Although we have a completely new perspective on what constitutes a bad bus ride, neither of us slept on the overnight bus from Antalya to a sleepy Goreme. We arrived exhausted, but completely surprised and delighted to see a sky full of hot air balloons rising up over the small town. It felt a bit like a fairy tale driving by big rock formations with balloons floating above us.
Unfortunately, despite the plethora of balloons filling the sky, no one else in the town seemed to be awake. We waited in a guesthouse lobby for nearly two hours for someone to wake up to check us in! I even snuck out to take some pictures (and distract myself from being frustrated we couldn’t check in and go to bed). I was surprised at how simple some of the houses appeared to be. I was also surprised that no one seemed to be alive or at least awake. The town was dead aside from a few vans dropping off tourists who had finished their balloon ride and could crawl back into bed for a few hours before breakfast.
No one ever woke up or arrived at the guesthouse. We gave up and checked into another guesthouse down the road. By the time we were able to check into that room, our eyes were bloodshot and we couldn’t think straight. I think the cleaning woman took pity on us and cleaned our room as fast as she could. She smiled gently as we thanked her minutes before we collapsed in bed. We slept for awhile, until we ate a late lunch/early dinner. And then, went back to bed, hoping to wake up in the morning rested and ready to go.
