Today was like waking up for that all important meeting.You spend the night not sleeping for fear of missing the alarm then when you do finally drop off, wallop, 'that will be time to get up then'; it's 0430.But at least instead of a meeting we're off for what is the first ever hot air balloon ride for either of us.Maria managed to convince Caroline and Petra to give it a try and we bump into them waiting for the transport at 0530.Caroline has the caffeine DTs that are worse than Gene Hackman going cold turkey in the French Connection!Fortunately for her though I'm engaged to an Italian so dash to our room to get the remaining coffee from my trusty thermos, then deliver it to her trembling hands with the panache of a volunteer dishing out drinks at a marathon water station!

The excitement is mingled with the lethargy of the early morning, sleepy eyes and frizzed hair when we reach the launch zone and we seem to have chosen wisely with Sultan, our balloon company, as their balloons are inflating first and it looks like we'll get a chance to see the others taking off.We're all angling for the best shots as first the fans then the ferocious blasts of hot air puff out the canvass a little further, tourists smiling happily as their nearest and dearest snap them with their arms around the pilot.Then, before you know it, the basket is being righted as the mass of fabric slowly rises in a feeble attempt to break free from the tethers firmly securing it to the ground.We receive a brief 'landing position' demonstration then we're climbing into the basket and anxiously awaiting lift off.

At the time of making the booking, we were told that Sultan was the best company to fly with, probably because it was associated with the Kelebek hotel, but it seems the sale's pitch was correct.There's only 15 people in our gondola, sectioned off into compartments of 4, 4, 4 and 3 people; we're in a 4 sharing with a delightful Japanese couple.We have plenty of room and, as we hear later, do not spend the entire trip gazing at the belly button of a candidate for the crown of the world's fattest man; poor Caroline!

It turns out, for me at least, that ballooning is like parachuting.The leisurely trip to the destination, whether that be straight down or across a bit and then down, is punctuated by a little tension, nervous giggling and apprehensive anticipation of what take off and landing is actually going to feel like.There's also the lingering thought of 'is this gravity defying contraption really safe'.Except for a slight rocking, take-off is pretty uneventful, but is greeted with gushes of excited, and I suspect relieved, oohs and aahs, as the balloon gently ascends to the somewhat murky clouds above; no sunrise watching for us today!As we float over Goreme, I still can't help wondering what the locals think, as the blasts of 'dragon sounding' hot air scare the horses below and surely wake up the residents.I count a total of 48 balloons in the air and make a quick calculation; 48 balloons x 15 occupants in each (minimum) x €150 each (minimum) equals €108,000.Not bad for a morning's work and there are still 2 more waves to go.There's a lot of money to be had in ballooning!!

We float around for our hour, reaching as high (or low) as 1000m above ground level, the pilot skilfully taking us down just above the roof tops and rotating the basket so we all get a 360° view of Goreme below us.We head to the landing zone, followed by a Landrover, the bottom of the basket brushing the top of a tree as we do so, then grab the rope handles and bend our knees in preparation for the field coming up to greet us.We touch down, bounce, and take off again only to land permanently a few seconds later in a lower part of the field, the basket perched slightly at an angle making us feel as though it's about to topple and spill its human contents onto the earth.It doesn't.We're surprised when, 5 minutes later, the pilot fires up the burners and we wonder what he's up to.We take off.Then immediately land on the trailer on the back of the Landrover; clever sod!We ungraciously climb out and celebrate the ride with certificates and champagne.Well, the rest of our party receives a certificate but Maria and I have to write our own!