Hello Hivers!
Ancient cave churches, fairy chimneys, autumn foliage, rugged landscapes, sunrise, and in combination with hot air balloon rides sound irresistible to me. The only downside to this deal is having to haul my butt to the take-off site by 06:00 am. It is already such a luxury though compared to the summer season as the taking off time is 04:00 am. That's exactly two hours earlier. So grateful that I'm well-insured enough to go for it. Any physical activity comes readily attached with a certain element of risky trade-off. Since life has always been unpredictable, it's only vital to be emotionally, mentally, and financially prepared.
We were all fortunate that it was a rather good day for flying, albeit a little hazy to our liking. Just to be clear, there wasn't even adequate wind to aid with the taking off of hot air balloons the day before. So, the hot air balloon industry is indeed highly dependent on weather. Arid landscapes are most suitable for hot air balloon rides as it hardly rains. Perhaps not the happiest news for those involved in the agricultural industry. Yet, vineyards still somehow thrive in Cappadocia. Amazingly queer information to digest in the brain-numbing cold of dawn.
Moving my usually agile fingers was a struggle let alone tossing my butt over into the hot air balloon basket. Unsure whether my foggy jet-lagged mind was playing a trick on me, somehow, everything felt like moving in slow motion when it was freezing cold. After several years of absence from the Himalayas, my body grew foreign as well as harder to adapt to the cold. Signs of aging are imminent. During such times, I thank the genius inventors of base layers and Gore-Tex glove makers.
The flickering flames of adjacent hot air balloon burners caught my attention. My first sunrise ballooning was slowly but surely taking shape and turning into a reality. Previously, those magic words just sounded attractive to the ears. Now, they looked very real in front of my naked eyes. My heart was also thumping with excitement. As the balloon got lifted up to the ground, away from the pull of gravity, the heat generated by the balloon burner warmed our bodies slightly but comfortably.
The take-off was surprisingly smooth. I barely felt acrophobia manifesting its ugly head. Carrying a DSLR with a strap attached around my neck was a perfect choice. Those with the latest smartphone models were oftentimes almost too afraid to snap photos. The sluggishness of their fingers caused by the freezing cold wind plus balloon height deceived their brains into entertaining the possibility of dropping their smartphones.
During the take-off, the balloon pilot briefed us in regard to safety measures, especially in the case of an emergency landing. The scenery was of course wildly beyond beautiful. We flew from valley to valley. Several noteworthy ones were the Love Valley, Rose Valley, Gorkundere Valley, Pigeon Valley, and more. When the sun started to arise from the horizon, we also saw the outline of Mount Erciyes hidden behind the haze. Super blessed to observe sunrise in such a surrounding in the presence of other hot air balloons. They were indeed wonderful decorations to the already magnificent icing on the cake sunrise.
Thank you very much for reading!
Cheers,
Wheat
你好蜂巢！
古老的洞穴教堂、童話般的煙囪、秋天的落葉、崎嶇的風景、日出，再加上乘坐熱氣球，這些都讓我無法抗拒。這筆交易的唯一缺點是必須在早上 06:00 之前把我的臀部拖到起飛地點。與夏季相比，這已經是一種奢侈，因為起飛時間是凌晨 04:00。那正好早了兩個小時。非常感謝我有足夠的保險來購買它。任何身體活動都容易伴隨著某種風險權衡因素。由於生活總是不可預測的，所以在情感上、精神上和經濟上做好準備才是最重要的。
我們都很幸運，這是一個相當適合飛行的日子，儘管有點朦朧。需要說明的是，前一天甚至沒有足夠的風來幫助熱氣球起飛。所以，熱氣球行業確實高度依賴天氣。乾旱地區幾乎不下雨，因此最適合乘坐熱氣球。對於那些從事農業的人來說，這可能不是最高興的消息。然而，卡帕多奇亞的葡萄園仍然以某種方式茁壯成長。必須在令人麻木的黎明寒冷中消化奇怪的信息。
移動我通常靈活的手指是一場鬥爭，更不用說把我的臀部扔進熱氣球籃子裡了。不確定我迷糊的時差思維是否在捉弄我，不知何故，當天氣寒冷時，一切都感覺像是在慢動作。離開喜馬拉雅山幾年後，我的身體變得異樣，也更難適應寒冷。衰老的跡象迫在眉睫。在這樣的時候，我要感謝天才的暖內衣發明者和 Gore-Tex 手套製造商。
相鄰熱氣球燃燒器閃爍的火焰引起了我的注意。我的第一個日出氣球正在緩慢但穩步地成形並變成現實。先前，那些魔性的話語，只是聽上去很誘人。現在，它們在我的肉眼面前顯得非常真實。我的心也激動得怦怦直跳。當氣球升空離開地心引力時，氣球燃燒器產生的熱量使我們的身體略微暖和起來，但感覺很舒服。
起飛出奇的順利。我幾乎沒有感覺到恐高症表明它醜陋的腦袋。帶著帶子掛在脖子上的數碼單反相機是一個完美的選擇。那些擁有最新型號智能手機的人常常幾乎不敢拍照。寒冷的寒風加上高度導致的手指動作遲緩，欺騙了他們的大腦，讓他們想到智能手機掉落的可能性。
在起飛過程中，熱氣球飛行員向我們介紹了安全措施，特別是在緊急降落的情況下。風景當然美得離譜。我們從一個山谷飛到另一個山谷。幾個值得注意的是愛情谷、玫瑰谷、Gorkundere 谷、鴿子谷等。當太陽開始從地平線升起時，我們也看到了隱藏在薄霧後面的埃爾吉耶斯山的輪廓。在其他熱氣球在場的情況下，在這樣的環境中觀察日出真是太幸福了。的確是為本已壯麗的日出錦上添花的美妙裝飾。
感謝您的閱讀！
