The national park around Göreme is the part of Cappadocia where the geology is most generous. Two great volcanoes, Erciyes and Hasan, buried the plateau in ash and lava millions of years ago, and the ash settled into a soft rock called tuff, which is cut by rivers and wind into valleys with names that sound invented: Love Valley, with its rows of phallic pillars, Rose Valley, which turns pink in the evening, Red Valley, Pigeon Valley and Sword Valley. Paths run through them, past orchards of apricot and apple, cave churches and the doorways of old dwellings, and on a good day you can hike for hours without meeting another person.
People have lived in the rock here for so long that the landscape is partly a work of architecture. Rooms are dug into the cones, with windows and steps cut in the stone, and the pigeon houses are carved into the cliffs with rows of tiny openings. The birds were valued for their droppings, which were used to fertilise vines and fields. At the Göreme Open Air Museum, a group of monastic churches and refectories shows how the monks lived in the tenth to twelfth centuries, and the painted ceilings and walls are among the finest Byzantine art in Anatolia. The Dark Church, which has its frescoes in rich colour because little light has ever reached them, is worth the extra ticket.
Riding in the park is a pleasure on the roads that wind between the villages, with good tarmac, gentle gradients and constant views. Many of the paths are for walkers only, and the tracks that look tempting are often sandy or full of loose gravel, so keep to the roads unless you have off-road experience. Heat in July and August can be fierce, with a dry wind and dust, and the nights cool quickly. Winter can bring snow and ice, and the stone gives the whole valley a hard, white look.
Göreme, about three kilometres away, has fuel nearby and plenty of cafes, and Avanos, five kilometres off, has bigger shops. Be at a viewpoint at dawn to see the balloons rise, and then have a Turkish breakfast with honey and clotted cream at a terrace restaurant.