Nominate your favorite ballooning destination. We'll go with Cappadocia, and specifically Kapadokya Balloons. In 2006 we had the good fortune to be passengers in a balloon piloted by founder Lars Erik More, seen here getting his balloon ready to go:
We'd watched balloons at dawn on previous days sort of rise, hover and put back down nearly in place. Lars and his team put them all to shame. On the assigned morning, Lars had been up long before his passengers assembled around the coffee at his storefront.
He'd gotten meteorological readings, winds aloft and so on, and decided we should ascend from a field ten or fifteen minutes predawn drive through the countryside. During the flight, by ascending and descending just so, he propelled us all over the countryside around his base in Goreme.
He flew Michael Palin, too. Lars is featured in the new Michael Palin DVD, New Europe:
See more pictures from our balloon ride, like this one:
in the EarthPhotos.com Turkey and Transport galleries.
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