“I can show you the world, shining, shimmering wonders” - If Agrabah were real and you were to take a ride on Aladdin’s magic carpet, Turkey’s Cappadocia would have fit right into that mystical tour of the world where the line between myth and reality are blurred.

Yet Cappadocia is very much a reality, located in south-central Turkey. All you need to do is to substitute a flying carpet for a hot air balloon, buffeted in the wind 3000 to 8000 feet in the air. Bizarre ash white conical structures jut from the ground, the arid monotony resembling landscape you’d expect to see on the moon. 10 cities are contained within these geological wonder, entire castles and cities spread out beneath like an eerie alien set taken out of a movie (think Star Wars quite literally). Known as fairy chimneys, these can be found nowhere else on earth, formed through a combination of wind action, soft tufu and tough basalt. The bright tones of the hot air balloons around you are the only colors visible for miles, highlighted in warm yellow and gold under the setting sun. Sailing on wind currents, suspended above ground, this is an experience so out of the world, no analogy would be apt.