Cappadocia is a land that was made by volcanoes and then carved by people. Millions of years ago, the eruptions of Mount Erciyes, which still stands at 3,917 metres, and other volcanoes covered the high plateau of central Anatolia with deep layers of ash, which hardened into a soft rock called tuff. Wind and water then eroded the tuff into valleys of pinnacles, cones and ridges, the fairy chimneys, and people found that the rock was easy to dig. Ever since, they have been carving houses, churches, stables and storerooms into it.
Karain, near Ürgüp, belongs to that landscape, and the label points to the rock-cut world that lies all around. In the early centuries of Christianity, communities of monks settled in the valleys of Cappadocia and decorated rock chapels with frescoes of saints and Bible stories, some still vivid with red and blue. The Göreme Open Air Museum is the best known, and many other churches are scattered across the valleys, often reached by narrow paths. Beneath the plateau, the underground cities of Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu run down for many levels, with storerooms, wells and stone doors that rolled across the passages in case of attack.
The ride in Cappadocia is gentle and spacious. The roads are generally good, running through high, treeless country of vineyards, apricot orchards and fields, with pale rock formations rising on either side. Dawn brings hot-air balloons, dozens of them drifting over the valleys, and the roads fill with tour vans heading to viewpoints. Traffic around Göreme and Uçhisar can be heavy in summer, so go early. In winter the plateau is cold, with snow and ice, and the fairy chimneys look magical under frost.
Ürgüp, a town of sixteen thousand, has fuel, shops and wine bars. Cappadocia has a long tradition of winemaking, and local reds and whites are a pleasure after a day's ride. Pottery from nearby Avanos, shaped from the red clay of the Kızılırmak river, is worth a look, and a meal of testi kebab, cooked in a sealed clay pot that is broken open at the table, is a local spectacle.
Visit in spring or autumn, when the temperature is mild and the light is soft.