Our long looked forward to trip to Southeastern Turkey took place. We flew out from Ankara on Saturday evening on Anadolu Jet - the "second label" of Turkish Air. It was a quick flight to Batman, an oil center in Southeastern Turkey. The we included the usual gang of Mehmet, Randy and Alice but this time with Justin Allred, a pal from California (and before that, Alabama) who flew in the night before for his first trip to Turkey. Our immediate object was to meet up with Yunus Alp (now living in Gemlik). Yunus is from Batman and his family still lives there. He was visiting this long weekend to attend a cousin's wedding.
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| Before our trip we visited Hamamonu, a historic area of Ankara near Mehmet's home in Kurtulus |
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| The earliest mosque of Ankara in Hamamonu |
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| Inside the mosque - Justin's first mosque! |
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| On the flower lined pretty streets of Hamamonu |
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| The nice central square of Hamamonu |
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| Alice and Justin find a fat cat statue in Hamamonu |
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| The cool mail box embedded in the stone walls of the restaurant in Hamamonu |
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| Efes beer and internet at the Ankara airport - what could be better? |
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| Justin enjoys his first Efes |
We were treated to a mixed kebab that was super good at Yunus's friend's restaurant and then headed for the wedding reception. This was a mixture of Turkish ethnicities - Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic. A live band of traditional instruments and singing played (very loud) through out and included a drummer who would occasionally head out on the dance floor to beat his drum. The dancing was primarily local to the Batman area with a bit of Mardin thrown in. It was a Turkish version of line dancing - where groups formed lines and all did the same moves. Randy, Alice and Justin all took turns on the floor with the energetic and dance happy Alp family. It was a fun and invigorating way to start our trip!
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| Dinner at Batman - we can't wait! | |
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| Yunus is looking sharp for the wedding (and Randy too) |
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| The mixed kebab that included chicken, meat and lahmacun for good measure |
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| Makbule (Yunus's Mom) and Alice at the wedding |
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| Justin and Randy at the Batman wedding |
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| Orhan and Yunus with Orhan's cute son |
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| Three sharp dressed brothers - Orhan, Yunus and Ali Alp - girls eat your heart out! |
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| Dancing the night away, Batman style |
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| Alice tries out her Turkish moves |
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| Let the line dancing begin |
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| Most guests were out on the dance floor |
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| Yunus and his nephew doing what comes naturally when traditional dance music is played |
We met early the next morning (well, 8 AM) to head out. Alice and Mehmet had mapped out an ambitious two days of sights. The group were eight between two cars - the four mentioned above, Yunus and his brothers Orhan (older), Ali (younger) and his father, Nedim. With Mehmet and the elder Alp and two sons in one car, and Yunus at the helm of the other car with Alice, Randy and Justin we set off. First stop was Diyarbakir along the Tigris (!) River. A spectacular Selcuk bridge was the first antiquity we saw in this historic city.
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| On the way to Diyarbakir - not what we expected - so green and fertile |
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| First stop - the Dicle (Turkish for Tigris) bridge built nearly 1000 years ago |
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| Justin with the bridge behind |
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| Alice is happy to be with friends in a new place in Turkey |
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| Mehmet feels the same way (actually Mehmet is always happy) |
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| Ali, Yunus, Alice and Nedim Bey |
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| Alice and Yunus enjoy the bridge as fellow civil engineers |
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| Carving of lions and script on one side of the bridge |
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| Lion detail - how interesting the representation and expression of this beast is |
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| The Alp men |
Then we drove to the city center and viewed a former church set in among the city walls. This is known as Keci Burcu (Goat or Girl Tower- don't ask!) and also Yeni Kapi. Views were great from atop the city walls (Diyarbakir's main claim to fame is its 6 kilometer black basalt city walls which are wonderfully in tact and are the second longest walls after the Great Wall of China on earth). We then went to the Tourist Office where a guide gave us an overview of the walls and antiquities using a scale model of the old city which took a craftsman 18 years to make. We briefly saw the Kervansaray Hotel which is a restored han and now a nice hotel (and vowed to come back to stay there one day) and then went to the Yedi Kardes Kapi, or Seven Brothers Gate. The attraction there are some fine relief carvings of lions and a double headed eagle. These are reached by walking through an unspoilt and quite downscale neighborhood just outside of the walls.
