not been inflated. It was inflated using two oversized room type floor fans…and a fair amount of muscle power to straighten and lift the balloon as the flame was ignited.

We had 16 plus the pilot on the balloon. The ride was about an hour and went from the floors of canyons..Love Valley mostly (anyone ever figure out why it was named that?) to 1200 meters… over 4000 feet high. We finally set down an agricultural area on one of the flat areas topping the valley.

It was a good experience, I am glad I went. (Hint: dress warmly and wear sneakers, little baskets are higher than they look, and there are no doors on them. You have to climb over the basket’s side to get in.) The pilot was continuously filming via go-pro or the equivalent, and at the end offered the video for 30 euros (entrepreneur). He said the flights were offered all year round and cancelled about 80 days a year mostly due to wind, or snow (not due to snow on the ground, due to a snowy day), or fog. There are balloons of various sizes and prices…from balloon “buses” to ours which had only 16 plus the pilot. On landing there was champaign, juices, cookies and such and everyone was awarded a certificate and medal. Not sure for what! The most difficult thing was getting out of the basket (which is remarkably small compared to the balloon).

After I returned and had breakfast (the balloons were pre breakfast entertainment for Susan and particularly Anne, from the terrace of our amazing cave hotel), we packed up our stuff, then went to get some souvenirs. We found lunch on our own…no guide, did a bit more shopping and it was off to the airport. The hotel’s street was closed due to paving (election year paving apparently), so we had to lug our suitcases up several flights of stairs, with much help. Turkey is like that, it requires some fitness and agility.

We flew out of the little Cappadocia airport..2 gates only. As with all Turkish airports you have to put your bags and walk through an x-ray just to enter the airport. We had a lot of stuff and the security was looking for things in the wrong bags (or just messing with us)…Anne was tagged because they were looking for my headphones and charging cords in her bag and I was told to check my carryon because I had scissors in them (they were in my checked luggage). Then as we were finally going through security (the small airport did not even hold all the people boarding so we had to go in groups) to get on the plane they told me my racquets had to be checked…and luggage check in was already closed. I was ready to abandon the flight but they allowed me on with my racquets (with which I have not had an issue before flying Turkish airlines including earlier in the month).

As with many flights in Europe, we had to board using a staircase..actually there were two and we were near the back one so easy on and off. And on arrival still no jetway so we walked down the steps and were bused to the airport.

Istanbul Airport (IST) is large, brand new and a long ways outside Istanbul sort of in the middle of no where.

Today Susan and I left at 3:15 and visited an airline lounge where I had breakfast #1…then I went to the amazing Turkish Airlines Lounge (my flight was later) and had breakfast #2 (lentil soup, salad, olives, Turkish bagel), and now am in Munich having breakfast #3, though to be fair it’s noon Turkish time and it was a light breakfast of veggies and hummus.

Off in an hour or so to the USA. Had an amazing time in Turkey…go visit it if you haven’t, the Turkish people are really nice, the country is interesting and has something for everyone from beaches to skiing to hiking, biking and culture.