Impressions That Inspires

A Moment In Time
We felt alive and energised. I realised on hindsight, that it has been quite a while since I have been in that state of positive anticipation. Life often have a way of dulling our senses.
We woke up at 4.00am as we planned to leave while the sky is still dark. Feeling like partners in crime, the group assembled right on time. We were quickly huddled into two vans heading into the dark wilderness.
20 minutes later, we arrived at a small building which is in the middle of nowhere. It was too dark to see the surroundings. Many other groups were there and business was good. Money exchanged hands and we’re ready to go.
We didn’t know what to expect, what’s next.
Then all of a sudden, a very loud blowing sound from the darkness outside; I cannot describe it as I have never heard that kind of sound before. I imagine that it would sound like a whale blowing out air (I may be wrong as I have also not heard a whale blowing before).
Everyone, and I mean everyone who is a newbie, ran out to see what has happened.
Squinting in the dark, I saw a burst of fire followed by the loud sound again. They were pumping air (helium) into the balloons. It was unexpected and with that comes the adrenaline rush. One by one the huge balloons rose from the ground. What a wonderful sight.
My heart was pumping fast as we were guided to our balloon. I am afraid of heights and was a bit anxious. We had to climb into the basket which was so high we needed a leg up. I think I stepped onto the shoulder of the man to get into the basket.
Then we were ready to go. Everyone of us were excited when the balloon started moving upward slowly. At first the sky was still dark and in the distance we see balloons in silhouettes lit intermittently by the fire bursts as we were ascending.
As dawn arrived, the dimly lit sky slowly brightened with the glow of the rising sun, silhouettes turn into colorful balloons all over the sky. It was awesome.
We oohed and ahhed at the spectacular rocky Cappadocia landscape below. Seeing the National Heritage site with a bird’s eye view was an unforgettable moment in time. It was a unique experience as the balloon just glide along slowly. At certain interesting spots, the balloon dipped down near enough for us to see the rock dwellings below and close enough for us to wave hello to the next balloon nearby.
The trip ended with a champagne toast. It was a celebration of another wonderful travel experience.