Sometimes we need to rise up above the earth— above the atmosphere to see and understand the world we are living and realize how small we are. We were supposed to take our hot air balloon escapade in Cappadocia the day before but due to the strong winds pervading in that particular early morning, our trip was cancelled so off we go to Pamukkale, a town in western Turkey known for the mineral-rich thermal waters flowing down white travertine terraces on a nearby hillside. Flying with the hot air balloon is a must when you tour Turkey, that’s why I made it on the top of the list of our tour. Of course, the Jeep Safari, a dangerously thrilling experience one must take while in Cappadocia is of another level but that would be another story. 
“We should be in the area/take off ground at 5am so that we’ll be above the ground before 5:30am as the sun breaks down on the horizon” says Sellah our tour guide. There were sixteen of us bunched in one big basket beneath that Hot air balloon, one chilly springtime morning in Pamukkale. The prevailing air above is moderate and much more friendly compared to Capadoccea. While our pilot is making his pre flight announcements, I guess nobody was able to concentrate and listen enough as everybody was filled with excitement and nervousness? Yes, maybe. Who would not be.
Just consider flying in an open air without the benefit of a seat belt nor a harness and would just be standing on a basket 3000 feet above ground. I kept myself busy tinkling with my Nikon DSLR and Mobile phone to drive away the fear of heights while the pilot started to increase the fuel for our balloon as it rises above the ground.
You can only hear the sound of bursting of fire from the burner as silence pervade in the air as we start to elevate. It was only when the pilot started to talk in broken English that we started to laugh, not because of his funny diction but as a release of our fears and excitement.
And so, we have initially overcome our fears, or maybe in the process of forgetting our fear of heights as everyone started taking pictures of the magnificent view of colorful balloons and doing individual selfies. You need to distract yourself about the negatives and focus on the positives ; the cool spring breeze of early morning, the colorful hue created by the breaking of dawn , and the colorful set of balloons waltzing above the horizon.
The panoramic view of Pamukkale and her cotton white cliffs and terraces will surely take your breath away. It is such a beauty to behold. People when seeking inspiration often look up to the sky.
The sky inspires us to dream, find peace, strength and optimism. When we gazed down from way up there, its where realization sets in. I realized how small am I compared to the vastness of God’s creation. I realized no matter how high we want to go upward it has to stop climbing somewhere when it reached the limit.
Everything on this earth has its own limit. We as humans have our own individual limits. It’s 45 minutes past 5am ,and the sun began to smile as we reached the prescribed maximum height limit set by the authorities. Mission Accomplished. We have witnessed one of the most breathtaking sun rise above the sky.
It’s only a fleeting moment so I just glued my eyes to the breath taking view, in awe as I give my thanks to the most awesome God for this opportunity. I didn’t spoil the moment by taking pictures, instead I look at the sight and recorded in my memories that few seconds of glory. Of witnessing that awesome sight.
It’s a poetry in motion. Time to move back to the ground. We’ve been flying for an almost an hour yet, we are oblivious about our location and lost track of time. That fleeting moment of seeing the sun as it rises and being surrounded by colorful balloons is enough to give me that thousand thrill.
As we descended back to the ground and see the sizes of earthly objects increasing, I heave a sigh of relief. We are almost there. One box on my bucket list is marked as check. Indeed, what a view to a thrill.
