Rising above it all...

Cumulative Miles Traveled: 25,444
Current Location: Urgup, Turkey
Current Mood: Relaxed

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We're leaving bizarre, fantastical Cappadocia for Istanbul today. Not really sure what to say about Cappadocia other than that the landscape is utterly surreal, bizarre and beautiful - like nothing I've ever seen before. It's kind of what you would get if you took the Grand Canyon...then melted it into Gaudi-esque figures. Really strange and very cool.

We woke up earlier than the buttcrack of dawn this morning (3:45 am) for our hot-air balloon ride - it was still pitch dark outside and we were seriously in need of a couple more hours. But it was totally worth losing out on sleep and almost $300 a pop for the experience, which was truly once in a lifetime. Hot-air ballooning is really incredible and we were told that Cappadocia is one of the best places in the world to do it because of the wind conditions and the scenery.