I don't want to bore you - but I'm having the time of my life here in Turkey at he moment. Just thought I'd post today's snippets as they might be of use/interest..
I'm staying at the infamous Komagene Hotel, which seems to have turned around, due to former bad reports on TT. Got a night's stay for 30 Lira, plus sunrise tour for 70; (without bargaining); seems a good deal.
Sunday morning, but already it feels like mid-afternoon. I have been up since 3.30am, ready for my Nemrut tour starting at 4.00am. You’re advised to dress warmly for this, and they weren’t kidding. Many people up there had swathed themselves in blankets from head to toe.. I felt quite warm enough in my thermal vest, tights and socks, topped by a mid-season jumper and one of my wraps – but wished I’d taken gloves as well after half an hour on the summit.
There’s only one thing worse than driving up a mountain in the dark, and that’s climbing up it in the dark. That’s what we had to do for the last 400 metres. It sounds easy when you say it fast – just over a quarter of a mile. But that’s not taking into account only five hours’ sleep, no early morning coffee and uneven paving and shingle to transverse. I remembered climbing Gebel Musa – Mount Sinai – in the dark some seven or eight years ago and swearing blind I’d never do it again. But unless I got to the top my trip was in vain so I struggled on – ever upwards. Oh dear!
But at last I got there, as the light was coming in. It only took me half an hour . They say 15-20 minutes but that’s for a fit person, not li’l ol’ cig-smoking me. “I really must give up” I told myself as I sat down and lit up half way up the track.
The heads on the mountain terrace were interesting and the view slowly making itself seen in the early morning light stupendous, but what was most fascinating was the people. There must have been more than a hundred – from so many countries, including a large Turkish contingency. I saw Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Iranians, French … so many. – all taking photographs of each other and chattering excitedly. One young man had brought a daf (Iranian frame drum) to welcome in the sunrise like some ancient pagan ritual.
Then someone shouted “Sunrise!” and the whole horde headed for the eastern platform, cameras on’go’. I contented myself with photographing the photographers, and should have some nice silhouetted shots to show when I get home.
Did I say there was only one thing worse …? There’s something even worse than that: walking down a mountainside. My lungs were working overtime when I reached the top, but my knees were jelly by the time I’d got back down again. The strain of not slipping as well as the downward path is both mentally and physically exhausting. I had just enough energy left to climb the steps to the café and get my caffeine fix.
Still, it’s all good practice for Petra, which I am determined to conquer. Hopefully, by then I’ll be just a little bit thinner.
Then it was back to the minibus for the next stop – and yet another climb, but gentler this time, along a dirt track – to see some old city ruins and an amazing bas-relief of King Antiochus shaking hands with Heracles (the latter stark naked). I’m not much of a ‘me in every picture’ sort of person, but couldn’t resist the temptation to have my photograph taken with this one.
As always, it’s the unexpected little things that make a trip memorable. The tour bus I was in was full of Turks and our driver began reciting Turkish poetry. I didn’t understand a word, but ii sounded marvellous. Then they all began to sing – folk songs, from the sound of it – and we merrily traversed the mountains’ hair-raising beds like a choristers’ Sunday outing.
We passed amazing landscapes, shining in the morning sun, the River Euphrates glistening far below and little mountainside villages complete with old Turkish men in baggy trousers, goats, cows, sheep. It was an amazing ride back and a glimpse into old Turkey that wouldn’t have been possible on any other route. It was great to be back safely at my hotel, but I wouldn’t have missed this for anything. The tour was to Nemrut, the other was free: some things are just too precious to be bought and sold
