E244 - Cappadocia’s Magical Balloons & Incredible Fairy Chimneys!

Ee take one last break from sailing before returning to No Regrets and continuing our journey through the Mediterranean. This time, we're heading inland to the extraordinary region of Cappadocia, Turkey! Cappadocia is famous for its surreal landscapes, towering fairy chimneys and ancient settlements carved into the rock. We explore the Göreme and Zelve Open-Air Museums, visit Uçhisar Castle, admire Love Valley, venture deep underground into the remarkable city of Derinkuyu, and discover the hidden churches of Ihlara Valley and the impressive Selime Cathedral. But the highlight of our trip has to be getting up before sunrise for a hot-air balloon ride. Watching the balloons inflate in the darkness before floating above Cappadocia's incredible landscape as the sun rises is an experience we'll never forget. And our landing brings us surprisingly close to the crowds gathered below! Then it's time to return to the coast and get back to sailing. As we leave Oasis Marina, we watch helicopters tackling a nearby wildfire before completing our exit formalities at Çeşme and setting sail for Greece. After crossing to Chios, we have a few challenges trying to clear in without an agent, before enjoying a fantastic spinnaker sail south to Samos. With the spectacular Mount Kerkis towering above our anchorage, we finish the day with drone views of the beautiful bay and dinner at a little restaurant on the beach. Our final land adventure is over, and it's time to get back to what we love — sailing the Greek islands aboard No Regrets! Join us for another adventure with Sailing No Regrets. If you enjoy our videos, please give us a thumbs up, leave a comment and subscribe to follow our journey. Thanks for watching, and fair winds! #SailingNoRegrets #Cappadocia #HotAirBalloons #Turkey #GreekIslands #SeawindCatamaran #SailingGreece Timestamps if you like to Jump Right In: 00:00 Off to Explore Cappadocia! 01:49 Our First Views of Cappadocia 02:16 Göreme Open-Air Museum 03:14 Uçhisar Castle 04:20 Zelve Open-Air Museum 04:38 Love Valley 04:55 Exploring an Underground City 05:36 Discovering Ihlara Valley 07:27 Selime Cathedral 09:18 Cappadocia’s Magical Hot-Air Balloons 11:02 Our Balloon Ride Takes Flight 11:29 Flying Over the Fairy Chimneys 12:28 Sunrise Over Cappadocia 12:43 A Close-Up Balloon Landing! 13:22 Helicopters Battle a Wildfire 14:19 Leaving Turkey 15:17 Sailing to Greece 16:38 Arriving in Chios 17:10 Trying to Check In Without an Agent 18:05 A Fantastic Spinnaker Sail to Samos 18:54 Anchoring Beneath Mount Kerkis 19:40 Drone Views of Our Beautiful Anchorage 20:20 Dinner by the Beach WHO ARE WE? Hey there! We’re Chris and Jo, an ordinary Aussie couple living our extraordinary dream of exploring the world by boat! Our sailing adventure began in January 2019 aboard our Seawind 1260 catamaran, No Regrets. We explored Australia’s east coast before sailing to beautiful New Caledonia. Over the following years, we continued north, eventually circumnavigating Australia in 2021 and 2022 and discovering some truly incredible places along the way. In 2024, we began the next chapter of our adventure aboard our new Seawind 1370, No Regrets II, taking our sailing journey beyond Australia and into the wider world. We weren’t always sailors. Having previously owned fishing and water-skiing boats, our passion for sailing grew after crewing in South Australia. Before long, we’d taken the leap into full-time life on the water! Through our channel, Sailing No Regrets, we share the highs, challenges and unforgettable moments of life aboard a cruising catamaran — from remote anchorages and amazing destinations to the realities of sailing long distances and exploring new countries. We were inspired by other YouTube sailing channels to chase our own dream, and we hope our adventures might inspire you to follow yours, whatever that may be. So come along for the ride! If you enjoy our videos, don't forget to like, comment and subscribe. We'd love to have you join us on our journey. Life's too short for regrets — come sailing with us!