hot air balloon ride
Rose Valley trails
the storm rollin in...again.
sun coming back out
after waking up every hour through the night for fear of missing our super early balloon flight, we managed to drag ourselves out of bed for 5am.
it was a wonderfully majestic flight...
pre-dawn set up
the other company still setting up in the distance
sunrise from the basket
above another balloon
Umit, our fantastic pilot
and halfway through Bob says "so i have something to ask you..." and he pulls out this beautiful ring.
ring by local torontonian John Carnes (no blood diamonds or gold)
and he says "so i'm no good with speeches..."
but he sure is good with planning a location!--how can you say no in a hot air balloon above magical fairy chimneys?
in my awe and amazement i said nothing at all and he says "is that a no?"
and i say "no...i mean yes...i mean, it's not a no"
(although i had my suspicions after finding the mystery box in Fethiye, i had totally forgotten about it and honestly didn't think Bob would ever propose because he has such strong opinions about marriage...later at dinner i asked him about this and his views and he explained that he didn't want to get married for anybody else--so now that nobody had any expectations [it's been 11 years -ed.] it was the perfect time. yeah.)
so dinner...yum! wait, getting ahead of myself.
the take down
champagne toast...i love this pic. the guy in the back is hilarious.
after landing with a champagne toast we came back to the pension to eat some breakfast...enjoyed a conversation with a life-long hiking Dutch couple--they are almost 70! amazing.
this is Dave
then we met Dave...an Aussie school teacher who had just spent 2 1/2 months biking around India and was now in Turkey but had run out of money drinking in Istanbul.
the sleepy little town of Çavusin
our self-appointed Çavusin guide
we rented bikes and Bob and i headed up to Çavusin--a tiny little town with a whole hillside full of abandoned cave homes and a hidden Christian church from the 6th century.
the homes were abandoned after an earthquake in 1962 that killed 3 people.
storm rollin in...once again
man heading back into Çavusin
on the way back we saw the darkening of the sky and heard the rumbling of thunder...we almost beat it back to Göreme but the heavens opened and we thankfully took shelter in an old man's snack stand--had a beer and watched the hail!
beer and crax snax
we were a bit wet but not completely soaked again so we took the bikes back to the pension in the hopes of better weather later on.
pistachios and wine. our Türkish staples.
we ate pistachios and drank wine in bed for a good part of the afternoon.
after almost falling asleep for a nap, we decided to take advantage of the sunshine that had just come out and head into one of the valleys on bike.
met Dave on the way out who decided to come along for the ride.
we set out into Rose Valley and got crazy distracted by the unbelievable landscape peppered with old churches.
incredible.
met a Turkish guide with 3 Portuguese tourists (Susanna, who lives in London, Katarina and Ishkal, who live in Lisbon).
had a beer with them up in a mini bar on a fairy chimney....the Turks sure know how to make money! talk about an oasis in the middle of nowhere!
path up to "the bar"
enjoying a beer in the middle of nowhere
view from "the bar"
on the way back, Bob noticed his back flat tire. thankfully we ran into the Turkish guide again who used his cell to call the bike rental place for us.
a guy on a scooter with a new bike stuck to the back met us at the crossroads at the end of the valley and gave Bob a new bike...with a flat back tire.
coincidentally, Dave also had a back flat so we had a slow ride back into town...but with gorgeous light.
the boys walking the hill back into town
pre testi kebabi at Dibek
after showering all the mud off, Bob and i went out for a celebratory dinner at Dibek where we had made reservations the day prior to have testi kebabi -- a local specialty...a slow-cooked stew dish in a clay pot that they crack open at the table.
it was delicious.
server breaking into our clay pots with a hammer
testi kebabi
aside (traditional village dessert of Göreme, made with oil, flour and grape molasses)
went to meet everyone at the wine bar but nobody showed so after a couple of glasses in the coolest wine cellar cum bar, we went back.
found Dave and Mario (a Russian musician) having a beer in the hostel cafe. joined them for a bit then we all decided to go for another beer at Flintstone's.
i think i almost passed out from sheer exhaustion that i only vaguely remember the walk home under clear skies, the bright light of the moon and sparkling fairy chimneys.
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