Sunday 28th July 2013 - Nemrut, Turkey

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Sun 28th July 2013

Nemrut, Turkey

I was about to leave from Malatya to Erzurum, and the locals keep asking me am I going to Nemrut? I asked one of them how far and how long to reach Nemrut? He said about 40 minutes. I thought 'great, a quick visit' as it was still early. The journey took almost a whole day, driving through some of the most dangerous roads for a tourist. I had to stop the car about 6 times to let it cool a bit because the roads were long, steep with lots of bends. Roads would turn into dirt tracks and sometimes 4 wheel drive had to be used.

By 4 pm, I finally arrived at Nemrut and the rock carvings were just stunning. It was so windy that at times it was difficult to stand upright. I regretted have joked about a pile of rocks high up in the mountains. Nemrut was about 2500m above sea level.

Journey to Nemrut has taught me how to brake effectively for many miles downhill. Luckily, the brakes were fixed days before in Kayseri.

I snapped all the picture I can and left after 30 minutes because, it was near 5pm. I drove down those scary steep roads. Sometimes those steep slopes were so long I had to break it up into parts and rest and calm my nerves a little.

I drove about third of the way back to Malatya and found this campsite at 6pm, so I decided to stop and rest for the day. The campsite had a big Ramazan party for the local people, who were mostly from the farming community nearby. I was asked to join them for dinner. The locals were very friendly and hospitable and I thoroughly enjoyed their company. I felt good to be part of their community and to enjoy a little Turkish culture.

At 9.30 I slept on the roof rack inside my sleeping bag. I did not sleep in a tent because it was very windy and the tent would be blown away or damaged.

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Comments

[Home and Away]

Rather than braking to slow your speed going downhill...
you should shift to a lower gear. That's what we do in the mountains of Colorado. Forgive me if I've told you something you already knew.