I woke up this morning at 2:00 AM waiting for the 4:30 AM wake-up call for the balloon ride. There had to be several hundred people waiting for the buses to leave for the balloon site. We waited and waited and waited. Finally at 6:30 AM they decided it was a “go” and we all climbed on the mini buses. The balloon baskets are very large so our group of 18 were all able to go up together. So 10 minutes into the ride, the driver got a phone call saying that the takeoff had been aborted. Back to the hotel. We weren’t leaving for our daily tour until 9:00 AM. Peggy, of course, went back to bed. I knew that if I did that, I would never wake up. When we finally met up with our guide it was decided that we would try again tomorrow for the balloon ride.

PS: We weren’t able to go on the balloon ride because it was all sold out on Friday and sadly for us, they did fly. Today is the first day of the Ramadan holiday (think Christmas) and everyone is celebrating the end of Ramadan so all the hotels are sold out.

Our first stop of the day was to stop and look at the fairy chimney rock formations. Years of erosion and freezing and thawing caused these shapes. The formations were very similar to Bryce Canyon but a different color rock.

Next stop on to lunch at another family owned restaurant. A great meal for me (after eating no breakfast) of shepherd’s salad, which is basically tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, lots of parsley and EVOO. Also bulgar, a tasty bean dish and especially for me – stuffed grape leaves and tiny stuffed peppers.

Next was on to the weaving center and the hard sell to buy a Turkish rug. At least this place offered wine rather than the usual tea. Apparently Turkish rugs are different because they are double knotted. I will be checking the rug that I bought in Egypt when I get home. The first room is always the women working on rugs.

The rugs were obviously gorgeous but also insanely expensive. We are talking $50,000 and up. One couple bought a wool runner. The interesting thing is that they had no small products like at the weaving center in Egypt. Although the small table runner that I bought in Egypt was expensive ($500) but at least it opened a whole other customer base. The owner of the Turkish weaving center said that they sell a lot of rugs to interior designers. Their business plan apparently works for them

The final event of the day was to see a presentation of the Whirling Dervishes at a 13th century building that was a stop on the caravan route. I always thought that the Whirling Dervishes were for entrainment. Wrong! It is basically a sect of Islam dating back over 800 years that believes that everything in life revolves. These revolutions are natural and unconscious and is how a person deserts his ego and finds perfection. Every movement of the dance has a meaning. The video below is not the ceremony itself but a brief reconstruction of the dance that was performed for us for video purposes. During the ceremony itself, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop other than the instruments and chanting.