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| Mehmet admires the inside of this former Byzantine church |
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| Randy and Justin in the columned church within the tower walls of Diyarbakir |
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| Detail of columnu fortified with brickwork |
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| Ceiling detail of church (yes, interesting from a civil engineering perspective) |
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| Randy on top of the ramparts of the Diyarbakir city walls |
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| No, this is not Ireland - these are the green fields of Southeastern Turkey |
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| Justin enjoys the tops of the tower |
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| Yunus and Ali do likewise |
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| Yunus looking cool at Diyarbakir |
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| The interesting guide at Diyarbakir explains the city's history to us using this splendid city model |
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| Kervansaray Hotel - we hope to stay there during our next visit to this region |
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| Two playful lions guard the hotel entrance |
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| Inside of the han, now a comfortable and spacious hotel |
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| The neighborhood on the outside of the walls near the Seven Brothers gate |
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| The carvings just above this lower class neighborhood - beautiful but with few to appreciate them - the lower picture shows the true story with the satellite dishes - mixing old and new |
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| Double eagle from the carving |
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| Lion detail from the Yedi Kardes Kapi |
We left Diyarbakir after seeing these highlights and headed for the ferry which would take across a resoviour and on to the Mount Nemrut area. This was the most direct way and we thought the ferry ran every two hours, as published on the internet. The scenery was spectacular and we pulled up to see the ferry, fully loaded, just pulling out. We found out that the ferry simply runs when it gets full (or near full) or as the owner wishes. There were two other cars waiting too and we were told the ferry would be back in about 30 minutes to take us (which proved true). We grabbed lunch (chips and grilled sucuk and cheese sandwiches - tost in the Turkish vernacular) by the lake. Soon, our cars were loaded and we took the 15 minute crossing.
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| On the way to the ferry leading to the Nemrut Dagi area. The rocks are are left from an ancient volcanic eruption (as are the basalt rocks forming the Diyarbakir city walls) |
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| A canyon with the reservoir below |
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| The reservois with the ferry leaving without us |
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| Some happy ducks in the water |
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| Guys washing their car in the reservoir while the ducks watched |
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| Lunch was chips, packaged cookies and cheese and sausage sandwiches. Sitting in the sun by the lake - it was all pretty good |
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| Our luncheon spot |
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| Randy and Mehmet on the ferry |
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| Justin, Alice and Nedim Bey |
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| The weather was great during the crossing |
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| Getting ready to land |
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| Off the ferry and on the way to Nemrut |
We drove to the Nemrut area (which is very secluded) and hit our first stop - the Roman Cendere bridge built in the 2nd century AD. This gem is entirely in tact except for a missing column which was removed in Roman times. The canyon and river next to the bridge were breathtaking. We also had the inevitable tea and Turkish coffee. We briefly stopped at Yeni Kale (the new castle as it was constructed in the 1200's by the Mamluks) and thence to Arsameia, also called Eski Kale. This ancient city was built on a steep hill and the ruins are primarily some reliefs. The main one is King Antiochus I shaking hands with a naked Hercules. The relief is well preserved and both beautiful and comic.
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| Friendly dogs greeted us at the Cendere Koprusu - or Cendere Bridge |
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| This is the spot |
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| View of this marvel of Roman engineering |
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| View from the bridge |
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| Alice likes seeing more of Roman engineering |
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| They were the first civil engineers and maybe the best |
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| One of the three columns still standing - the fourth was destroyed in Roman times by an evil emperor |
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Detail of the column above with the Roman dedication below
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| Justin liked the bridge |
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| Another column |
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| Next stop - the new castle - only 800 years old |
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| Some of the gang with Yeni Kale behind |
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| The impressive ruins of Yeni Kale now undergoing restoration and closed to the public |
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| View from Arsameia |
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| The weathered sign of this ancient city |
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| One of the columns with relief carvings |
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| Orhan and Mehmet ponder the cave at Arsameia |
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| The longest ancient inscription in Turkey is found at Arsameia |
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| King Antiochus I greets Hercules |
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| The inscripted rock with cave below |
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| Steps lead down the royal way under the inscription and near the Hercules relief statue |
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The two thousand year old relief in all of its glory. Below shows the setting of this remarkable treasure just among the rocks on the hillside
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| Alice loved this area |
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| Alice climbed to the relief and chilled out with the King and Hercules for a bit |
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| Soon Yunus joined her |
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| They pose with these two ancient guys |
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| Checking out the body parts |
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| Quite a six pack on Hercules not to mention other notables |
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| Ali and Orhan clown around |
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| View from the statue |
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| Another column with relief and inscription |
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| The writing is still very clear |
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| Sadly, the statue of Apollo is quite weathered |
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| The last column guarding this ancient city |
Then, the drive to Nemrut Dagi. Mount Nemrut is a famous historical sight and was constructed about 2000 years ago by the megalomaniac King Antiochus I. the leader of the Commagene Empire. It serves as his tomb and he placed his statue among those of the gods. What is even more interesting about the site is that the entire top of the mountain is a bunch of small rock and is "artificial"- that is, was brought by people to form the 50 meter high conical summit of the mountain. The road we took was the old "short cut" and parts of it were pretty dreadful but we soon met up with the main road which was in good shape. The weather was cold with sun and clouds (mostly clouds). We arrived at the parking lot near the summit and headed up. This was a fairly steep rock path with some steps that went for some distance to the "terrace." There are two terraces, both with statues - mostly the same but some different - an east and a west terrace. Sadly, snow covered the West terrace and it was not open. In fact, the east terrace, which we could see had only been open a few days. Nemrut is snow covered and closed all winter.
