Hi there,
When we were organizing the trip to Cappadocia, we realized that what people generally do is go one day, do the balloon ride and that’s it.
As the balloon ride was “mandatory”, we began to investigate about it. Staying only one night in Cappadocia was not a good option since the balloon ride could be canceled the same morning if the weather conditions were not good. It is advisable to stay more nights so that they can move the tour to the next day. Because if it can’t be done, they don’t return the money.
We decided to spend 3 nights to be covered in case we couldn’t do the hot air balloon ride the first day.
We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and the next day they picked us up at 6am. The transfer stops at a place where all the vans were parked waiting. The driver, who didn’t even bother to say good morning or explain anything, was looking at a web page with something in yellow. When it turned red, the guy said, “flight cancelled” and drove off to drop us back at the hotel. They would try to do it the next day, which we knew because the hotel receptionist had explained it to us.
On Saturday morning they picked us up again at the same time and this time the balloon flight was possible. The same rude driver parked the van, got out and left without saying anything, so that little by little people got out and stood near where they thought their balloon was going to be.
They began to inflate them and as soon as they put the basket upright, they all jumped like animals to grab their position. I was shocked as I expected them to call people by name with the list they had.
There are 16 people in the balloon; the basket has 4 squares and there are 4 people in each one (in the center of the balloon there are two people who handle it). On our side Diego and I were in one square and another couple of Spaniards in another. To make matters worse, then a guy came to tell us to put the four of us in one square because a family of Russians had to go together. Obviously, none of us moved and they squeezed the Russians in however they could. Realizing that the Russians did not even have masks, the four of us began to complain to the supposed guides. The Russians with their hard faces said they did not have masks and one of the agency ran to get them the masks.
They explained absolutely nothing, and the balloon began to rise. We almost crashed into a mountain on the way up and we all had a poker face because we didn’t know if he did it for fun to scare us or because he really almost crashed.
If we were at zero degrees below, imagine above. I was trembling between the cold and the fear that the height gave me. After half an hour the fear passed.
The group of Russians ruined the balloon ride for the Spanish couple and for us because they were just annoying.
This is the risk you run when you do tours with more people: you can find nice or retarded people.
The so-called guide did not explain anything, so we spent 45 minutes in the air just watching and taking photos without having any interesting information that would give the tour something of cultural value.
We went down and they parked the balloon on top of a surface and to get off we needed stairs. But first the guide who didn’t say a word the whole flight miraculously spoke perfect English for us to buy a 15-minute video. We got off and they gave us a “balloon ride certificate” that didn’t even have our names on it.
Going to the van, we saw how people from the agency walked over the balloons that were already deflated. Many of us were horrified by the “security and care” that these people had.
Getting into the van was another disaster because no one knew where each van was going. That was like the hunger games so they wouldn’t just dump us in there. They left us at the hotel and no thanks, no goodbye, no nothing. I thought the Turks were nice and friendly from Fethiye, here I hated them.
We went to have breakfast and the hotel receptionist came all happy to ask us how the experience had been. When I told him what a mess it had been, his jaw dropped, and he was shocked.
What have I learned? (Super important to know if you are going to do the balloon ride in Cappadocia)
- Do not book with the Atmosfer Balloons agency. Do not book it through the hotel either because they will do it with whoever gives them commission. Better go for a walk through the town, talk to the agencies and from there, make the decision. This way you will be able to do the balloon flight with whoever you see is more professional and you will also have the chance to haggle and get a better price.
- Pay attention to prices. We paid 70 euros per person, which is already very expensive. But I read in the reviews that other people had paid more than 200 euros. It seems they give you the price based on where you come from or how much money they think you have.
- You may not be able to do the balloon ride and lose the money. You must pay in advance, and they don’t refund the money if you can’t do it. If you stay several days, they will move it so you can do it; but if you don’t get the chance, you lost the money.
- You can’t take cute pictures in the balloon. You are in a balloon with 16 people, all stuck together. Which makes it impossible for you to take the perfect, beautiful photo in your balloon. There are smaller balloons and if you can afford it, you can do the ride alone. But it’s a lot of money for so little. The Cappadocia region has unique landscapes and hiking there is wonderful, but I think there are better places to go on a hot air balloon ride and, above all, more safely.
As you could read, the experience was not good.
Diego always tells me that most people don’t have the same standards or are as demanding as me. It is true and I think that many people are more than happy just by going on a balloon ride. But if you are spending money, as I always say, the minimum is that they give you the service for which you are paying.
Personally, I would recommend anyone who wants to go on a hot air balloon ride to do it in a country that has better security measures, not to mention the quality of the tour, the cultural value, and the attention.
Here is the link to my YouTube channel: