Mindful walk in the Cappadocia valleys

We walk Rose Valley or Love Valley in the late afternoon, when the light turns the tuff pink and the day-trippers have left. The route is about four kilometres on easy, mostly downhill paths, and takes two and a half hours because we stop often.

A walking guide who knows the valleys works with a mindfulness teacher. The guide explains how the rock formed and why people carved churches and pigeon houses into it; the teacher leads short practices along the way: twenty minutes of walking without talking, a breathing exercise at a rock church, a pause to listen to the valley.

The walk ends at a viewpoint above the valley for sunset, with tea and simit, and a minibus waits at the top to take the group back to the hotel.