CAMPING at CAPPADOCIA! - TÜRKIYE 🇹🇷 - Australia to Scotland by road - Episode 88

The lay-day plan for better weather paid off and the following morning the skies were clear without a breath of wind and packed with balloons. Even before making our way out of the Troopy and well before daylight we could hear it was going to be a good day by the unmistakable roar of balloon burners. The balloon rides started in the region as an alternate perspective of the incredible landscape and has exploded over the years to a year round event of hundreds of balloons each morning, and/or evening when the conditions are right. Adjacent to the ridge we were camping some of the balloon pilots with great skill and precision lowered their basket, and nearly whole balloon, between the rugged walls and down the valley missing the rock chimneys by what appeared to be millimetres. We spent the morning taking in the spectacle before packing up the Troopy and hitting the road. Our goal for the day is the Med though road conditions and possible attractions will determine whether we make it today.
Away from the unworldly landscape of the Cappadocia region the horizon smoothed into arid flat salt plains of nothing but small shrub stretching as far as the eye could see in all directions. In peak summer and winter this region looks like it would be quite unforgiving with nothing for shelter. For that exact reason, in the early years of the Silk Road, places were built to accommodate the travellers along the trade routes. These lodges, otherwise known as Caravanserais, provided a safe haven from the elements. We stopped at our first Caravanserai years earlier tucked deep into the southern mountains of Kyrgyzstan at 3200m near the border with China. Here in Turkey, in an extremely contrasting landscape, we happened to stumble across another Caravanserai of significant stature. This one known as Saltan Han, was built in 1229 and is the largest in Turkey (not easy to miss). Through the huge main gates was a large courtyard, with central Mosque, which provided the usable space for the summer. At the rear of the courtyard was another large door, which we wrongly assumed led to the rear of the structure; it actually led into a cavernous Iwan (inside space) used in the winter months. With the towering vaulted ceiling and thick stone columns, the Iwan was gigantic and could have housed hundreds of people. For now though it was just us and the occupying pigeons. We were amazed at how beautifully maintained the structure was with it’s intricate marble carved gates and ceilings (maqarnas). We usually prefer historic structures and monuments in a more natural original state though this was an impressive and welcome surprise on our daily travel.
After a quick lunch at an adjacent stall, we headed to what was originally to be out first stop for the day - Tuz Golu (salt lake). Lake Tuz is the second largest lake in Turkey and one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world. We had decided to stop here on our way west in the hope of catching some of the reflections usually associated with the likes of Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Being at the end of summer though we were out of luck as the lake had all but dried up for the season. The drive in along the slightly raised road through the salt pans was still picturesque though and reminded us of travelling through southern Western Australia.
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[@stevestott1514]

Love that shot of the balloons rising up out of the foot hills . What a spectacular way to start your day off . Love all the beautiful old buildings and forts . Turkey 🇹🇷 sure has been full of beautiful scenery . Looked like a area along the coastline I would love to spend time at . Thanks again for another spectacular travel video . Cheers from Steve Stott in Sutherlin Oregon U.S.A. 😄🥂👍🏼:):)

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers Steve, evidently it was worth the wait to catch the balloons! I don't think we've seen a country with so much landscape diversity since India. Just need some surf! 🏄🏼‍♂️

[@edwinrock2118]

Thanks for your nice video

[@TheWayOverland]

Thank you!

[@robkeith1776]

Hi Jolie and Mark. Greetings from Oz. Turkey really is quite amazing - from the mountains to the Med, with balloons in between. Stunning scenery. The troopy has done well for your first flat tyre. Thanks for taking us along.

[@TheWayOverland]

Spot on Rob, the diversity in the landscape in Turkey is incredible, it's a bit of a complete package. Food, landscape, weather, hospitality. Those tyres have definitely done well to hang in there this long, they're 5 years old now and have been punished. It's been a good test so we'll be getting these again.

[@wildliveunit292]

Nice video! I loved the Timelapse of the balloons 😄 this place ist so unbelievable. Thanks for taking us along!

