Soar Over Surreal Turkey in a Hot Air Balloon

Could there be anything more dreamy than this? I spent a good part of this morning looking through surreal photos of hot air balloons soaring over Cappadocia. A historical region in Central Anatolia in Turkey, Cappadocia is known for its unusual, moon-like landscape. It’s a mixture of naturally formed hills, deep canyons, valleys, and conical rock formations called “fairy chimneys” that makes this region so unique.

Every day, beginning at sunrise, hundreds of balloons are fired up across the land, each taking dozens of tourists for an hour or so above the surrealistic site. It should come as no surprise that this hot air balloon experience is often listed as one of the best in the world. In CNN’s list of 7 breathtaking ballooning adventures, Cappadocia is right up there will Albuquerque, New Mexico and Luberon, France. As they state, “Book a private balloon flight in Cappadocia, Turkey, and you’ll get to see lava deposits at Turkey’s Mount Erciyes twisted by two millennia of erosion into hundreds of pillars and minarets known as fairy chimneys, making the landscape in the country’s central Anatolian region look like a set from Lost in Space.”

Photographer Afonso Salcedo describes it like this, “When the sky fills up with hot air balloons rising slowly in unison with the Sun. What a treat. The silence of the air, the chimneys, rocks and caves under you.” Bucket list!

Photo above: Anuparb Papapan

Photo: Istvan Kadar