The reason for the delay was revealed, the bus had severely broken down! The back end was leaking all manner
Of fuel, Oil and water as a lone mechanic worked tirelessly to fix it. At 3am we finally set off, 3 1/2 hours behind schedule but happy to be on our way to Kahta.
Before I go on a quick point about lonely planets travel information. If your travelling take it only as a loose guide, go to the stations and find out for yourself, you ll often find the buses/trains go far more frequent and to far more destinations than they suggest, and even if they don t go exactly where you want you can usually convince the driver to stop in your town/bus stop if its on the way. I.e the information in lonely planet is crap! The best thing I did on this trip was leave my lonely planet on the train from Kars to Kayseri, since when I have had no problem finding my way round, a liberating experience if you will.
I did spend 20hrs on th train reading it,
So had a rough idea where I wanted to go for the next week or so, but going by word of mouth from fellow travellers and trip advisor for hostels you find lonely planet misses out a lot of great places to visit or stay. It is definitely not written for winter travel, most of the places it tells me are closed due to bad weather are still open and accessible!
That said it is very good as a rough guide to where to go and what to do, just don t use it as gospel truth, seek out for yourself and you shall find much more :)
After discussions in Goreme with the Italian couple, Charlie and a quick phone call to Karadut pansiyon we all made the snap decision Mt Nemrut could be tackled in winter. The pansiyon owner convinced us:
"Of course open, very good, very good weather, come come! "
Many Turks not from Nemrut will tell you;
"No you can t go, it's snowed under." This we got sick of hearing and it made our resolve to go all the more greater!
So bus bound for Kahta we found ourselves. From Kayseri and most big towns in Turkey you can pretty much get long distance buses anywhere. After a not so comfortable sleep we awoke somewhere near Adiyaman to a morning of blue skies and sunshine. Kahta is about half an hour past Adiyaman and the last stop for our long haul bus journey. The town sits close To Nemrut dagi national park and it's the connecting hub for the trusty dolmus transit van local taxis to the surrounding mountain villages. As soon as we disembarked we were greeted by a friendly chap asking where we were going, so saying Karadut he directed us to the other side of the bus station where a line of dolmus mini buses awaited their passengers. After hearing much of Kurdish hospitality I was eager to see if it lived up to its billing, and from the very moment we stepped out into Kahta it surely did!
The dolmus drivers took our bags and when we said Karadut pansiyon, rang the pansiyon owner and organised for him to meet us at the junction on the mountain road nearest to his house. For those of you who don t know, a pansiyon is usually run by a family who take you in and give you a room to sleep in and provide you with breakfast and supper in the family living area.
We had an hour to wait for the dolmus to leave and the friendly collection of drivers were all eager to test their English out on us, out of nowhere one of them appeared With a tray laden with cups of itea/cay for us all to sip as we waited, free of charge. we sat and chatted about all manner of things, joking around as our cups Of cay were constantly refilled. One of the drivers spied Charlie's guitar, grabbed it out of the dolmus and instructed us to play; "you guitar, play, yes yes, very good!"
With that myself and Charlie entertained the dolmus drivers for the next half an hour as they excitedly took turns taking picture s on their phones each taking turns to sit with us hugging and laughing saying;
"Very good, Facebook, very good pictures!"
The dolmus to Karadut finally left Kahta and we found ourselves winding our way up into the mountains and past the sprawling lake to our left that sits on the edge of Nemrut dagi national park, the mountains looming impressively before us as the friendly dolmus driver did his best to take the mountain roads
As quickly as he could.
Karadut sit a mere 6km from the entrance to Mt Nemrut (it's another 6km) to the top from there) a village nestled in a spectacular valley rugged snow capped mountains surround the sleepy Kurdish settlement.
The dolmus pulled up and with a wave from the driver we were told ; "here,
Karadut pansiyon" and with that we disembarked, sure enough within a few seconds the friendly pansiyon owner
Could be seen driving up the road from his house.
"Welcome welcome! He shouted, beautiful today, welcome! Come come to nice pansiyon!"
We were Ushered into a small comfortable room in adjoining building to the house, views were quite something. The sun was out the mountains rising imposingly ever upwards, But we were tired!! As soon as I saw the bed I collapsed thankful I wasn t sleeping in a packed night bus to Kahta anymore! I slept straight through until 4pm.
The Italian couple we met in Goreme were there but just leaving, they said it was well worth it, however, be prepared to get cold and wet!
"The road is snowed over, so it's a 10km walk to the summit through at times 50cm snow! And icy at the top.
A Latvian couple were currently that up the mountain, so we could get more advice From then on their return. Clearly there were still some people crazy enough to tackle Nemrut in the winter.
We said our goodbyes to the Italians and soon met the friendly Latvians, a man mountain of a man, resembling what can only be described as Carl drogo from Game of Thrones! Complete with shaggy hair and beard! His petit wife completed the Game of Thrones esque similarity!
