Mount Nemrut
From Cappadocia we headed for Mount Nemrut and as we approached the town of Kahta where we planned to stay a man in a car in front of us waved a card out of his window and we then followed him to his campsite at Hotel Kommagene – probably was once the hotel carpark and with individual patches of gravel with some arbour shading, but the showers have hot water and the (rather grimy) sit-on toilets flush – OK for 15TL a night, though the Muezzin is a bit close by.
The guidebook warned us that the owner would indulge in some salesmanship and we were quickly persuaded to buy a 2pm-9pm guided tour of the local sights (including the exceptional Nemrut Dagi massive statues) for 150TL the pair of us – the roads up to the 2000m summit might be a bit too much for the motorhome. Dinner was included in the package after we showed initial hesitancy.
There is another campsite in Kahta that apparently is cleaner and has a swimming pool but also a little more expensive – but we were only staying a night or so and did not bother to investigate further but our Austrian neighbours stayed one night and then moved to Camping Zeus.Obviously more fastidious than us.
The guidebook warned us that the owner would indulge in some salesmanship and we were quickly persuaded to buy a 2pm-9pm guided tour of the local sights (including the exceptional Nemrut Dagi massive statues) for 150TL the pair of us – the roads up to the 2000m summit might be a bit too much for the motorhome. Dinner was included in the package after we showed initial hesitancy.
There is another campsite in Kahta that apparently is cleaner and has a swimming pool but also a little more expensive – but we were only staying a night or so and did not bother to investigate further but our Austrian neighbours stayed one night and then moved to Camping Zeus.Obviously more fastidious than us.
Column at Karakus Tumulus
Mithras stele at Arsameia
Roman Bridge
The Nemrut Dagi tour on Sunday afternoon (just us and the driver) was excellent. We started at the Karakus Tumulus – a 36BC burial mound for Mithradates II with some fancy columns. There used to be more but the Romans nicked some for the very fine Cendere bridge (2nd Century). We then took a quick trip to the ruined 13th Century Mamluk Yeni Kale castle, but we were not allowed in because it is too dangerous so we had a cup of tea instead although Sheila was persuaded to have a Kurdish coffee instead. Then it was across the Seljuk Bridge, into the National Park and a stop at Eskli Kale to look at fine stele showing Mithras (or perhaps Apollo) and Mithridates I and his son Antiochus I. There was also a cave which led down to a temple but it had been barred. After this it was the long haul up, on some very dodgy roads round fearsome hairpin bends (they were even worse on the way down) past the tree line and the snow line to the 2150m summit. And then we still had to take a very steep 600m walk to the very top (donkeys were for hire) where a pre-Roman king had made huge carvings of himself and the Gods, and then (it is thought) got himself buried between the carvings and had 50m of broken stones piled on top. Earthquakes have toppled the carvings but the heads alone are as tall as me. The whole complex is amazing - bizarre and incredibly extravagant.
The walk from carpark to the top
 Sorry, nothing to give you a sense of the size of these heads. |
 They are about 12 ft high |
It is possible to take yourself into the national park, in a car you may try the hair pind bend route but in a motorhome you can get to the car park at the top but probably not a lot else which is why a tour is a useful way to see it all. The entrance fee in 2010 is 6 TL.
The views from the summit were excellent, you could see for miles and also see the extensive irrigation system in this area which has transformed agriculture here.
I think the idea was that we stay up on the mountain to watch the sunset but the cloud came over when we there and although we had been warned of the cold in the strong wind at that altitude it was far colder than we anticipated so we gave sunset a miss and walked back to our minibus and woke our driver up – he had clearly planned on getting a few hours shut-eye while we were up the mountain. The path down is pretty rough so would have been a bit hazardous coming down in the dark.
The views from the summit were excellent, you could see for miles and also see the extensive irrigation system in this area which has transformed agriculture here.
I think the idea was that we stay up on the mountain to watch the sunset but the cloud came over when we there and although we had been warned of the cold in the strong wind at that altitude it was far colder than we anticipated so we gave sunset a miss and walked back to our minibus and woke our driver up – he had clearly planned on getting a few hours shut-eye while we were up the mountain. The path down is pretty rough so would have been a bit hazardous coming down in the dark.
you get a great view from the top
The eastern terrace of Mt Nemrut
Click here for Sanliurfa our first glimpse of a Middle Eastern town
