Cappadocia and Mt Nemrut

Tuesday 26 May 2009



Cappadocia is adorned with wildflowers of all descriptions...


We take a very inexpensive tour from Alanya (Bugra Tours) for Euro 55 per head, which includes all expenses (breakfast, dinner, travel, hotels, entrance fees) except lunches, for two nights and 3 days. After researching the idea of using public transport, we find that this is by far the best way to go. There are a lot of tour companies offering this deal from Alanya and Antalya and we discover later on that they are all sponsored by local businesses in Cappadocia so our tour will include visits to their premises.

This really turns out to be a win win situation as we visit the carpet factory and see the silk being spun from the cocoon, and the carpets being woven which we find fascinating. We visit the local pottery and leather production factories and have an opportunity to buy the high quality products afterwards.



Richard has a go at the pottery wheel in the pottery factory.




The stone factory is fascinating where we see high quality Meerschaum pipes being made. We learn that the Meerschaum absorbs 40-45% of the nicotine and is moulded and carved after being soaked in water when it goes soft – almost like cheese. Some of the items on display at these places are very tempting but we do not have the budget for buying and never feel under too much pressure to do so. There always seems to be someone buying from our group so we don’t feel too bad but do enjoy the experience immensely.

The other plus factor with our tour is that we are able to negotiate a break in the middle. We leave our Bugra tour after the second night and join another tour (Nese Tours) travelling from Cappadocia to Mt Nemrut, Sanli Urfa, and Harran, returning via the fascinating city of Gazi Antep (Pippy wants to go back there one day). We join up with the next tour group from Alanya on Sunday morning for our return trip home to our boat.

So, what are our impressions of visiting all of these amazing cities and travelling this far east into Turkey?

Tuesday 26 May

The early start (0500) is a bit of a shock as we stumble out of the marina entrance in the dark with our backpacks. We are the first on the bus so there is a bit of messing around while we meet up with the rest of the tour group – around 10 of us. We will be following the old Silk Road all the way to Cappadocia.

It is mid morning by the time we make our first stop at the Mevlana Museum in Konya, formerly the Rose Garden of the Seljuks Palace. Mevlana is revered as one of the world’s greatest mystic philosophers who died Jan 1231AD. His tomb (Green Tomb) and many other amazing relics (ancient Koran, rare calligraphies of amazing detail, sarcophagi to name a few) are housed in this museum, which also served time as a Dervish Lodge. We see the tiny cells which the Dervish trainees had to spend time in as part of their training, and the boards they practiced their whirling on. The quality and uniqueness of the items we see here leaves us in awe of the ability and spirituality of these ancient people.

We have wound our way over the mountains guarding the Antalya-Alanya coast where swathes of red poppies flourish amongst the pine trees and patches of high up snow. We are now on a vast fertile inland plain and the sameness soon lulls us off to sleep for what seems like a moment. We awake to find ourselves gazing at a vast field of shimmering green wheat bordered on the road-side by a wide mass of vivid blue and yellow wildflowers. Beyond and above this, the small puffy white clouds in the blue blue sky seem to say “look at me… look at me…!” It is all quite mesmerizing except that the colours of the flowers keep changing and it becomes a bit of a challenge to see how many different colours there are.

Our next stop is the Sultanhani – a Caravansarai on the Silk Road about 40 km out of the city of Aksaray. This is the largest Caravansarai on the Silk Road, built by the Seljuks in 1229 and fantastically restored. Our impression is of an incredibly civilised society. The buildings contain kitchens, Turkish baths (separate for men and women), accommodation for animals in the winter, sleeping rooms and living areas and finally a small mosque in the centre of the large inner courtyard.

In the shady courtyard



We learn that caravans were allowed to stay here for 3 days free of charge and that the local villagers were given tax breaks if the caravans were not robbed or raided while in their territory. The first recorded insurance agreements were made in these parts where it was possible to insure the camel or horse against failure during the journey. Caravanserais are located along the Silk Road approx 20-40 km apart and there is a lot of restoration work being carried out on these old sites today.

We walk in awe under the carved arched entrance past the mosque to the huge stables at the rear, which still seem to smell of the animals who have occupied this space over the centuries. Today it is just pigeons, eerie light and a cold stillness, which is somehow wrong. This space should be thronging with noise and activity and the ghosts have obviously not yet departed.


The stables are eerie and huge....

As if this is not enough for one day, we are almost at Cappadocia when we stop to visit the small underground city at Saratli. It is fascinating but quite enough for both of us to go just a small way underground and see how people lived at times when they had to hide themselves away from marauding invaders. The rolling stones, which covered passageways in time of need created the most interest and are reminiscent of an Indiana Jones movie. Apparently some of these cities of which there are several in Cappadocia, are much bigger and go a long way underground.

