my feet don't want to go to sleep

When you think hot air balloons there should be one place that comes to your mind. Cappadocia is famous for having the largest valley that can support hundreds of hot air balloons in the sky simultaneously. This is a bucket list experience. I had planned rides for others during my work with Cartier, and had dreamed of going to the festival in Arizona, but it had never happened, until now.

I found a tour on Trip Advisor that included flights and the hotel in Cappadocia. I planned to be in Istanbul from Monday to Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Cappadocia, and Sunday fly back to Istanbul for my 2am flight to Miami. I was working remotely because of the 12 upcoming events I had in February. Not the time to take a trip, but I am not one for waiting. To say this was a tight timeline is an understatement.

The Beginning

The plans completely changed when after my 4am pick up for my 7am flight to Cappadocia, my flight was canceled. I learned this in line to check in. I messaged my trip provider to say I would not be there today. Barely awake, I followed the queue of angry people to the customer service counter. Slowly I made my way to the front, exhausted, asking when the next flight was. She confirmed 7pm for me.

Too tired to even fight I took the hotel voucher gratefully and followed the group to the bus. The bus took us to the hotel, where we queued to check in. We were checked in immediately and I went upstairs to sleep. I woke up 4 hours later like fuck. What a waste of a day. I ate lunch which was included and quietly appreciated how much this airline was doing for me. In the US I would definitely be sleeping on my bag in a terminal.

I worked and stared out the window watching the sleet come down. We were too far away for me to pop in the city and I was honestly too tired to try and make any plans. I canceled my PTO and worked from the room. Around 5pm I packed back up and got on the bus, to get back to the airport, to board the flight, to land in Cappadocia around 10pm. The driver took me to the hotel and I slept at 1am with an entire day of tours waiting for me.

To Stay

The appeal here is that you can stay in caves. The local people only moved out of the caves in the 80s as the stone was deteriorating. The government helped people move into houses in the valley and works closely with people in the community to become certified pilots or anything to do with hot air balloons. This is a huge economy for the region. From the allure of the balloons, comes all the rest of the tourism and culture promotions within the area. I stayed in a place that had a cave but with my quick cheap stay I had a regular room. The Empire Cave Hotel.

To Experience

There is a famous red tour or green tour, they will take you to all of the spots you need to see. My trip operator kindly helped change my tour to a private one so I could see everything I had missed on Friday. The massive benefit here with going through a tour provider. I messaged them on whatsapp throughout my entire travel delays. Not having to change the hotel reservation, rebook a taxi, reschedule a tour, and change all the plans was incredible.

Uçhisar and Göreme are the major towns of the area. Here are the places I visited during the private tour v the group tour. TLDR; just pick a red or green tour, either way you will see most of the impressive

Day 1

• Zelve Open Air Museum – the most striking way to start the trip. These colorful mountains are full of caves where people lived and worshiped. We were the only ones walking through these abandoned places seeing the painted walls and areas that not long ago people made into churches.
• Yuksel hali – woven rugs are a historical skill here. Local business are working with women in communities to ensure the practice is not lost. The quality and color is remarkable. I watched a women weave with the patience and determination I doubt I could show for more than 3 minutes.
• Paşabağ Vadisi – There are endless caves to view, this is within a park that has a ticket price. Here you could see how society was set up with areas for food and living. The community worked together to ensure everyone was fed.
• Derinkuyu – Not only did this community live above they also lived below. This cave was only found after WW2. These underground caves were made for people to live and hid when conquerers came. Remember this area is one of the oldest and most central for people to cross from east to west. It was constantly raided and the people here needed a way to protect themselves.
• Göreme Panorama View – there is no bad view of these mountains. Try and see them from above, up close, and on a cliff.

Day 2

• Red Valley Park – these rolling mountains look like someone is about to kneed bread or if you could have waves in a mountain. The hot air balloons float over them and walking nearby them gives a stark perspective.
• Uchisar Castle – the most impactive view of the caves, this large mountain has hundreds of them carved into the walls with ladders scaling the side. The people would farm below and live above.
• Dede Efendi – local place to eat the meat in clay pot. It is a bit of a tourist experience but cool to see how they work in the elements and cook here.
• Love Valley Cappadocia – thus named for its phallic shape columns
• Devrent Vadisi – These columns have weathered with time and wind and have the appearance of sculptures.
• Aldag Seramik – the red earth used to create clay pots can be found at the central river. Pottery is a huge part of the culture here even extending into engagement traditions. It is said a man must produce a complicated vase as an engagement present.

The Hot Air Balloon

The reason that this experience is so special comes down to the fact that it is not guaranteed. Weather will cancel it faster than you would guess. The first night I was there it was canceled due to wind. I had a second chance, not having slept more than 8 hours in 3 days. But unfortunately this is what we live for. Traveling alone allows for last minute decisions. Because I was solo, they offered me a discount for last minute. I paid $120 for something that can cost upwards of $500 in peak season with no availability. Benefits of an off season visit also. Another early AF pick up time, wearing all of the clothes I could put together, I was ready for the sunrise.

Watching dawn arrive as the balloons launched into the valley with these mountains surrounding us is something I won’t soon forget. I was brought to tears as the sun peaked through the mountains and clouds. We spun around bouncing up and down dodging others. The climb happened faster than you’d think. I watched the ground fall away.

The End

24 hours from then I would be mid-flight to Miami. Having experienced the sunrise morning, full day tour of Cappadocia, flight to Istanbul, and 4 hours of waiting in the airport for the flight back to the US where I had to pay $80 for my luggage because it was overweight by 3kg. This trip was a true testament to what you can do. The level of exhaustion I had returning is something I had not experienced. From the sprint that was January, Iceland for New Years, 3 market tour for Armani events, and a wedding in Pakistan, I was coming back to US soil to client texts, a girls weekend in Key Largo, and then 4 weeks of events in San Diego, New York, and back to Miami. 2026 started intensely in January, February promised nothing less.

Maybe one day I will settle down, but it does not look like 2026 is the year, there is still too much to see.