Göreme

Cone-shaped rocks fill a valley while hot-air balloons drift overhead.

Balloons turn up again and again: a yellow one drifting through golden light, a crowd of them in a blue sky, a few more far off above the rock cones. On the ground stand pale rock cones, some with door- and window-shaped openings. A white cliff is cut with small windows, and one high view looks down on a town among the cones.

Göreme is in Nevşehir Province, Turkey: ruins, a touch of desert, and open countryside. Spring and autumn suit it best. It is popular with visitors, yet the pace is relaxed enough to take things slowly.