EU 2015 (iii): Göreme (II) - Hot air balloon flight

continued from previous entry...

My alarm clock went off at 4:05 am; 4 o'clock would be too early right? :D. Taking a peek outside of the window there was no evidence of rain overnight. We still did not know if the balloon flight would take place. Yet we went ahead and showered and got ready. At 5, the call finally came in. Pick up would be in half hour's time. Woohooo!! We were so bleeping excited.

After picking up a few more people from several hotels, we arrived at their building where open buffet breakfast was served before our flight.

The dining area

Then it was time to go. As we were driven to our departure point, we saw lots of balloons were being inflated. A kid from a Korean family yelled out "Daebak!"  Yes kid, it was an awesome sight!

Balloons from other companies

Ours were being prepped as well. Before we could take more selfies, it was time to go.

Ours had an early start as well

Video: Inflating process

Neat!

A selfie before we go :)

Jumping into our basket

Just a little bit more

Video: Watching the other balloons go by while waiting for our turn

The basket could fit 4 people in a section and there were 4 sections altogether. We flew over the Rose Valley at the initial part of our flight.

Product placement? :)

Amazing colours

We're heading toward those rocks

View on the right hand side

Flying in between the rocks

At one point we were quite close to the face of the cliffs. Once we had risen above the cliffs, lo and behold the sight was even more magnificent! Why don't I let the pictures (and videos) do all the talking. Someone has to their job right? :)

Err Captain, we're mighty close to those rocks

Video: I was happy I took this video :) You could also hear our pilot was doing some explaining

I really, really love this picture!

Looking at this picture makes me wanna go back

Sun was rising

Video: I just needed to keep my camera steady while the balloon was rotating

No wonder tourists flock to this place

Using one of the mobile phone's camera feature :)

The camera detected other faces as well :D

I can't say for certain how high we had gone up, but looking at these pictures I must say, pretty darn high!

I didn't even feel any sense of acrophobia kicking in at this height

Closing on to the landing site...

The support crew for the balloon companies. Even the medics were keeping a watchful eye

About to land

We assumed the landing position by leaning our backs against one side of the basket and our knees at 90 degrees as if you're sitting on an invisible stool.  The landing was so smooth that one person quipped That's it? Yeah, that was it. We have one good pilot in Mustafa! :)

Video: Opening the top of the balloon

Let the celebration begin!

Video: Popping the (non-alcoholic) champagne

Şerefe!

With Mustafa, our pilot

Now I can put this in my resume :D

Once we were dropped off at our hotel, we had minutes before the shuttle van came to pick us up. We made to the airport and got on the plane with ample time left. Yeay! Alhamdulillah for the opportunity. Next up, sky diving! Errr.... *lol*