Hoodoo

From 2006, taken from a balloon adrift over Cappadocia, in central Turkey. The terrain in Cappadocia is spectacular and craggy, featuring “fairy chimneys,” hoodoo spires, cliffs, hidden valleys, and signs of habitation going back thousands of years. The closest analog I’ve seen to this country are parts of the Colorado Plateau, like the Cedar Breaks— except that the hoodoo spires at the Cedar Breaks don’t have homes carved into them. There is at least one entire castle carved out of a big rock, Christian monks carved monasteries into cliffs and dwelt there until the 20th century, smaller spires were converted into single-family homes. Entire cities, including stables, churches, air vents, and wells, were carved underground and used to hide populations during invasions, which were frequent.

Now the place is invaded by tourists, who croggle at the lunar landscape and buy local products like pottery and carpets, stay in “troglodyte hotels,” and watch the dervishes whirl. Our hotel offered balloon tours, and I signed up. I was rained out the first day, but I got into the air the day following. The gondola held sixteen people crammed elbow-to-elbow, but leaped into the air nimbly enough. The air was full of balloons. We went up, we went down, we sailed along valleys and leaped over obstacles.

It was all quite wonderful, and I took over 200 spectacular photographs, of which this is one of the best.