Ramona Depares braves a 4am wake up call to experience the magic that is the desert region in central Turkey when bathed in the first rays of the sun.

It’s four in the morning and the temperature is hovering somewhere around the -2ºCelsius. We are hurtling down a steep hill in pitch darkness and our driver is chatting away 19 to the dozen, oblivious of the thoughts going through my head. More specifically – is a pair of leggings worn under jeans, coupled with two t-shirts, a sweater, a cardi and a jacket, topped up with hat and gloves, enough to keep my digits from falling off through sheer cold?

Judging by the looks on the faces of my travelling companions, the same thoughts (in various permutations, particularly in the case of the one who forgot gloves and hat at the hotel) are rushing through their heads. To sum it up, will this self-inflicted torture be worth the pain? Spoiler-alert: it was, and then some.

A bit of background. Our location was Goreme, in Cappadocia, deep in the heart of the Anatolian dessert in Turkey, a 1.45 minute flight away from Istanbul. Our mission was to get ourselves onto one of the dozens of hot air balloons that, on a daily basis, fill the Cappadocia sky with colour, in time for the spectacular sunrise. The stuff of dreams, that I had admired in photos a gazillion times, but never actually thought would have the opportunity to do myself.

Our first stop, some 10 minutes after a grumpy pick-up, was at a somewhat shady coffee-shop. Why shady, you might ask? Well, which coffee shop is open at 4.10am and comes complete with smiling servers, steaming cups of tea and coffee and plates of simit (doughy pretzel-like concoctions with a coating of caramelised sugar) at the ready? All this efficiency and desire to be helpful smelt somewhat fishy, to my sleep-addled brain. Two cuppas and a whole, gigantic simit later, I was ready to graciously acknowledge that the locals simply have a flair for hosting and for generally being nice to everyone.

The breakfast did a lot to improve the general mood and it was a much more jovial group that trooped back into the bus. By now, slivers of light had started appearing against the horizon and the dawn revealed a line of shadowy hot air balloons being slowly inflated.

An occasional burst of flame turned the panorama orange. The effect was surreal, mesmerising. The closer we got to these shadowy shapes, which were growing bigger by the second, the stronger the excitement within our group, all thoughts of sleep forgotten. The question on everyone’s lips was one: how long before we took to the skies?

The answer turned out to be about half-an-hour, a length of time that appeared to go by in a flash, given that everyone was busy snapping selfies against a backdrop of hot air balloons that were, as yet, only half alive. Suddenly, a loud “oooh” could be heard; the first balloon, a magnificent swirl of green, purple and orange, was suddenly a fully sentient beast, eager to be freed of its tethers.

The pilot dispensed some instructions and his helpers hurried forth to give a leg-up to the prospective passengers, amid much giggling and whoop-ing. Everyone else threw jealous glances in their direction. We wanted our turn and we wanted it now.

Happily, it didn’t take too long before our designated balloon – a cheerful yellow and orange – also took on a life of its own. Our pilot beckoned us over.

“Now, don’t forget. When we’re up there you have to be completely still. No photos! No jostling! Or one of you goes overboard.”

An occasional burst of flame turned the panorama orange. The effect was surreal, mesmerising

We looked at each other in worried confusion. Was he joking? The solemn look on his face suggested otherwise. But suddenly, the serious mask dissolved into mischievous giggles and all was well again.

“Ah, I’m messing with you. Take all the photos you like. But no moving about abruptly, or someone will really tip overboard.”

Okay, duly noted. We squeezed on board; the basket is quite big and divided into different compartments holding three people each, so that no-one’s view ends up obstructed. We waited obediently, cameras and mobile phones at the ready, as the basket was slowly freed of its moorings.

Click, snap, flash. The sound and jostling of a dozen different cameras dominated the airwaves against a background of whooping. The sight of some 50 hot air balloons slowly ascending into the twilight that is 5.30am (give or take, my eyes were anywhere but on my watch by now) in the Turkish desert tends to get the adrenaline going, no matter how blasé and jaded you might be about travel.

The next 10 minutes were a flurry of noisy activity, as everyone attempted to negotiate decent selfies and panoramic views in the limited space available – without camera or mobile phone ending up overboard, which was a very distinct possibility. Slowly, everyone got used to the environment and we all started forgetting our cameras and simply enjoying the majestic spectacle that was unfolding in front of our eyes.

