Blogs from Mount Nemrut , Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East

We finally get a lie in this morning and yay it coincides with me getting a room to myself in a nice hotel. I have another shower, just because I can and luxuriate in my massive, comfortable bed. When we do set off I'm glad to be leaving this odd little town behind. I feel like there's a whole lot we didn't get to know about this place, but that might just be my perceptions. As we carry on our journey we are moving through the mountains still, but as usual with Intrepid they have thought of everything and give us something to take a look at to break up our journey to Kahta. We stop at a waterfall. Some in my group didn't get to see the waterfall near Antalya so this is a first ... read more

Der Tag begann chaotisch, das Navi schickte uns in die verschiedensten Richtungen. Ich endete in einem Tal, die Straße endete auch - es blieb nur eine Möglichkeit, nämlich umkehren. Und dann standen mehrere Polizisten mit Gewehr am Straßenrand, ich fragte sie nach dem Weg, bekam Antwort in fließendem Türkisch, fuhr weiter. 15 Min später holten mich die Männer ein, merkten, dass ich immer noch keine Ahnung hatte, befahlen mir, ihnen zu folgen - was ich mit Begeisterung tat. Jedenfalls solange, bis ich unseren Van auf der entgegenkommenden Seite sah - da wendete ich umgehend und sauste ihm nach. Nach einer wilden Schotterstraße, die ich angeblich gefahren bin "like a demon" waren wir wieder auf einer der bekannten vierspurigen Straßen. Die Hitze war recht unangenehm - bis 32°. Aber dann oben, wo unser Hotel lag (auf dem ... read more

It was a good start to the day, the previous night Ian had given one of his lighters to the Manager at the site (certain colours on it which the Kurd’s have a link to, we have given away a few of these in the past!) and we were offered a free breakfast. Woolly says – I was straight to the buffet table to collect my hard boiled eggs, bread, melon and grapes, I left the salad for someone else. Fed and watered we finished packing up and hit the road. Ollie would need some fuel but we decided to leave it for a bit, that was the first mistake of the day. After trying several petrol stations with each telling us ‘No Benzene’, we carried on for a while but realising that we were heading ... read more

For the past week, I’ve been roaming the ruins of Southeastern Turkey, an area also known as Mesopotamia, or the “Cradle of Civilization.” It’s an area so rich with history that even an abridged version would take pages to summarize. For all my interest in antiquity – and my enjoyment in strolling down its avenues – it’s the people that occupy these ancient cities today that made these sites more than just a page in a book and a dot on the map. If you measure civility by a culture’s propensity to treat others with respect and courtesy then it’s here, in its birthplace, that I have found the most civilized people. The next few entries will be dedicated to these generous souls. From Mustafa in Nemrut to Azad in Dara; Eland in Hasankeyf and Ibrahim ... read more

The next day Mehmet had a trip organised for us to Nemrut Dagi (Mount Nemrut). It turned out to be a 450 km round trip, which was a long day but truely well worht it. Mehmet's car is Air Conditioned so the driving was fine. It was the hiking to and walking around the sites in 38 - 40 deg that got to us. Nemrut Dagi is in Nemrut Dagi National Park and to get there we had to cross the Euphrates River by Ferry Boat. I remembered the Euphrates River from my Sunday School teachers as it was one of the 4 rivers that flowed out of the Garden of Eden. I am not particuarly religious but it made me think as we chugged across the river on the ferry boat, that the countryside around ... read more