Last Day in Pamukkale And The Wishlist Ticked

As we approached retirement in the pre-COVID days of 2019 and our dream of full time travel was becoming reality, we, like most travellers, drew up a lengthy wishlist of places to go and things to do. Pamukkale has delivered one of the latter for us, in the shape of a hot air balloon flight….

It’s 6.30am, just getting light, and half an hour past the first muezzin call of the day, when we are collected by minibus and taken to the launch field at the foot of the “cotton castle”. Five balloons are in the process of being inflated, bursts of flame roaring into each. Lift off is gentle, the climb slow and steady, up and over the white mountain as Hierapolis drifts into view.

Soon we are way above Pamukkale and our current base town takes on the form of a model village laid out beneath us as the sun rises over the mountains and the sky changes colour before our eyes. We can see the true extent of fruit farms which stretch out for miles in every direction, the high rises of Denizli glinting in the rising sun, the looming mountains which form the backdrop to the city. Between the bursts of flame which power regularly into the balloon, the tranquility is palpable. The silence of drifting 1500 metres above a town, brings a karma all of its own. We expected spectacular sights, but the peace of a hot air balloon flight is a wonderful experience in its own right. We love every second.

Our pilot Emre has given us our preparations for a rough landing, but in the event it’s not necessary as he expertly guides the balloon to a track between pomegranate orchards. The end is as astonishing as the flight was exciting: Emre actually guides the balloon down so that the basket settles perfectly on to the trailer behind the pick-up waiting to collect us. Unbelievable! An altogether fabulous experience, and all before breakfast…

To complete our final day here in Pamukkale we take a drive around some of the wonderfully rustic farming villages in the area. Crops are so plentiful here; the waters which rush endlessly from the mountain springs are channelled into a marvellously efficient irrigation system complete with temporary dams and diversions directing the water only to those fields which need it on the day.

Consequently there is an abundance of crop, changing with whatever is in season. Just now, the vines are stripped and the grapes are mostly gone, but we are clearly at the height of the pomegranate harvest. There is manic activity in the fields, ageing tractors drag laden trailers through the lanes to the village, where the juggernauts wait to be loaded. 

The sheer quantity of fruit and vegetable crops is a sight to see, punctuated now and again by the bobbing white heads of the cotton fields completing the patchwork quilt of the countryside.

And so the balloon event marks our last day in Pamukkale; next up is the long drive south west to our next destination, Dalyan.