Floating over Cappadocia - Turkey Guidebook by Tom Brosnahan

There's nothing quite like it: you get up before dawn, grab a quick cup of coffee, climb into an all-terrain vehicle and set out for the launch site. As the sky lightens, you watch a pile of fabric the size of a small car become a huge, graceful balloon. Standing in the basket beneath, your pilot turns a valve, flames roar upward into the void, and you lift off into the chill morning air to float across the Cappadocian landscape just as the warming sun makes its way above the horizon.

If you've never taken a flight in a hot-air balloon, Cappadocia is one of the best places in the world to do it. Flight conditions are especially favourable here, with gentle winds most days between April and November. The views are simply unforgettable.

Though the balloon depends upon air currents for lateral movements, a good pilot can control the height with surprising precision. Kaili Kidner and Lars-Eric More of Kapadokya Balloons (Tel/Fax +90 (384) 271 2442, flykapadokyaballoons.com) boast that they can descend into a Cappadocian valley and 'pick apricots off the trees', - which is exactly what they do - if the apricots are ripe and the farmer allows. Because of the winds and the vertical control, every flight is an adventure, and no two flights are the same.

Sturdy Mercedes-Benz all-terrain vehicles follow your flight and assure that wherever the balloon lands it can be recovered.

Flights take place daily at dawn (weather permitting), lasts for approximately 1 1/4 hours, and are followed by the traditional champagne toast. Transport from your hotel to the launch site (which is usually near Uchisar), and return to your hotel after the flight, is included in the price of 230 EUR per person. The entire adventure takes about four hours, but the memories last a lifetime.

The cost seems high, but life offers few more exhilarating adventures so easily achieved and so thoroughly enjoyable. Reservations are essential. A day in advance is the minimum, but is is even better to book as soon as you arrive in Cappadocia.

From time to time, Kaili and Lars offer promotional fares. You can phone them or, better yet, call in to their office in Göreme uphill on the Uçhisar road to the left of Cafedoci@ for current offerings.