Ballooning in Cappadocia
 

Thanks to everyone on this board for the great advice on Turkey, where we are right now. I will post some more specific comments on the trip when we return home. However, as I know that many Fodorites are in Turkey now, I wanted to make a quick comment about balloon flights in Cappadocia.

We are cautious fiftysomethingers, so we had not originally intended to take a balloon trip when we were in Cappadocia. However, when I saw repeated comments on bulletin boards and in guidebooks that this was one of the highlights of travel in Turkey, I looked into it more. It was clear from everything I read that Kapadokya Balloons was getting the best reviews for attention to safety, quality of the pilots and the ride, etc.

However, we are also frugal (cheap), so the cost—particularly of the longer, “classic” flights—was daunting and almost kept us from signing up.

The upshot is that we are extremely glad we did. I realize that it is a cliché, but it was definitely the experience of a lifetime. The scenery was incredible, the feeling of flying quietly over this scenery and coming so close to it and towns dramatically but with utmost confidence that we were safe, and all of the warm people at the company made the trip by far the highlight of our great trip so far.

We also learned from talking with others on the flight with ballooning experience that the trip was actually a bargain compared to the cost of balloon trips in other countries, that Cappadocia is probably the best place in the world to take a balloon trip, and that our pilot Lars and others at the company are exceptional. It certainly seemed so to us, but we are novices.

The only downside is that we fell in love with ballooning but will apparently not find experiences to rival this one elsewhere. We will just have to come back to Cappadocia soon—which would be a great idea for many reasons....

Len
Washington, DC

We also are in Turkey right now, and we did a balloon trip last week! It really was a wonderful experience. We didn't use Kapodokya Balloons - we used EZ Air (or something along those lines) and it was excellent. We booked it through the tour company at the Kelebek. The only bad part was getting up so early in the morning! (We're also "frugal" - that word is so much better than cheap!)

When I'm back, I'll post a more complete report.

Did any of you guys stay in a cave? Great experience. We favor the Esbelli Pansyion (pensione) in Urgup, in the heart of the region. There are 6 rooms
carved out of the hill..strata clearly evident on the walls...en suite bathrooms...very cozy...we've stayed there a few times and recommend to many others..a young personable Turk named "William" speaks perfect English and is a most gracious host....try it.
Stu

We also stayed at Esbelli Evi and the Kappadokya Balloon trip was a highlight. We both bought polo shirts with their logo on them. I hate to tell you what everyone says when they see the emblem of the balloons flying over the formations. Those formations look surpisingly like certain male appendages.

Patrick...look like we have the same taste in hotels..Las Casas de Juderia in Seville and Esbelli in Cappadocia...I have a list of our personal Top Ten Lodgings world wide and my wife and I constantly adjust the rankings...we stay in moderately priced places and seem to be able to search out the smaller, more picturesque boutique, "country inn" types everywhere..much preferable to the brass, aluminum and glass emporia. We avoid the overpriced, overhyped.
Stu

Yes, we also stayed at Esbelli Evi in Urgup. Wonderful place, great people with fantastic knowledge of the area and excellent suggestions for touring.

BTW, they strongly recommend Kapadokya Balloons over other companies.

Nice to read nice Cappadocia comments.
Was also nice to meet you and wife in person RCLCOLPB :-))

Take care and hope to see you again here.

Happy travelling;
Murat

I am with Patrick and some of the other posts. We were in Turkey in May and stayed at Esbelli Evi and also went with Kapadokya Balloons. It was amazing and definitely a highlight in our 2 week trip. We also did paragliding in Fethye and loved that as well.