Their experience of climbing was pretty much the same as the Italians, they had the added bonus of mini skis, to make the trek down a bit quicker! Both couples said its a hard trek but well worth it am the hearty meals provided in the home of the pansiyon owner will set you up of the day/eve and then some!
With that at 5pm the Latvian couple myself and Charlie headed to the house of the friendly Kurdish family and our first experience of Kurdish hospitality. We entered The family room, in from try cold to a room heated with the huge wood fire come Cooker contraption in te middle heating the ever present tea, the wife, sons and daughters sat around and some prepared the evening meal.
"Come in, very good very good, lots of nice food for you, sit sit!"
The cushions lay around the room walls and soon a cloth was placed on the floor and out came a huge metal circular tray on it a plethora of food. Salad, rice with chicken, soup, flat bread akin to that of Indian chapattis and a bowl each of the local milk drink fused with spices and peppers. We sat on the floor dipping into each of the different courses on offer, eating until we were stuffed as seconds and thirds came out until we could eat no more.
"Eat eat, very good, tomorrow you hike, no problem eat more!"
Was the cry of the father and pansiyon owner!
We awoke in the morning early to begin our 7hr round trip up and down My Nemrut! First we were treated to a breakfast as hearty and endless as the evening meal the night before! An array of chapatti, rich chilli sauce, cheeses, cucumber, yogurt and cay, the family sitting close by, the friendly kids playing around as we ate, the youngest mustafa was quite the little cheeky rascal!
We finished our breakfast stocked up on water and warm clothes and headed off up the mountain. The morning was perfect! blue skies and sunshine as we started on our trek up the mountain sitting just over 2100m high, eager to see the amazing and incredible ancient tomb and statutes that sit at the very summit!
But now our dolmus is coming to take us to our next destination, A ferry across the man made lake, courtesy of a cheeky dam, then onto Mardin. I shall continue my update when we arrive in the Kurdish town of Mardin nestled on a hillside overlooking the Mesopotamian plains!
....and so I have arrived in Mardin the stunning Kurdish town close to the Syrian border, but, first I must conclude my adventures up Nemrut!
We started out and were randomly joined as luck would have it by a adventurous couple, Michael from Getmany and Lisa from Ukraine, they were staying in a pansiyon down in the village and decided like us to throw caution to the wind and make the trek to the summit. The weather was cold, but, not windy and clear skies were over us, threatening clouds over in the distance did not dissuade us as they seemed to be passing over the area fairly rapidly.
The pansiyon owner gave us a lift to the entrance of the mountain park which is still 7-8km from the summit, there is a road nearly all the way to the top, however, from the point that he dropped us it was all snowed over. For the first couple of kilometres we followed the road, rocky snowy landscapes all around. The road takes a fairly tortuous detour up the mountain in a round about way so we decided to be adventurous, following the steps of the Latvian and Italian couple who had gone previously. Wstomped off the road and started up the mountain as the crow fliies! The terrain was rocky and covered in snow, we could tell by the previous footsteps it must have been soft , as the imprints were some 40cm deep in places, luckily for us it had frozen over and held our weight so walking over it was not such a chore. We were still kitted out in full winter gear supplies of water and dry socks at the ready!
The terrain goes up and down as it rises but there was always enough footholds and rocks to hold onto and pick your way up the hillside through the snow. As we climbed over one such hill, for the first time we saw the summit, way up in the distance, the perfect triangular summit shape is purely man made, an ancient tomb, and it rose majestically into the sky, we were however a gruelling 8km away. We continued off piste, if you will, for the next hr so so, the road winds slowly up and detours massively to the left so it makes sense to cut across land if your on foot, it's a bit steeper, but makes for an adventure and saves time. If the weathers good you can use the summit as a kind of compass, but the pansiyon owner had told us to cut across the rocks as ravines, so whilst trekking through the snow we figured we were on the right track.
Although the clouds were overhead the sun shone through enough to make the stomp up Nemrut quite a hot, sweaty one, at one point I was down to my t shirt and glad for the 3 litres of water I had in my backpack!
It is true to say the trek up the mountain is not so much difficult as just plain old tiring! But every time you walk up a few more hundred metres or so another breathtaking view opens up to the endless panorama of mountains around.
About 3/4 km from the summit the mountainside becomes too steep to scramble up in winter, at times becoming sheer rock face so one has to jump back onto the mountain road as it returns back from its huge loop on the left side. From that point the road follows a pretty straight path for the next km or so. By this time the road was covered by a thick bed of snow, again it was frozen solid so walking on it was not so bad.
The walk was made less tiresome by the interesting conversations had with German Michael and his girlfriend Lisa from The Ukraine, they too had been touring around parts of Turkey which are nearly devoid of tourists in the winter and planned to go onto Mardin, Van and Kars. I gladly gave them my tips for a good stay in wintry Kars and perhaps we shall bump into them in Mardin.
