My wake up call comes at 5:30 am. I was so excited that I barely slept and I laid out my clothes and camera in advance. I was picked up by the folks of Royal Balloon, where I was served a full breakfast before we headed out to the launch point. There are few experiences I’ve had that I truly thought were worth of the phrases “bucket list” or “once-in-a-lifetime.” The phrases are so overused that I no longer have an appropriate description of my first hot air balloon ride.
Giddy with excitement, I did my best to keep warm as my group watched the cutting edge silver-coasted balloons being filled. Once they were ready, my flight of eleven boarded the basket, which still had plenty of room for us to stretch out and capture the experience on camera. It wasn’t long before we weren’t alone in the skies, joined by hundreds of other balloons from the dozens of other companies in town.
I started out the hour-long flight snapping hundreds of photos. My pilot, Suat, knew I was a blogger and even challenged me to break the record for photos taken during a flight. The number was around 2,000 and it was set by a photographer for National Geographic.
I tried my best to top him, but after a while I gave in and listened to the sounds of the flame and the other pilots on the walkie talkie. It felt like we had only been in the air for a few minutes when it was time to descent, where champagne and medals were waiting for us. We toasted to our safe flight and to a memory none of us would soon forget.
I stick to a budget on most of my trips, but enjoy splurging on those, for lack of better words, once-in-a-lifetime experiences like scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef and riding in an open door helicopter in Hawaii. Hot air ballooning in Cappadocia is one such experience. There are around 300 ideal flying days in Cappadocia, making it one of the best places in the world to go.
Hot air ballooning is not an experience you shouldn’t skimp on, as you certainly get what you pay for. Other companies keep costs low by serving cheap champagne and having lower insurance. I chose Royal Balloon because I had heard great things from others who had flown with them and I am glad I did.
Royal truly provides a luxurious experience, with real champagne created just for them, the highest level of insurance possible, full breakfast buffets, transportation, and the most experienced pilots. They also re-book you on another flight if conditions cause them to cancel and have a maximum basket capacity of 20 people.
I received a complimentary Royal Queen balloon flight from Royal Balloon, but all opinions are my own. Balloon flights start at €175 ($235 USD).
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