The number one thing on my travel bucket list that I wanted to tackle while living abroad was going to Cappadocia, Turkey for the “World’s Best Hot Air Balloon Ride”. So in the beginning of this year, I went onto Google Flights and searched the cheapest weekend to fly from Brussels to Turkey…and September it was!

To be honest, Turkey had never really be on my radar. I have a whole list of places that I want to go, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that the hot air balloon ride caught my attention. The truth is that Americans tend to have a negative perception of Turkey and it can get tied in with the Middle East, being perceived as dangerous. Also, it is quite a far journey from America. I can honestly say that there was not one moment during our 5 day trip to Turkey where I felt unsafe. Of course, there are extremists in every country (we’ve certainly seen that in the US), but we talked with each of our tour guides and they said that you are free to choose your religion in Turkey. I feel like I learned a lot about the culture and the people, and really believe that everyone should go to Turkey once in their lifetime.

I have two Turkish colleagues that I regularly hangout with, not to mention there is a large Turkish community in Brussels. I have been around many Turkish people and tried many traditional Turkish dishes. Plus, my friends sent me with some great recommendations for our trip of things to try and places to see. I will be honest and say that I did not do enough of my own research before this trip because I a) did not know we needed a visa to enter Turkey and b) did not know about the dress code when entering mosques. Luckily we were able to get our visas upon arrival and I bought a scarf to cover my head and shoulders and Ben changed into pants for most of our touring.

We flew into Istanbul first (rated the 2022 best international airport…I seriously could live in the airport lounge there) and spent 1.5 days there. Honestly, you need much more time than this, however the main purpose of this trip was to get to Cappadocia, which you have to fly to Istanbul first anyways. The sun was shining and it was HOT. We went from chilly Brussels to weather back to summer it felt like! We walked that city up and down, exploring the Blue Mosque, Basilica Cistern, Gulhane Park, Grand Bazaar, and stopped at Sehzade Cag Kebap which was rated #9 on the Best Dishes of the World in 2022 & featured in The New York Times.

Then we spent the evening on the Bosphorus Strait, an internationally significant waterway that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara (the divide between Asia and Europe). For only $44 each, we spent the evening on a yacht watching sunset with snacks and non-alcoholic drinks included. I’m linking this here because it’s something you have to do if you ever visit Istanbul. Overall, Turkey was extremely affordable.

Another thing I wanted to mention is that during this entire 5 day trip, we each had 1 beer (2 if you count the airport beers). Most of the places we went for meals didn’t offer alcohol on their menu, but we weren’t necessarily seeking it out either. I believe this is partly due to the high taxation on alcohol and also the conservative culture here. Regardless, this trip was proof that you can have an amazing time without it. Don’t worry though…we used all our calories on the food there anyways.

The next morning at 3:45am we got picked up for our flight to Cappadocia! I wouldn’t even say we slept…it was more of a nap. The flight was only an hour long, but it was quite the journey to get there. Upon landing, we technically left Europe and ended up in Asia. The airport shuttle took us to our hotel where we dropped off our bags with the front desk. The hotel was essentially in a cave and only had 6 rooms. The front desk kept our belongings outside in their corridor, so I just prayed that they would still be there when we came back. We began our North Cappadocia Tour where we toured the Open Air Museum, Uchisar Historic Castle, Pasabag Monks Valley, Deviant Valley, Avanos Pottery, and Love Valley. The land formations we saw were formed approximately 3-9 million years ago.

After a full day tour, we were taken straight to the quad bike tour for sunset (we went through a company who booked everything for us and put together a full itinerary, they didn’t miss a beat!) We went through various parts of the desert and went to a high view point to watch the sunset. Common theme here- I always need to end up on a boat and watch the sunset as many times as I can on each trip.

At one of the stops Ben and I stopped to just to take it all in. I looked at him and said “Can you believe we are ATVing through the Turkish desert?!?!?!?” I swear this life we are living feels like a dream. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t recognize how amazing this opportunity is and how grateful I am that we get to experience this together.

After the ATV tour ended, we had dust in about every crevice so we took a quick shower then walked into town for dinner. We absolutely love Turkish food, and had another great meal. We headed to bed early because we had another 3:45am wakeup call LOL (I think we slept an average of 4 hours per night so ya girl definitely got cranky towards the end of the trip…Ben can confirm 😉 ).

I could barely sleep anyways because I knew that the hot air balloon ride was just hours away!!!!!! We got picked up outside of our hotel at 4:30 (yes I did fully do my hair and makeup before this) and were on our way. We picked up a few others and were dropped off in a field while it was pitch black out LOL. The hot air balloon companies began their set up, and before we knew it, the sky was illuminated. We climbed into what seemed like a basket made of wood with 18 other passengers and 2 pilots.

It was in this moment I started to think about what it would actually be like to take flight in this contraption. The balloons fly from ground level to 3,000 feet above ground level, depending on wind direction and speed. The max. altitude is 6000 feet, which the pilot said we reached. He also mentioned that he cannot control if we go left or right, only up or down depending on the wind. Each flight they take ends up landing in a different area, where the crew meets us for landing. Ben was silent in fear and I was trying not to giggle. Once we got in the air, I was overtaken with immense happiness as I looked out and saw the 150 balloons flying simultaneously. No pictures could ever do this justice!

After a safe landing, we got dropped back off at our hotel where we used the 2 hour buffer to take a quick nap and get some breakfast. We spent the rest of the day on the South Cappadocia Tour where we explored the Red & Rose Valley, Cavusin Village, Underground city, Pigeon Valley, Goreme Town, and Ortahisa Panorama. The bus driver on this tour never spoke one word until the last stop. He then shared with us that he is a photographer in his free time and then proceeded to put Ben and I in ridiculous poses which I will share below. It was soooo funny.

Then we headed back to the airport in Cappadocia to fly to Istanbul for one more night before going back to Brussels. It was safe to say that we had seen Cappadocia from North to South and most importantly survived our hot air balloon ride! We left Turkey with full hearts, full stomachs, and absolutely exhausted. Ben & I agreed it was our best trip yet this year, and I would recommend going to Turkey to anyone.