The final 2km from the summit the road tortuously winds again off to the left and around a not so steep hillside so off road we went again scrambling up the snowy hillside to cut out the big detour. It was worth it, as we teached the mini summit Charlie leading the way the summit of Nemrut came ink view again! This time alot closer but still quite a way ahead.
The road follows straight up for another km or so, windswept and devoid of snow, so it's a nice easy stroll as if up a country road, only 1900m odd up in the mountains. With the summit in view we made the final push. At this very moment the clouds came rushing over at a breakneck speed, within seconds we could not see more than 20metres ahead creating an erie feel to the place, the road finished and the last 500m or so to the summit are a steep climb, up, firstly steps and lastly a scramble through the rocks snow and ice. All the while surrounded by thick cloud the summit out of view, only the pathway to guide us.
The pathway dissapeared under the snow and we followed what seemed to be the designated way up the eastern side of the summit, as the clouds parted slightly we could kind of follow the outline of the base of the pyramid tomb which sits atop the summit.
The last ten metres the pathway hit a 20m stretch of icy snow with pretty steep drops of 300metres or so down the side the snow was too frozen to make a good foothold, so a quick scramble and a bit of courage was needed. Sadly I lacked the latter as my fear of heights kicked in :D at 2200oddm up I thought I d done ok, but still my legs went to jelly as I slipped on the ice and stared down at the steep drop to the mountain base through the mist. Damn it! I could hear Charlie and Michael shouting, "We see statutes, get yourselves up here!, but watch out its fairly icy, Don t slip down!!"
Lisa was just behind me and I confessed "I m so sorry my fear of heights has just kicked in!" As I stood there, much swearing and 'why the ....am I such an idiot!" Going on. Bless her and many thanks to her I made it to the summit. I have no shame in saying my machoness went out the window as she coaxed me up the last few metres! My legs had gone , but she wouldn t leave me and forced me up and said hold my hand, look at me, don t look down I inched up the slope :) manliness out the window :) finally getting the courage I said, ok I m good and without looking down scrambled up the last few metres my trusty Ukranian guardian angel following behind! Ah well I made it up, and if you have no fear of heights it really wasn t that bad at all.
The view was still clouded over as we arrived but the statues were almost more impressive standing tall through the misty view before us. Huge imposing statues emblazoned with Greek text on the back towering 5-10m high made from improbably huge stones, all around statue heads 1-2metres big litter the ground around and behind rises this gigantic man made pyramid made from countless tiny little rocks all stacked on one another into a perfect pyramid. The view was breathtaking, especially given that all this was from the 1st Centruy BC!
Then All of a sudden the clouds parted!! And oh my god the views were just stupendous. The clouds in places far below, you could see as far as the eye could see, all manner of mountain range formations, some snow covered, some rugged and others covered in a halo of distant cloud up above. The snowy summit of Nemrut suddenly shone in the midday sun as the blue skies surrounded it, wispy clouds floating above creating the perfect picture! The statutes guarding the pyramid covered in a thick frost shining brightly in the blazing sun and the scattered statues below glimmered in the thick snow that lay all about surveying the mountains of Turkey below as they had been for nearly 2000yrs, quite awe inspiring!
Having the whole place to ourselves added to the experience and for the clouds to part at just the moment we arrived at the summit, perfect! I would recommend coming in the winter it's a bit of a trek as you can t drive up, but you miss all the crowds of people who would spoil the moment! I think anyway :)
We spent as long as we could drinking in the spectacular views of the archeological relics, the mountains below, we
Circled the pyramid to view the statues on the western side too. They too are equally as large and possibly more intricate, or maybe the western side is more sheltered from the elements. With our feet getting cold we made our way down the mountain as the mista came over again, gearing ourselves up for the 12km hike back to the pansiyon.
We followed the road most of the way this time, with our legs tired and the must around going off the beaten track was not so inviting, but as we stumbled upon a particularly smooth hillside a impromptu bit of sledging on plastic bags was in order! .
As we descended further the clouds rolled away to create a perfect sunset walk down the mountain. Karadut in the distance. Charlie getting fed up with the monotonous road marched off road again saying
"The village is that way and it's a lot quicker straight down, follow me"
In the setting sun the scramble down through rocks and snow was perfect! The ground when not rocky is a rich soft red earth so it was not too hard to find ones footing. The hillsides dropped quickly and we soon found ourselves tired and back on the road out of re snow and only 3km from the village! The final part of the walk the setting sun lit up the Rocky Mountain hillside with all shades of red and yellow.
Starting at 9am we had returned successful at 4pm. Not bad. We said our goodbye to the Germans and after another amazing meal the the Kuridsh family's house of BBq chicken with salad drenched in a grape vinegar sauce, bread and yogurt we collapsed in bed!
We awoke this morning ready for the next leg of our journey to the Kuridsh town of Mardin. Which sits picturesquely atop a hillside, lovely winding streets and ottoman building line the himlside, looking down onto the mesopotamian flatlands, just a few km away is Syria. Mardin is where I am writing from this evening.
But that part of my adevnture is a story for the next blog! Ti then folks!
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