February 12, 2010

Flying High in Cappadocia, Turkey

Waiting to find out if we are going up.

After discovering the underground cities of Cappadocia, it was time to take to the sky and fly high above the region to truly feel the scope of the area, so, of course, a hot-air balloon ride was in store. The night before, our group of journalists turned in early. It was still raining when we headed to bed, so we were told that if we didn’t get a wake-up call by 6 a.m., our balloon ride was not going to happen. Since nothing but rain was in the forecast, we all went to bed doubting we’d get the call — still, I don’t think anyone slept very much not knowing what was in store, and our guide seemed fairly confident that we’d pull this off.
Sure enough, at 6 a.m., the phone rang, and I sprang out of bed and grabbed my camera. I was confused to find it sprinkling when I stepped out of my room. From everything I had heard about hot-air ballooning, going up in the rain was just not likely. In fact, some people said that, in the U.S., if even the slightest gust of wind blew in the wrong direction, the balloon was grounded. I could only presume that with the threat of thunder and lightening, ballooning in the pouring rain was not an option.
Click here to find out if we did indeed make it up to see the wonders of  Cappadocia.

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