Cappadocia: From Sky to Saddle
The pre-dawn air was bitingly cold as my friend Monika and I staggered in silence up the steep hill towards the viewpoint. As we stood in the darkness overlooking Cappadocia’s iconic rock formations, I shivered beneath a couple of t-shirts and a hoodie, completely unprepared for the cold desert air of September in central Turkey.
A few steps ahead of us, a group of young women in colourful ball gowns picked their way up the hillside, clutching high heels and handbags. Their presence felt entirely out of place in the cold darkness, but we gave it little thought as we hurried past them, eager to secure a good spot before sunrise. The explanation would become clear soon enough.
Then came the sudden roar of burners breaking the silence.
One by one, the hot air balloons began to glow in the darkness, their colourful envelopes illuminated by blasts of flame before gently lifting from the valley floor. As dawn approached, hundreds of balloons filled the sky above Cappadocia’s fairy chimneys and otherworldly rock formations, creating one of the most extraordinary spectacles I have witnessed anywhere in the world.
We edged closer to the rim of the valley, almost level with the balloons as they drifted past. Nearby, a young couple arrived with a small child and hurried to find a suitable location. Not for the view, but for a photograph. The woman removed her coat to reveal a swimming costume and began striking a series of poses while the man photographed her against the backdrop of balloons. Their child stood quietly alone several metres away.
Watching them, I couldn’t help noticing how differently people experienced the landscape. While some stood silently taking in the spectacle, others seemed focused on capturing their own place within it.
In September 2020, I travelled to Turkey while attempting to return to New York, where I was living at the time. American COVID-era travel restrictions prevented me from travelling directly from the United Kingdom, but allowed entry from Turkey after a two-week stay. The logic was questionable, but it provided an unexpected opportunity to revisit a place that had long fascinated me.
Like many visitors, I arrived knowing Cappadocia primarily through photographs. The region’s balloon-filled skies have become one of the world’s most recognisable travel images. Yet I soon discovered that the landscape itself was every bit as fascinating as the photographs that had made it famous.
The following day, I decided to swap the viewpoints for a saddle.
Cappadocia is often referred to as the “Land of Beautiful Horses”, a name thought to derive from an ancient Persian description of the region. As a lifelong horsewoman, I could hardly resist the chance to explore its valleys on horseback.
What I expected to be a straightforward trail ride quickly became something else entirely. Most of the other riders had little experience, and before long the guide realised I was more comfortable in the saddle than the rest of the group. Gradually, I found myself helping to keep everyone together, and by the end of the ride I was effectively leading the group through the valleys while the guide moved back and forth among the other riders.
As we wound our way between towering rock formations and cave dwellings carved into the soft volcanic stone, the crowds quickly disappeared. Away from the balloon launch sites and social media hotspots, Cappadocia felt altogether different. The only sounds were the steady rhythm of hooves and the occasional call of a distant rider.
At the end of the ride, the manager of the horse outfitter generously invited me to return the following morning for a private sunrise ride.
Before dawn, we set off once again into the valleys as the first balloons began to rise into the sky above us. Mounted on a spirited chestnut Arabian, I was free to ride at a faster pace, cantering along dusty trails as shafts of golden light illuminated the fairy chimneys and rock formations around us.
For a few moments we paused on a ridge overlooking the valley below. Balloons drifted silently overhead while the landscape slowly emerged in the morning light. It felt as though the two experiences that define Cappadocia had come together: the famous balloon-filled skies above and, below them, the horse trails that have earned the region its reputation as the Land of Beautiful Horses.
It was during those hours on horseback that I felt I truly connected with Cappadocia. Away from the crowds and camera tripods, the landscape revealed itself as something more than a backdrop for photographs. It was a place shaped by geology, history and centuries of human habitation, where entire communities once lived within the rock itself.
