Cappadocia is a large region with several highlights, most of which are too far apart to visit on foot — especially with snow on the ground. So today I hire a taxi and coordinate visits to a few sightseeing spots.

The first is Love Valley, which derives its name from the erotically-shaped formations dotting the landscape. It starts out innocently enough.

The driver gives me an hour, which is plenty of time to wander the short trail and take photos.

…And this is why it’s called Love Valley:

I trek around the back and glimpse inside these historic dwellings. The charm is slightly ruined by souvenir stands just off to the left of this photo, but we’re deep into the off-season now so only one or two vendors remain.

The blue ‘eye’ is iconic throughout Turkey. This tree is decorated with hundreds of them, all for sale:

Later that afternoon, I hire the same driver to bring me to Rose Valley. I’m told this is an excellent area to view sunset — it’s named after the color of the rocks during magic hour.

Here are a few landscape shots en route to Rose Valley, featuring more of these fairy chimneys found throughout Cappadocia.

More phallic rock figures…

Now we’ve arrived at the sunset view point, and I see that Rose Valley has indeed earned its name.

I visited another unique site today — an underground city that once hosted 20,000 people plus livestock. More on that tomorrow!