I refer to Ramona Depares’ article ‘Sunrise over Cappadocia’ (Escape, The Sunday Times of Malta, December 20, 2015) and would like to congratulate her for the detailed and vivid description of that early hot air balloon flight in the dark in Goreme, in the Anatolian desert.

I also recall the thrilling preparation of the hot air balloons and the ‘floating’ excitement that followed. It was, in fact, a marvellous experience and I managed to take a short video after the initial ‘fright’ of floating about 1,000 metres above the terrain of the marvellous desert of Cappadocia in central Turkey.

Actually, our balloon experience was only part of the two-day tour in the area, since besides the several places mentioned in the article, including the Goreme ‘open air museum’, we also managed to visit several cave churches dating from early Christian times and hewn out in the soft rock (tufa) .

These include those of Goreme and Uchisar, further north, in a region that several centuries ago was covered with ash from the Mount Erciyes volcano, which resulted in the several pillars called ‘Fairy Chimneys’ mentioned in the article and anchorite dwellings which abound in the area.

Some of the churches are dedicated to St Barbara, St John and the Virgin Mary, with several fine frescoes of the crucifixion of Christ himself.

Another important centre is Avanos with artefacts dating back to the Bronze Age and early settlements of the Christian era. Also very interesting is the Kajmakli underground citadel, with several levels and tunnels, founded in the eighth century to protect local residents from Arab attacks.

Finally, allow me to mention a very important area around Curam, north of Cappadocia, with an archaeological site near Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age.