Nemrut Dağ

Perhaps I have a thing for big heads.  I have seen big stone heads in four countries now, on three continents. I have visited many places in Turkey in the last two years (enough to make some of my colleagues ashamed of themselves for not having traveled as much in much more time) and the last place I really wanted to visit was Nemrut Dağ (Nemrut Mountain).  None of my regular tour groups seemed likely to take me there, so I took the matter into my own hands and orgainzed a trip for myself.  I emailed everyone I thought might be interested, set a date and made the plans.  In the end there were three of us who traveled to Nemrut last weekend to see the big heads.

The history of the site is pretty interesting.  There was a megolomaniac for a king in the region and he was trying to legitimize his rule by saying that he was related to the gods.  Since it was a religiously diverse area he had to be related to both Greek and Persian gods, which would make for quite a family reunion if they could ever agree on a date.  You can read more about it here.  I mostly thought they were cool looking.

Nemrut is not easy to get to.  There are three 'close' airports, but all then require a significant drive as well.  We toyed with the idea of taking a tour, but then the timing is out of our hands and I really like the flexibility of driving.  We thought about going from the closest airport, but I have heard that the roads could be bad coming from the north side of the mountain.  In the end we decided to fly into and out of Gaziantep, about a 4.5 hour drive from Nemrut.  The flight times to and from istanbul worked out well and Gaziantep is a neat city to see again.

Lizzy, Erin and I started the adventure by getting a taxi to the airport at 6am on Saturday morning.  Lizzy did amazingly well considering she woke up at 6:04.  At that time of day, traffic is a breeze and we were to the airport, checked in, through security and sitting down to breakfast by 6:40.  The flight was uneventful and I got a long way into "The Silver Linings Playbook" on the plane.

This poor fish looks so sad.

We picked up our rental car after we landed and set up the GPS and headed out.  Our first stop was the moasics museum, which Erin and I had been to before, but it was well worth visiting again and Lizzy hadn't seen it.  We all have muze cards, so it didn't cost anything.  New to me this time was a projector that showed a mosaic at the bottom of a pond with fish in it and leaves on the surface.  It was interactive and if you walked over the projection, the fish and leaves would scatter.  More and more leaves would accumulate if it was left undisturbed for long times.  It was really cool.

It was over cast and drizzly when we landed and when we came out of the museum.  The rain didn't start in earnest until we were in the restaurant.  Erin had some recommendations from last time she was in Gaziantep (3 weeks ago) and lead us to Imam Cagdas restaurant for kebabs  which was was excellent (and had a parking garage attached).     There were other American's in the restaurant including a guy with a San Francisco Giant's cap.  I was tempted to talk with him and eventually got the chance.  He was part of a large tour group who were all sitting at different tables.  There were two couples sitting at a table kitty corner from us who for some reason caught the attention of the upper elementary/middle school age field trip students who came in a few minutes after us (I am pretty sure they followed us from the museum).  The woman in particular (Sandy) was approached over and over again to have her picture taken with the kids.  She was not a particularly interesting looking person. She was medium height, slender, white, early 60s, normal looking American, but all the kids wanted their picture taken with her.  We couldn't figure it out.  She didn't look like any movie star we could think of and none of the others at the table had nearly as much attention.  I would have thought the Asian couple from San Francisco would have been more interesting, and they did get one or two pictures, but nothing like the attention the midwesterners did.  We remarked on this to the couple near by and they had nothing to help explain it, nor did the 'famous' lady when she finally extricated herself from her adoring fans.  We did talk to her and her husband, Alan, for a little to hear about what they were doing and to tell what we were up to.  Alan wanted to know what people in Turkey think about the Syrian situation and we said that we hear more about the Turkish government than what is going on in Syria and so weren't really very helpful.

So much rain, so fast that the roads were flooding.

Leaving the restaurant we wanted to head out to the mountain.  Google maps had said it would take 4.5 hours and we wanted to get there in plenty of time to get to the hotel and then head up to the summit.  At one point while we were eating the rain was so loud, I am sure it must have contained some hail and it was still raining hard when we left.  Driving in the city, this wasn't such a bad thing, but some streets were beginning to flood and we saw people out clearing drains and covering wears that were under overhangs.

