Goreme and Nemrut Dagi

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Our next few days in Turkey have been dominated by some really wonderful bizarre landscapes. Our first stop was Goreme in the Cappadocia region. The town is set among honeycomb cliffs and towering fairy chimneys, strange formations carved out of the rock. People live in these chimneys - just like what you see on the Flintstones!

We hired a guide and headed to Derinkuyu Yeralti Sehri - one of many underground cities in the area. It was fascinating; it was 55m deep, with 7 levels including a monastery at the bottom. The city was from the 12th century BC and there were 400 other such cities in the area that were all connected. This particular city was 1km in diameter and could house 15,000 people. It was used by the locals to hide from troops as they passed through the area. The city was last used during WWI where the locals hid their teenagers from the Ottoman army who were less interested in the age of the troops and more interested in whether they reached the appropriate height in comparison to the rifle. Some of the corridors were so small and narrow that we could not stand up straight. It was really cold in the cave and you could feel the breeze from the ventilation shafts that linked each floor - a modern day air conditioning system.

We then walked through the Ihlara Valley where there were a number of churches carved into the caves. This area was on the trade route with Egypt so there were a number Egyptian influences. After a delicious lunch by the river we headed to Selime Katedrali - Selime Monastery. It is all cut out into the rock face and incorporates a large kitchen, stables and number of churches including a basilica in the middle of the cave. It was really impressive.

Goreme is famous for its fairy chimneys and its open air museum. The Zemi valley was full of these chimneys which have been formed over millions of years by volcanic eruptions and erosion. The Goreme Open Air Museum is a cluster of rock-cut Byzantine churches, chapels and monasteries, complete with frescoes.

Uchisar Castle, a tall volcanic rock riddled with tunnels, is perched above the valley and provided a fabulous 360 degree view of the area. On the way back to Goreme a few of us decided to walk through Pigeon Valley. Unfortunately the tracks were not easily identifiable and we followed a path for quite a while before ending up at the edge of a cliff so we had to back track a little to try and find the right track. Some helpful locals sent us in the right direction after watching us get lost and having a good laugh!

Our next stop was Mt Numrut. The road in this area is usually impassable in winter so we were very lucky to be here as not too much snow had fallen. On the way we went to the Karatus Tumulus. This is an artificial burial mound (35m high) from 36 BC. It contains the female relatives of King Mithridates II from the Commagene Royal Family. There was a great view from the top - over to Mt Numrut and to the Ataturk Dam.

After that we then went to look at the Cendere Bridge which crosses Cabinas River - a magnificent humpback Romand bridge built in the 2nd century AD. It is said that only 93 stones were used each weighing 10 tonne. The bridge was restored in 1997 and is 120m long, 30m high and 7m wide.

Just down from the bridge we stopped to look at Yeni Kale (New Fortress) which is perched on the top of the cliffs. It was once upon a time a palace but all that is left are ruins of the 13th century Mamluk castle.

After crossing Seljuk Bridge we then headed into the Mt Numrut National Park. Our first stop was the ruins at Arsemeia, which was the ancient capital during the 1st century BC.

We then crawled up the windy road that led to Mt Nemrut.

There was plenty of snow, especially on the western slopes. Nemrut Dagi was discovered in 1881 but excavation did not start until 1953. The site was constructed by Antiochus I Epiphanes. He ordered the construction of a combined tomb and temple here and to create a foundation that could never be demolished in order to prove his faith in the gods and he assumed that in doing so his spirit would join that of Zeus-Ahura Mazda in heaven. He believed himself to be the descendant of Apollo so he built a statue of himself, Apollo, Fortuna, Zeus-Ahura Mazda and Hercules flanked by a lion and an eagle. Mt Nemrut is 2150m, with the summit being an artificial mountain peak of rock - originally 75m high, 150m diameter and containing 600,000 tonnes of rock. The summit is now only 55m high because they tried to blow the mound up to discover if the tomb was actually hidden underneath.

The statues on top of Mt Nemrut were 9m high but the heads of the statutes have fallen off and now lie at the base of the statue.

We had a lovely view of the area and we stayed up there for sunset, drank wine, and ate chocolate. Such a fabulous way to end our trip in Turkey. We have one more night in Gaziantep before heading to Syria.

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