Crossing into the Middle East

The entry to the caravansary
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I signed up for a 3 day tour going east out of Goreme.  I was picked up at my hotel at 8:30 and pretty soon we had another American, 3 Canadians, 1 Aussie and a Brit as our tour group.  Our driver was Genghis and our Guide was a Kurdish fellow named Serifetin or Sheriff as we called him.

The main target of this adventure was the ruins at Nemrut Dagi.  These are the famous heads one of which is on the cover of the Turkey addition of the Lonely Planet.

Our first stop was a caravansary built by the Seljurks who formalized the rest stops for camel caravans across Anatolia over a thousand years ago.  They built these places for protection of trade from bandits so they appear as fortresses with large interior stables which have impressive archways and facilities for humans including Hammams and mosques.

A countryside shot at a rest stop
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The countryside here is deep rich spring green with snow-capped mountains, valleys and lots of land under cultivation.  As we moved east the land gets drier and the crops change from potatoes to wheat.  From rushing streams and trees to shrublands and dusty towns.

Our next stop is Khamman- Oh hell, I didn't write it down anyway it is famous for it's ice cream which is particularly thick.  I sat with Carmel our Brit lady who just happened to be eating some carmel ice cream.

Pretty much wherever we went people like Mehmet, the gas station attendant here would come up to chat.
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We got to our hotel in a town close to Nemrut Dagi at 8pm.  The girls, Carolyn from Canada and Liz from Melbourne by way of London roomed together.  Michel and his uncle Denys had a room and Carmel had a single.  That left me with Al the irrascible character of our septet who insisted on his own room.  Fine by me I got my own room by default.  We had a 3am wake up to drive one hour and then climb to the top of the mount where the tumulus of the king of Areimia this odd quixotic kingdom on the edge between Rome and Persia managed to make a fortune for a small period of time charging passage through their lands for travelers and traders.

Apollo and Teegar at Nemrut Dagi
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Antiochus something or other (as you can tell by now I did not memorize the basic facts before typing) who inherited the kingdom with a flair for meglomania decided his ancestry was from Alexander the Great and Darius of Persia so he combined the Gods of both East and West into a synthesis represented by the statues he had erected here at his burial site.  On the west and on the east Antiochus created the same set of statues.

Even on this damp and cloudy morning the site of his tumulus and temple to his new religion make a dramatic vision.  There were a number of older folks stumbling up the short slippery climb this am.  Teetering around in the snow patches and drinking tea from their thermoses and vying for the best shot of the statues we wondered what it must be like in summer when hundreds make the pilgrimage in the early hours.

Heads below bodies above
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After taking in East and West we drove down the mountain and on to the site of his father's burial site.  Samos was his name and there is a big hole in the ground that looks like one of those barium xray intestine pictures.  Over the cave in ancient Greek still very clearly visible is a large inscription to his deeds.  Above that is a beautiful frieze of the King shaking hands with Herakles showing his equality to the gods.

Before we got here though the weather started breaking up into sun patches and crossing a particularly scenic view Liz asked if we could stop and take pictures.  Well, once released from the van Liz and Carolyn started sprinting down the winding roadway.  Michel had started off also.  Pretty soon all of us including Sheriff were running, walking, jogging down and stopping for photos along the way.  It felt very good to be out in the air and being in such fun company.

Denys giving Sheriff his full attention as Sheriff educates us on the wonders of Nemrut Dagi
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We saw so much this day and I need to eat now so I will continue this on the next entry......