We made it out of town with minimal trouble and followed the GPS into the country side.  At one point it suggested that we get off the main road and on to another road suspiciously labeled "road."  This should have been a clue, but so many of the roads in Turkey are poorly labeled, seemingly unnamed and certainly difficult to identify, that we weren't alarmed.  At some point a little later we turned off of "road" and on to "unpaved road" and we were definitely worried by then, but we were so close (as the crow flies) that we pressed on.  The scenery we passed on this route was amazing and beautiful.

The trees seem to grow directly out of the rock, and we couldn't figure out why the top of the rock is black, where underneath it is red/orange.

A lone shade tree in the middle of the wheat field.

 Several times we passed shepherds and their flocks, usually sheep or cows, but always a couple of goats as well.  We waited as they crossed the road or passed us, the shepherd usually waving to us. A couple of times we asked if we were on the right road to Karadut.  They were always happy to help and with a smile confirmed that we were in fact only 10km away.  It was odd that we were always 10km away regardless of how far we had traveled since the last time we were 10km away.

One of the shepherds we met along the way. (Photo credit: Lizzy Washburn)

 The road we were on varied from paved to partially paved (giant chunks of asphalt missing) to gravel to mud.  Parts of it were very nice.

This picture is reminiscent of a picture I took on my very first road trip with Kate to Alaska.

An ancient castle on the rock.  We were behind schedule so didn't try to climb up to it.  

 It was right after this castle that we found Nemrut national park.  The GPS was telling us to go in, but we wanted to go around.  It is unclear from talking to the gate keepers if we can get through the park to Karadut on the other side, but to go in, we would definitely have to pay the 9TL entrance fee.  He explains how we can go around the park, if we just turn left and then left again and he gives us a card for a restaurant that has a mini map on the back.  We thank him and head off again, making the first left at the bottom of the road with the entrance.  We are not sure how far to the second left, but then see a sign (not hand written, but in pretty bad repair) that points left and says Karadut.  Ok, we are feeling good.  That is until we go through a couple of almost abandoned towns and the road starts getting worse.  We are almost nostalgic for the 'unpaved road' that the GPS sent us on, since now we are on no road at all and are breaking new ground as far as the GPS is concerned.  Again we pass shepherds who encourage us to keep going, so we do.  Erin does a fantastic job of keeping us on the road and not sliding down the hill and into oblivion.  At one point she does check that we have our seat belts on and at another point she says we are definitely not coming back this way.  Those turned out to be ironic, since we hadn't gone 10 more minutes before we met this scene:

It is a good thing (for us) that these guys were stuck.  They stopped us from going any farther where we would have encountered:

Notice that half the road has slid down the hill. The town you can see in the middle distance... that's Karadut.  We were so close, we could have walked (as was suggested by the driver of the stuck van.)

We (and by we, I mean Erin) chatted with the guy, whose van was full of children and shoes about our options.  We offered to help them get unstuck (an offer they declined) before we (and again, by we, I mean Erin) turned the car around and we found ourselves on the very patch of road which she never wanted to go on again.  Looking at the GPS we found another way around, we had been paralleling a road marked in yellow (indicating that it was a main road and which I named the yellow brick road as something we really should be following to find the emerald city) and we forced the GPS to take us there and therefore around the mess we were in an to Karadut.  

My room.  Simple, but sufficient 

We went all the way through the village to finally find the Nemrut Keravansery. Where we were met by Hami and shown to our rooms.  I was a little disappointed that we got two rooms with one bed each, when I had asked for double rooms.  Erin and Lizzy were willing to share and  since Karen didn't come, I got my own bed.  We arrived at about 7:15, and were in discussion about wheather it was worth trying to go up to see the sun set, especially since it was so cloudy and there might not be a sun set to see, when Hami told us it was too far and too late.  Just then, as if to taunt us, the mountains behind us light up brilliant red, showing that there was a sunset and it was probably beautiful, but that we were missing it as we stood there.  

The sun set was there, but we were not.

 Hami also suggested that we decide in the morning if we were going to go up for sun rise (leaving the hotel at 4:30) or wait until after breakfast and go up at 8:30, having slept in.  We decided that we would get up at 4;10 and if it was actively raining (as opposed to drizzling or foggy) we not would go.  I realized at this point that we should have paid the 9TL to go in from the other side, to see the sun set and then gotten to the hotel after, but oh well.  Future visitors can benefit from our hindsight.  We went and had a little rest before meeting up again for dinner at 8:30.

