Love Valley

Cappadocia Love Valley is a real place just outside of the city Goreme in Turkey ‘s Cappadocia region. Standing erect between the Goreme open air museum and the town of Goreme, one finds this valley of the Super-sized Slongs. If you ‘ve got a good sense of humor and some hiking boots, you too can rummage through the underpants of this Turkish countryside. The site is free (a rarity in Turkey) and is definitely worth a peak. We all know that blue sky make for the most optimal photo, take it in stride if you have a hard gray day and stiff winds.

Cappadocia is a region of exceptional natural wonders, none more so than the giant monuments left by Mother Nature in Love Valley. Situated in the very heart of modern day Turkey this natural wonder sits on a high plateau over a thousand meters in altitude. Rainfall is sparse in this area and the place has hot dry summers and bitterly cold snowy winters. There is little rainfall and so the region is generally arid. In this environment these huge phallic natural structures seems like some sort of ancient homage to male fertility. However, they are far from man-made despite the possible resemblance to man hood.

The closest human habitation is the small town of Göreme. Although you might expect hordes of tourists visiting such a place this is not the case. The Turkish are gregarious but modest people  you do not get group outings to Love Valley to see the ‘willy shaped’ rocks as you might had they occurred in any number of other countries. As such the town is small and friendly with little commercialization as such. What you will find there, however, is a very genuine and relaxed atmosphere and a warm welcome. Although it is unlikely that you will get lost it is considered the right thing to hire a local guide when you head out to see the local geological features.

If you want to see a unique geological site, then this is certainly it  no run of the mill vague shapes here. These structures mean business. And they weren’t made by Mother Nature having a funny five minutes these strange pinnacles are in fact eroded volcanic ash. You need to be pretty healthy to take all of this is as generally people will go for hikes around the valley rather than driving. If you are really not inclined to healthy walking then you are able at some expense to hire a hot air balloon and see the whole site from the skies.

Why it ‘s called the love valley is plainly obvious once you look at the photos below. Please do not adjust your computer screen, objects appear larger than they actually are, those suckers are huge and they are everywhere sprouting out of the earth like phallic mushrooms.

The local people grow apricots and squash for a living and a little from tourism. This is something more than subsistence although the area is still relatively poor in occidental terms. The whole region is rich, however, in thousands of years of continuous human history. It is also the most visually stimulating region of Turkey where the erosion has formed not only these sensuous shapes in the volcanic rock but caves and clefts where people have carved out homes from which they conduct their lives and business. As you can see the structures are not restricted to the ‘Valley of Love’ itself the town itself boast more than a few.

The landscape seems foreign alien almost. You could almost expect Captain James T round a corner followed by a reptilian adversary. One can only imagine Kirk’s knowing reaction to the shapes of these rock formations. Although the landscape looks inhospitable in the extreme the soil is mineral rich. This makes it an ideal place for growing fruit and vegetables which means the whole area of Kapadokya meets a lot of Turkey’s agricultural needs. Turkish wine is on the rise in terms of reputation and Kapadokya has many vineyards and wineries quite a surprise in a Muslim nation.

Ballooning in Love Valley Cappadocia

There is an open air museum which can be visited by walking about a mile outside of the town at the edge of Love Valley. There you are in for something of a surprise seven hundred year old Christian cave paintings. They were produced by monks inside the cave churches that they excavated from solid rock. Altogether it could be said to be one of the world’s more unusual museums.