Taking it easy in Ortahisar

Ortahisar

Thursday, May 28.

We are up on time at 3.30am, woken by the phone alarm. A quick bite of yoghurt and banana, bought yesterday, brings us to life. The night manager Onur knocks on our door but he could have slept on. Nevertheless, that is his job. A minibus picks us up soon after 04.10. We collect other ballooners at a larger hotel nearby. We all proceed still a little bleary eyed to an assembly point at Goreme. It is a large pavilion like covered area which offers help yourself coffee, tea and a small bun. The brighter lights also help us to come awake. 

There are about 50+ people. The daylight appears and it looks like a promising day. However, just before the sun comes up, it is announced that conditions are not right and the flights are off. Who are we to question the decision in the interests of safety. Every time they don’t fly, they loose money. We get into our buses and are driven back to the hotels. We wonder how many people went back to bed.

The balloon fleet returns to base.

Over breakfast we lament our change of plans with our hosts. We will try again. But now it is a short break before we do anything else.

With the help of Mrs Google, I plan a walk out of town just to see what we can see. Ms G does not show landscape and terrain but it will give one an idea of elevation above sea level from point to point. With what accuracy? I won’t challenge them. So we head out of town and follow our noses. 

What a view!!! From the points we reach, I am sure are some of the best broad views of the town of Ortahisar. Along the way is almost a never ending local botany experience – wild flowers, trees, beautiful grasses. My camera is working overtime again. To top it all, the weather is beautiful; sunny with a few light clouds. We return uplifted. At one of the lookouts we buy some beautifully roasted, caramel and sesame seed coated peanuts and dried cranberries – a fine selection.

Our host Fatma and her team are very friendly and chatty. Over multiple offerings of Turkish tea we discuss politics (Indirectly of course as we don’t want to embarrass anyone. The parliamentary election is a little more than a week away.) as well as our plans beyond here. She confirms that she has booked us on a bus to Antalya for next Monday. We think by that time we will be ready to move on.

 

For a delayed lunch, we pick a cheese pide from the local ‘Pide Salon’. We watch it being made, come out of the oven and straight into our eager mouths. Only our own made bread can be fresher.

Another rest and refresher before we head out for our evening meal. But first for a drink at our by now favourite watering hole. Ali, the waiter greets us. He feels a little guilty having made us wait last time while he was looking after his more regular customers. He recommends another brand of beer and tells us that if we don’t like it, it is on him. He knows his job. 

Introducing Ali.

He notices that I surreptitiously take photos of the senior locals, all males. He offers to take a photo of us and then proceeds to photograph the guys at the next table for me. He probably knows that they may not be happy to be subjects for me but he is different. He then introduces us to one of his mates who turns out to be a balloon pilot. His English is limited but enough to make simple conversation. He is in his second marriage and has three children in all. He loves his job, having flown for 2000 hours and shows us some of his ballooning pictures on his iphone. He works 7 days a week. Although his flying is usually finished by about 10am, he does not have any other job. He is from Urgup. The flight was called off this morning because the wind was too strong. He asks Ali to take a photo of the three of us on his phone. I tap in my email address into and here it is. Durmus Demir is a nice guy.

We decide to try one of the very ordinary looking nearby restaurants – Kapadokya Restaurant. It is no bigger than a small dining room with an equally modest domestic size kitchen. However, there are a few tables outside. To help with our decisions, the boss invites us behind his serving counter to look at the ready made meals. We share a selection of about five items. It is delicious and one of the tastiest meals we have had in Turkey. Full marks! We will probably be back.

An early night so that we are ready for our local tour at 9am tomorrow. 

Our host Fatma (r) and her assistant Nurai.