I hiked up a little hill just after the sun set to see what I could see and got this picture of the hotel.  

 Dinner was really good.  We started with a tasty lentil soup well spiced with fennel among other things.  We had salad and then the main course, rice and stew if I remember correctly.  We had water to drink and lots of bread.  Hadi was surprised how much bread we ate.  He asked if we wanted fruit or Turkish sweet and we opted for the sweet, it was not knufe, because it didn't have the cheese in the middle nor was it covered in sugar syrup, but it was made from shredded wheat and it was very tasty.  We sat there chatting about the day and our plans and things, when the power goes out.  No body panics, which was nice, we just kind of keep chatting for a few minutes, when Hadi comes in with a candle and after not too long the power comes back on.  The night is very clear and Erin suggests going to look at some stars.  Lizzy goes to the room and Erin and I go a few hundred meters up the road in the car to a wide spot where we can look at the stars without the light pollution from the hotel.  It was gorgeous, but cold and we didn't last very long.

The next morning we are up and out, assessing the situation at 4:10.  It is very foggy, but it isn't raining, so we proceed with the plan, get dressed as warmly as we can and head out.  there are already service buses on the road, so we know we have the timing about right.  It might be a 15 minute drive up the hill to the parking lot where we pay and start climbing.  The path is nice (much nicer than much of the road we were on the day before), wide and paved with large rocks.  At some points it was slippery as the condensation from the air collected on the rocks.  I was slow, but not the slowest and there were plenty of other people there to keep me company up the hill.  The hike might have been 20 minutes and I was not feeling the cold by the time I got to the top.  It remained very foggy and I couldn't see the people or the path more than 10 paces in front of me.  The fog remained with us all the way to the top, so instead of a dramatic sun rise, we got a mysterious mist and the statues seemed to be half hidden.

The heads were likely removed from the bodies deliberately sometime in the past when iconoclasm was heresy, but they have been set up right for the tourist's benefit.  

An artists rendering of what it might have looked like.  

 The folks seated with King Antiochus I (presumably in the middle) are Apollo, Zeus, Fortuna, and Hercules, but I am not sure which one is which.  He was trying to legitimize his throne by claiming heavenly lineage.  The eagle and lion statues were also symbols of power.

 I wish I knew which head was which, but alas, I do not.

We were there, but the sun rise was not.

I braved the extreme cold to get this free breakfast picture.  

 We walked around to the sunset side, where the heads were bigger, but mostly the same.  There were still a lot of people there and annoying chains in the way of taking any really good pictures.  We experimented with some head shots of us, but nothing really worked out and my fingers kept freezing up, so I would have to put them in my pockets for awhile until the feeling came back and I could work the camera again.  After a few minutes there, we went back to the east side, where we had the place to ourselves.  It was possibly even foggier now and we took some fun pictures and then headed down the hill.

The following series would make a great movie, if I knew how to do such a thing.  My mouse scroll button seems to do a pretty good job of jumping from one picture to the next so it is almost like a movie.

We returned down the hill and were invited to have tea in the little tea shop and souvenir shop by the entrance.  I bought some magnets and a replica head, Erin and Lizzy bought magic mugs and we all left happy.  As we return to the hotel we were convinced that the fog was even heavier than on the way up and by the time we got back it was really raining.  We had breakfast and celebrated the fact that we didn't sleep in and go after breakfast as if anything it would have been worse than at the crack of non-existent dawn.

The fog and the road on the way down the hill.

Another shot from our way down the mountain.  We were in a break between two layers of clouds, which made it very dramatic looking.  

After breakfast we had a nap and packed up and left.  We took the yellow brick road all they way to Gaziantep and as expected it took about four hours.  We stopped to buy beverages and to switch drivers.  Lizzy even had a chance to remember how to drive a manual transmission across the gas station parking lot.

At one point on our way, when we are turning from one highway to another, we spot a road side stand with what looks like peach jam in jars (at least that is what it looked like to me, Erin was correct right away saying it was honey.)  We went around the round about an extra time to go back and stop.  Two men come out from a bit of a shelter they had away from the road and engage us in conversation (and by us I mean Erin and Lizzy this time, I was tired and less inclined to engage).  Erin bought a big jar of honey and they insisted on serving us tea, which turned out to be Nescafe I think, but I had already had two cups of tea that day and knew I couldn't have any more caffeine if I had any hope of sleeping that night.  They were very friendly and hospitable and we stayed for 10-15 minutes.  Lizzy ended up buying a jar of honey as well, so it was a good day for the honey men.