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| On the back road to Nemrut |
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| A village high on the mountain reachable only by dirt road |
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| Nemrut awaits |
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| The rocky hike from the car park to the terrace |
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| Randy on the way up |
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| Mist and rocks abound |
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| The Alp brothers enjoy the climb and views |
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| Alice in a self portrait with the views during a brief clearing of the mist |
The east terrace did not disappoint - the heads are worn but still impressive. The heads are Apollo, Fortuna, Zeus, Hercules, Antiochus himself, a lion and an eagle. The bodies sit above the heads and everything faces the big altar area. There were a number of Turkish and European tourists and, unfortunately, the weather up top was pretty misty so visibility was poor. We could not enjoy the views of the surrounding country while on top (though got glimpses on the hike up). It was also very cold and windy. After paying our respects to the huge statues of Nemrut, we headed down.
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| One of the heads on Nemrut Dagi - I think this is Apollo |
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| The eagle stands guard |
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| The bodies rise in the mist behind the heads |
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| I think this one is Fortuna |
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| I think this one is Zeus |
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| The magnificent lion |
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| War Eagle! |
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| I think this is Hercules |
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| Antiochus I |
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| Alice with this ancient wonder |
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| A lion guards the big stone altar |
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| The Americans - Justin, Alice and Randy |
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| Alice and Yunus achieve Alice's long time goal of seeing Nemrut with Yunus |
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| Another shot |
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| The Alp brothers liked the eagle because the mascot of their team (Besiktas) is one |
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| The heads wait silently |
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| Another view from north to south |
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| From south to north |
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| A close up of the giant bodies - we hope to see the heads on the bodies one day |
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| Sunset from Mount Nemrut |
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| The gang gets in the car for the next stop |
Our last stop in the was Karakus Tumulus, a monument at the tomb area of the royal women of Nemrut. The only intact antiquity remaining is a high column with a statue of an eagle on top. It was impressive but it was already dark when we arrived so we could not get the full effect (and no good pictures).
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| The graves of the royal women of Commagene |
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| The best photo we could get in the dark of this lofty column and giant eagle on top |
We were hungry, cold and tired and Nedim Bey arranged a meal at his old work site at the oil company nearby. We were surprised to be greeted with soup, salad, bread, and mixed kebab (chicken and Adana). The food was tasty and the setting relaxing. Thus fortified we went to our hotel at Adiyaman, a city about 40 kilometers away. Prior to settling in, we stopped by the oil company lojman to visit one of Nedim Bey's colleagues from his working days there. We slept well that night and that was to the good since the next day was also a marathon day of exploring the wonders of Southeastern Turkey.
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| Randy has ayran, his favorite drink |
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| The yummy coleslaw like salad |
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| The mercimek corbasi |
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| Nedim Bey and Ali |
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| Justin and Randy get refueled |
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| The Alps chow down |
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| Ali and Justin relax at the oil lojman in Adiyaman |
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| Orhan, Mehmet and Nedim's friend drink tea where the oil company managers play pool, watch TV and just generally relax |
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| Last photo for today - Alice at Nemrut - a long sought after goal of her's. While half of it was closed, we got sufficient feel and understanding of the place and hope to return one day to get the full effect |
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