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers guys, the history and ever changing scenery across Turkey is incredible!

[@colinross6259]

Those balloons were something else. Can understand why, what great scenery. that Caravanserai, close to 800 years and still looked in good nick. Some parts just looked like Oz. Keep up the good work. I know, someones gotta do it. Lucky buggers.

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers Colin. Yeah we're glad we stuck around a day to catch the balloons. Would've certainly been an experience in one the balloons going down the valleys, the skill of those pilots was amazing, missing the rock chimneys by a foot or so. Funny you mention it looks like Aus, that's exactly what we said when driving across the central salt flats area - got us a little nostalgic!

[@robertallan9601]

A private beach to end the day, perfect, thanks for sharing these videos guys.

[@TheWayOverland]

And it was a perfect little slice of heaven that beach, especially after tyre change! Cheers

[@amadsaleem8949]

Extraordinary work/ vlog as usual you two. Keep up the lovely work...

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers Amad

[@Hoomanoverland]

Safe travels peeps, love from Melbourne

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers!🙂

[@jackandemmalene]

That timelapse of the balloons was awesome! Looking forward to the next episode 🙂

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers!

[@mark-]

one fantastic adventure ! 😊👍✨

[@TheWayOverland]

That's' it! 🙂

[@travellersnestoverland]

Jolie and Mark you just made my Sunday morning. We have had civil unrest again this week, so I am on the compound. Love from Lae, PNG. Ro

[@travellersnestoverland]

Just like I remember it. I slept in a cave the night before the balloon flight. Turkey is so beautiful

[@MrFillefloe]

Lets see if they finish the brigde 😀 I've seen a couple big ones that they quit building half way in the north.

[@TheWayOverland]

Ha really! Not sure if they’ve finished that one now though they just finished a big one over the Dardanelles, biggest in the world actually. Pretty impressive.

[@CampervanMan]

Welcome to Europe! Exciting times... Mark please remind me what wheel/tyre combo you are running please. Ta

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers, we run Mickey Thompson ATZ 285/75/16 on ROH rims.

[@user-xe1zh6og8c]

Such a beautiful video.Really enjoy you guys.Any chance to do Greece next?Whats your plans?Keep up the good work.

[@TheWayOverland]

Thanks! Yep, Greece was after Turkey, we've come and gone though. Had a great time, it'll be coming up in a few episodes time.

[@lukaslinhart77]

Loving your channel! Been binge watching now for a while. Those shots are really amazing! Just wondering why you didn't put a warning triangle ahead on the rode while changing the tire? If it's not law in Turkey, as I assume it is, like the rest of Europe, it certainly is common sense, especially on a busy road like that. Stay safe and keep up the good work! Cheers!

[@TheWayOverland]

Thanks! We didn't put one out as we simply didn't have one at this stage, if it was one of the roadside tyres that blew we would've put something down the road, or driven to a better spot. As it was on a long straight and the wheel was on the outside the big white Troopy provided enough visability for us to feel comfortable. Cheers

[@itismegarry]

What did you guys think about the infrastructure and economy going through? I was honestly blown away by turkey.

[@TheWayOverland]

The road infrastructure was incredible, the AKP has built an amazing road network over the past few years, some days we’d only see a handful of cars on 4 lane highways, it definitely made covering ground easy! Economy was hard to gauge for us as the places we generally visited were smaller rural farming areas. We spoke to a few people about this though they turned out to be from two very different perspectives. Some interesting tax initiatives in place! (OTV)

[@jamesmazurstudios]

Another great video. What tires do you use now and what tires are you going to put on after these?

[@TheWayOverland]

Cheers, we run Mickey Thompson ATZs. These have served us well; we like the tread pattern and noise levels so will get them again.

[@jamesmazurstudios]

@@TheWayOverland have you ever felt the need for the MTZ? Are you ever limited to where you go based on the ATZ? Thanks for the info.