I fell asleep in the back just as we got to Gaziantep and apparently missed the being lost and deciding where to go part of the trip, which is fine by me.  I woke up as we were pulling into a car park somewhat near the Gaziantep city museum, having failed to find the lunch place recommended in the guidebook.  We got some money and found a place that looked good.  I had kuru fasule, which was very tasty and easy, since I was still groggy from my nap.  Next we went to the city museum, which accepted muze cards, so we didn't have to pay the 1TL adult admission price.  (It is the principle of the thing.)  The museum was very good.  I wish I had gone there the first time I was in Gaziantep.  There was an audio guide that knew where you were and would give you the audio for the video that was playing on loop in each room.  They had exhibits on the produce of the region, the arts and crafts and the history.  It was very much propaganda, but still very interesting and it made me want to explore the city more.

One of the highlights of the museum was the baklava explanation exhibit. (photo credit: Erin)

shopping in the copper pazaar

After the museum we went shopping.  We had seen a video on the hand made shoe industry and went in search of the vendors.  Places were closing up (it was 4:30 on a Sunday afternoon) but we found two places that sold hand made shoes and both Lizzy and Erin bought some.  Lizzy also bought a couple of copper pitchers (Erin had already bought me one when she was there three weeks ago) and then we stopped for dried apricots, pistachios and baklava.  I don't usually like pistachios  but this is where they are from and they are particularly good.  I have no such issue with baklava, but did I forgot to ask for kuru (dry) baklava and ended up with normal, which is only good.

A copper artist scratching Lizzy's name into her purchase.

The detour signs we were following. (photo credit: Lizzy)

Our last adventure came on the way back to the airport.  We finally navigated the one way streets and traffic aids which keep you from turning left or turning around on major roads to encounter a detour.  The sign specifically said airport on it, so we knew we had to follow (that and the road was totally torn up beyond the sign.)  We turned right onto a side street and then left on to a road parallel to the one we wanted and the signage was very good, so we were ok for a while.  Then there were no more signs and the guy we were following got to his destination and we were lost.  We tried to get back on the main road, but it was too early, so we had to make a crazy point turn and try again further on.  Now the side streets of any old city in Turkey are something best avoided in a car, if you ask me.  They are often just one lane wide, with no sidewalks even, and so if someone is coming the other way (regardless of if it is a two way street) you have to pull way over or back up, or wait your turn to get down the street.  Quite often someone will just park in the middle of the street, maybe to drop something off or pick something up, maybe to have a chat and a cup of tea, who cares that you are blocking the road.  Then there are the pedestrians.  In most cases in Turkey, pedestrians don't have the right of way if you are driving, but think they do if they are walking.  They have no problem walking down the middle of the road, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there is a car waiting to knock them over.  Anyway, we did find the main road again and even found a gas station that was easy to get to.  We were running short on time, so we had a strategy for maximizing our time at the gas station.  As soon as we pulled in (on the wrong side of the pump), we all jumped out and started organizing our stuff.  We had accumulated a fair amount of stuff, but none of it was in the suitcases.  So while they guy was holding the hose up over the trunk of the car to pump the gas, we unloaded everything, sorted out who it belonged to and got it all packed and back in the car.  We had spectators, that is how entertaining this event was, but we got it done and got back on the road in record time.

We pulled into the parking lot to look for the car rental folks just as they called me to find out where we were and with 3 minutes to spare on our estimated return time.  They took the car without a hassle, even though it was very muddy (thank goodness for the hard rain on the way back from Gaziantep to wash some of it away).  We walked into the airport 40 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave, but found we had an extra 10 minutes due to a delay.  It turns out that you can buy baklava (for the same price) in the airport, so we will know that for next time.  We just had time to take turns in the bathroom, catch our breathes and get on the airplane for home.  The return journey was very smooth.  Our bag was waiting on the carousel by the time we got to baggage claim, there was a taxi at the stand willing to take us, and we were home by 10pm.

It may have been the longest two day weekend I have ever had, but the road trip stories generated join the ranks of other epic road trips I have taken, and it is the stories that matter, right?