At 6 am the next morning Morris and Vicki were excited and ready for the biggest adventure of their lifetime, although they didn't know how exciting it would actually be. The taxi arrived on time, which was quite unusual for that part of the world, and without a word the driver took them to the open area where a large balloon was spread out on the smooth ground. The balloon was much larger than they had imagined and very colorful — exactly as depicted in the pamphlet — and a young man was busy trying to inflate the balloon with a stream of air generated by a very large gasoline powered fan. As soon as the balloon started to inflate the young man directed the flame from powerful twin burners to heat the air in the balloon. While this was taking place another young man approached the couple, consulted a note in his hand and asked them if they were the Aladgem couple. When they confirmed that, he introduced himself as Azzuri and said he will be their pilot for today's flight. Morris introduced himself and his wife and asked Azzuri about the flight. The pilot explained that the flight usually lasted about 90 minutes, but the exact time depended upon finding a suitable landing spot. He then pointed at a wicker basket that stood upright near the balloon and said that it was suitable for five people, but that in today's flight only the three of them will occupy the basket so that they would be free to move around the basket once they were airborne. Vicki was a bit apprehensive when she saw the basket — until then she only used wicker baskets as ornaments or for storing fruit. Morris was fascinated by the way the hot air filled the balloon and watched it rise slowly and majestically. The pilot told them to get inside the basket and connected the ropes between the basket and the upright balloon. The young man who turned out to be Azzuri's assistant held the basket while the pilot slowly turned on the flame on the twin burners. The assistant let go and the balloon with the two passengers and the pilot detached from the ground and started rising above the tops of the trees that surrounded the open space.
The expression on Morris's face was of pure elation while Vicki was as still as a stone and she could only mumble a prayer. Azzuri told her that there was nothing to worry about, the balloon flights were safer than travelling by car and accidents rarely happened to experienced pilots. Morris suddenly realized that they were flying over the hills where there were no roads and asked the pilot how that would get back. Azzuri said that they wouldn't have to return to the point where they took off as his assistant will follow them in the pick-up truck to their landing spot and they would be in radio contact with him at all times. Morris looked down at the rough terrain and still worried but Azzuri assured him that they would land near a road that was accessible to the four-wheel drive truck. The pilot explained that the navigation of the balloon depended on the direction of the wind that varied at different heights. So by altering the height of the balloon they could find an air stream that would take them in the direction they wanted. Vicki overcame her initial fear and enjoyed the view and the feeling of being free like a bird in the silent sky. After all they had been in the air for over 30 minutes and the only sound was from the flame whenever Azzuri turned on the burners. Morris was enjoying the tranquil effortless feeling of floating through the air and looking down at the view of the hills, forests, streams and mountains with the Mediterranean on the horizon. Azzuri was very quiet and let the couple soak in the silence and enjoy the apparent freedom from Earth's gravity.
After an hour Azzuri started to look at his GPS and kept searching for an air current that would take the balloon to the east. He saw a clearing and started venting the hot air out of the top flap of the balloon causing it to descend slowly. Once they could see the pick-up truck Azzuri increased the descent rate but every once in a while turned on the twin burners to avoid going down too fast. Finally the balloon was low enough and Azzuri threw a rope down and it was caught by his assistant on the ground. Three other men stepped out of the pick-up truck and also pulled down on the rope gently bringing the balloon to touch the ground. As Morris and Vicki got out of the wicker basket two of the men drew pistols and told the Israeli couple that they were their hostages. They exchanged a few words with Azzuri, and Morris recognized that they were not speaking Tuskish but some other language that he thought could be Farsi. One of the men handed Azzuri an envelope and Morris could see that it contained banknotes, probably US dollars by the look of it.
The three men led their captives to a van with darkened windows that was parked under a bunch of trees. One of the men placed handcuffs on their hands and made them lie on the floor of the van. Vicki started sobbing in panic until the man who was evidently the leader told Morris in English to make her shut-up or else he would do it. Morris spoke softly to her in Hebrew and said that probably all they wanted was ransom money and that he would promise them to pay whatever they wanted for their release. The van headed north-east on a dirt road and soon after started climbing into the mountains on dirt roads until they got close to Konya. The leader introduced himself as Suleiman and said that they had a very long drive ahead of them. When Morris asked how far they had to go the answer was an impatient "very far". Morris said that money was not a problem, that he was a very rich man and that they would pay anything to be free and promised that they would not mention the whole episode to anyone. Suleiman just smiled and said that they were not after money but had bigger things in mind.
The driver of the van said something in rapid Farsi (by now Morris was sure that was the language they were speaking) and pointed ahead. Morris could not see anything as he was lying prone on the floor of the van but a gag was placed on his mouth and on Vicki's mouth and an old rug was thrown over them. Morris could feel that the van hit a paved road and then came to a stop. He could hear an exchange of words in Turkish and guessed that they had reached a roadblock. A moment later the van was on the way once again and Suleiman sighed and said something in Farsi to his two buddies. Morris recognized the word "dollar" and surmised that they had to pay some dollars to the Turks manning the roadblock. Once they were a few kilometers from the roadblock, Suleiman bent down, removed the old rug and the gags. He said that if they behaved themselves they would be allowed out of the van to relieve themselves. As they approached the village of Aksaray the van stopped in a cluster of trees and one of the captors got out and surveyed the area and then signaled that all was clear. After the door opened and their handcuffs were removed Morris and Vicki slowly managed to get out of the van. Suleiman indicated that Vicki could step to the side of the van while all the men looked the other way. Morris appreciated the gesture of respect that they paid to the woman and said so. Suleiman was more relaxed now and promised again that no harm would come their way if they cooperated. Morris asked for some water and Suleiman pulled a bottle out of a cardboard box and offered it to the captives. Once again he said that they had a long drive ahead of them and this time he said that it would take them two or three days to reach their destination. Morris did a quick mental calculation and figured out that the distance from Antalia in western Turkey to Iran was over 2000 kilometers and considering the state of the roads and the busy traffic would take three days. At a suitable moment he whispered to Vicki that they were probably being taken to Iran. The bad news, he said, was that they probably would be held as hostages for negotiations and the good news was that their value depended on their being alive so they need not worry that the kidnappers would kill them.