We got up bright and early with the hot air balloons on the last day in Cappadocia. We had heard that taking a hot air balloon ride was a must do, but with a chance of rain and an overcast sky we couldn’t justify the cost. Plus with all of the hiking we had done, we felt like we covered most of what there was to see. This may have been a mistake on our part, but I will wait and ride a balloon over New Mexico or some other scenic route.
This was the view from our window at the Panoramic Cave Pension. We had a terrific view of the town and in the morning of the balloons taking off.
This was my favorite part of the hotel. It was a common area where you could use the wireless internet, watch TV, or just hang out and chat with other guests. It was a hostel like environment that was laid back and comfortable.
Breakfast was served here also and you couldn’t beat the view.
There are something like 50 hot air balloon companies in the Cappadocia area. Prices ranged everywhere from 120€ for the basic hotel discount rate which gets you an hour of balloon time to the 250€ range for the deluxe. The prices aren’t even listed for the VIP tours. The more money you spend the more time you spend up there but nothing seemed to exceed two hours.
This is a very picturesque mosque at the bottom of the hill from our hotel… but at 5:30am when the call to prayer is bellowing out of the speaker on top of the minarets… it’s not so pretty. That was the one thing about Konya also, there were so many mosques that the 5:30am call lasted a good half an hour before everyone was done.
We got on the road after breakfast and Dad was the first to drive. In true Bolla traveling fashion he was in driving mode and got caught off guard when he was asked to stop for a stretch. We all struck up a compromise by stopping at a caravanserai since they didn’t get to see the one the night before and we figured it wouldn’t hurt to see another. So we stopped in Aksaray to see the one there and as we were going down the road to get to the building, there were carpets on the street. I guess it was easier to put down a big carpet instead of repave the road?
This is the front of the Akasary Sultanhani Caravanserai built in 1929. The front is almost exactly the same as the one we had seen the dervish ceremony in the night before.
This is Dad looking distinguished? Official? Insert appropriate adjective here. This was a much bigger caravanserai than the one we had been in. It was set up the same, but like I said was much bigger. It was destroyed in a fire in 1278 at which point the sultan at the time extended it making this the largest caravanserai in Turkey.
Dad and I decided to have a dervish whirloff. This was Dad’s attempt at the ceremony. It was held at the same exact place the night before, under a big dome in the middle of the covered area used to house life stock.
This was my attempt at the dervish ceremony with Mow. I think we did a pretty good job, but I think my hands may have been in the wrong place.
Once back on the road we made great time and arrived in Antalya in time for dinner. We went to the Migros shopping center because our boat and their boat were planning to depart the following week so it was a chance to stock up on provisions with a car to cart them all back. Dad and I stopped at the Arby’s in the mall and then got what we needed with enough time to spare for a small ice cream cone. (we were on vacation right?)
Hobnob wanted to see Mozart’s Requiem which was playing at the Antalya concert hall that night so we crossed the road and walked to the hall only to find out they had decided to change it to two nights prior. I suppose they can do that? So we had a tea and walked back to the car. We got back to the boat by dark and everything was as it should be which is always a good thing.
Turkish “fast food”. There were very few places to stop for lunch so we pulled over right outside of Konya and got the local specialty – etli ekmek or flatbread with ground lamb. It’s basically a ground lamb and other meat pizza, but about 3ft long.
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