Because sunrise in the desert – particularly when viewed from an altitude of over 1,000km – is something else. The sun started peeping shyly from behind the turquoise clouds on the horizon; the weird and wonderful rock formations dotted the landscape beneath us; mysterious caves and ravines opened up in front of our eyes… the beauty is literally (and I use the word advisedly) breath-taking. With every new angle, we kept discovering new details in the landscape and, for a while, no-one uttered a word – until our pilot broke the silence.

“Our maximum height is usually 800 metres, because of wind and oxygen issues. We are currently at 900,” he said with a wink.

This wasn’t good enough for one of the livelier members of the group.

“They’re higher than us,” he said, pointing towards a striped balloon that hovered some metres above us.

We all craned our necks. The pilot laughed.

“Oh, so we are racing, huh?”

And with that, the climb for the top spot started. Should we be worried, we wondered, as we all looked at the pilot in amazement. Another cheeky wink reassured us – this was all in a day’s work for them, a bit of friendly rivalry that adds an extra frisson of excitement, without any real danger, to the proceedings.

And so we continued climbing, every 100 metres ascended punctuated by our pilot’s triumphant announcement, until the tally stood at… a bewildering 1,800 metres. So much for 800!

“There’s no wind today, so we can break records,” he said.

I looked down towards the valley down below and immediately got jelly legs. Not the best thing to do if you are not fond of heights. Looking in the distance, though, particularly where the sunrise was now turning the skies into a fiery hue, worked out well and gave me a break from the cold sweat occasioned by the height.

The rest of the ride, which lasted over an hour, passed by in companionable silence that was occasionally punctuated by squeaks of excitement whenever any of us spotted something new or unexpected. And when our time in the skies came to an end, the collective reaction was one: “What, already?”

Which brings me neatly to the descent, which is a bit of an adventure in itself. We had already been ‘briefed’ as to the position we ought to assume upon touchdown (hold on to the basket with one hand, crouch and lean back). What we hadn’t realised was that it’s pretty impossible to plan a precise landing spot from beforehand, as it all depends on the whims of the wind.

Which meant that, as we sailed gracefully down, we could see the van that was due to pick us up scurrying around in the massive open space trying to figure out which X marked the spot, so to speak.

As it turned out, the wind felt like playing games that day and decided to switch direction when we had almost docked. So it was back up, some more scurrying from the poor souls in the van downstairs, until finally… a super-gentle docking, sparkling wine and huge chunks of cake. And another dozen or so selfies, of course, but did I really need to add that?

The best thing about it all? It was barely 8am and we still had the whole day ahead for more adventures.

5 things to do in Goreme

Getting around solo in Cappadocia is likely to use up a lot of time and resources, so joining one of the many tours in the area makes sense. During my stay there I used Kanon Tours (www.kanontours.com).

5. Visit the Open Air Museum – A Unesco World Heritage site boasting acres former cave dwellings and monasteries. In some of the churches you can still see some of the original frescos on the walls

4. Visit the Kaymakli Underground City – This one, located about 30 minutes outside Goreme, reminded me somewhat of our Hypogeum, only it’s on a larger scale. The city goes down over 80 metres and you can see troglodyte dwellings that included even stables, a winery and churches. Unsuitable for those who can’t handle steep steps or who are claustrophobic (you need to crawl through a narrow passage during some parts).

3. View the Fairy Chimneys – These natural rock formations are rather charming. They are best viewed from Pasabag, or the Monk’s Valley, on the way out of Goreme.

2. Visit a pottery centre – You can get some amazing ceramics and pottery in this area, while also learning how the tradition evolved. I visited Avanos, a centre of terracotta works of art since 3,000 BC. The demonstration was informative without being boring and we also got some good discounts.

1. View the Uchisar Rock-Castle – Located right at the highest point in Cappadocia, just five kilometres from Goreme. From the top, you get an amazing panoramic view of the whole area and the castle itself looks exactly like one of those fairytale castles from a Disney film.

Getting there

Ramona Depares travelled to Turkey courtesy of Turkish Airlines (www.turkishairlines.com) and stayed at the Cappadocia Cave Hotel in Goreme www.satrapiahotel.com). Turkish Airlines fly between Istanbul and Malta 10 times a week during the winter season. Flights go up to 13 a week in the summer. Turkish Airlines offers connecting flights between Istanbul and Nevsehir, the gateway to Cappadocia, daily. A full schedule is available online.