Cappadocia, a dream come true

The trip to Cappadocia has got to be one of the best impromptu decisions I've ever made during my layovers. 

It's always been on my bucket list- and when I finally got my first flight to Istanbul, I was naturally excited but I knew that it might not be the flight that I will get a chance to experience flying on a hot air balloon because 

1) It's a short layover (we have a longer stay in Istanbul, but the flight I was rostered for was the shorter pattern) 

2) A trip to Cappadocia requires a flight from Istanbul and not many crew would be keen on that idea after such a tiring flight. 

But... 

I was so lucky to be rostered on a flight with a couple of colleagues who was totally down for the idea. And of course it made me even more motivated to just go for it despite not having any sleep. We touched down in Istanbul and minutes after settling in our hotel room, we discussed, booked the air tickets and accommodation, packed and left.

At that point, I was still kinda in a daze that we're actually doing it. It's a crazy plan, but damn, Cappadocia was worth losing sleep for. 

Our hotel in Istanbul was insanely gorgeous, the sea view was gorgeous and I obviously appreciate the large mirror embedded on the wall. Sadly I had to pack and leave right after this shot!

 

..... But god damn. Our cave hotel in Cappadocia was out of this world- it puts the pretty hotel in Istanbul to shame. So intricately designed and so beautiful.

Our gorgeous abode for a night!

The toilet was insanely huge too.

First meal in Cappadocia! We had dinner at this cosy little restaurant called "My Mother's". Food was amazing (I love Turkish food!) but the service was an absolutely winner. I love Turkish people so much okay, so friendly and welcoming.

The view from the rooftop of our hotel. It's so peaceful in Cappadocia, it almost feels like you're in a world of your own.

The awesome company I had for the trip! Love these guys, so spontaneous and fun.

And this is it! We woke up at 3am just so that we'd make it on time for the sunrise and gosh, being in the hot air balloon felt like a dream- so surreal.

So we asked the staff to help us take a photo, but he insisted to be in it instead hahahaha (See what I mean by Turkish people are super friendly!)

We're flyyyyyinggggggggg

Gorgeous view of the sunrise. These are the kind of moments that makes you feel so thankful to be alive.

Sigh- let's take a moment to appreciate this beautiful view

At the end of the flight, there was a little ceremony where the staff would call us one by one and gift us with a cert of flight and we made a toast with a glass of champagne! So lovely.

It's been more than a month since this trip, but I still remember it ever so clearly because it's truly one of the best and most impromptu trips ever. I live for days like these, you know. These unexpected moments where you have no clue how the flight is going to be like, who would be the people that you meet and suddenly you're already on your way to making one of the dreams a reality. 

So much has been happening in Turkey lately, Istanbul for one. It's such a shame because this has got to be one of my favourite countries I've visit to date. Not only because it makes me forget that I'm actually there for work, but because the people are absolutely amazing. Maybe I was just lucky, there are always two sides of the coin. But I do hope that the world will just stop destroying one another and that we can all live harmoniously together. There's so much beauty in this life, so much beauty that needs to be preserved. 

Can't wait to be back to explore Istanbul. There still are a couple of places I've yet to visit and I'll be waiting for another flight to come back here. 

Thank you for giving me such lovely memories, Cappadocia. It really was a dream. 

Till then. 

Love,

Ashhy