The landscape has suddenly changed and we are now seeing small pinnacles of rock pointing upwards in the moving scene outside the bus. We stop and take in the view above the town of Goreme. Who could fail to be blown away by this region and group of small towns with their cave homes built into volcanic material deposited more than 8 million years ago?


These structures are truly amazing...and people actually live inside some of them! The small black square in the middle is a window.

Wednesday 27 May

It is a tummy tingling climb during the tour the next day to climb up ladders inside one of the thousands of conical structures where the Turkish cushions and rugs are just right for adding a cosy touch. We visit a cave home and an early Christian church now deserted due to the 1950s earthquake. The frescoes are still clearly discernable despite many obvious mindless attempts to destroy them. We are not allowed to take flash photos as it will destroy the frescoes. Thank goodness they are now respected and protected.

We walk through several valleys and the combination of a huge variety of wildflowers and the honey and red coloured cones and cliffs is a treat we are really happy to be enjoying. We are well rugged up as it is cold in Cappadocia and a bit cloudy today.

A visit to the Leather Showroom provides us with quite a bit of entertainment as our Polish friend Ania really wants a black leather jacket but the price is too high. The bargaining begins and we all take a keen interest, disappointed when Ania gives up and walks out with us towards our waiting bus. However the bargaining begins afresh on the front steps and our guide Mustafa coughs up some loan cash to finalise the deal. Ania has her jacket for an amazingly good price and Mustafa gets a cheer all round!

Thursday 28 May

Our wildflower trail along the Silk Road continues as we say goodbye to the people on our Bugra Tour and start our Nese Tour to Mt Nemrut. Our drive takes us along high flat terrain and the green wheat fields begin to turn golden as we go further west. It is a treat to see golden wheat fields with red poppies sprinkled in amongst the ripening wheat. Mt Erciyes soon raises its snow-covered peak ahead of us glittering against the clear blue skies. We are 8 on this tour, 2 Americans, 1 Canadian, 1 Hong Kong and 2 NZ (us) plus driver Nagir and guide Serkan.

It would be true to say that we pass by every imagineable gorgeous landscape on this section of the journey as we travel eastwards across the high plains and over mountain ranges of this magestic country. It is a long day with frequent stops for breaks, especially at Kahramanmaras which is the home of Mado Ice Cream made from goat’s milk – mmm Richard is in heaven. The texture of the ice cream makes it very sticky and long lasting in the heat, and particularly yummy as you don’t have to rush to eat it before it melts.

Eventually we arrive at the very forgettable hotel in Khata, enjoy a wonderful dinner of typical Turkish food, then pile into bed for the 2.00 am start the next morning. We are to climb to the Peak of Mt Nemrut and watch the sunrise. At least the bed is very comfortable and before we know it someone is banging on the door telling us to get up.

Friday 29 May

There is a bone chilling wind blowing this morning so we take a blanket from the hotel room and put on every layer of clothing we can manage for the 500m climb from the carpark to the tumulus (man made mountain top) concealing the tomb of Antiochos I dating back to the Commagene Kingdom between the 1st century BC and 1st Century AD. The tumulus is made of little sharp sided stones and is about 50m high. Antiochos I had the surrounding area decorated with statues of gods with heads 2m high. These still remain today although the heads have fallen off. This is what we have come to see.

We climb out of the bus in the darkness and the freezing wind whips at us as we climb so it is with a feeling of satisfaction that we reach the top and shelter behind a rock ledge awaiting the sunrise.




Early morning light reflects on the Euphrates River way below us...





Here comes the sun!









Today is to be a full on 20-hour day of touring as after Mt Nemrut, Serkan and Nagir take us on the most wonderful experience.

We go on to visit the site of the frieze of Apollo shaking hands with Antiochus I......






then the mountain top tumulus of Karakus which is the tomb of the princesses commanding a panoramic view of the Euphrates River shining with a turquoise light against the dry landscape the valleys and cliffs below, the ancient Roman Bridge on the Khata River then back to the hotel for breakfast. We visit the Ataturk Dam – 2 kilometres across the top and 800 metres high, harnessing the Euphrates and Tigress Rivers, this is the biggest dam in the Middle East and the 6th largest in the world.

Sanli Urfa near Abraham's Cave



We stop at Sanli Urfa to check into our hotel and for a traditional Turkish lunch of kebabs (also visiting Abraham’s Cave and the sacred pool not to mention the wonderful bazaar), then on to the town of Harran 18 km from the Syrian border and the beehive houses....The women of Harran dress in colourful ornate clothing even when dressing casually....





a nine thousand year old site dating back to Neolithic times (still being excavated), and the ruins of the first University of Islam. We learn that this is where Abraham spent the last years of his life.

We return to Sanli Urfa around 8.30 pm for a late dinner, all thoroughly exhausted, but not too tired to sing our way back in the bus led by Gerry the American who can sing like an angel. Not to be out done our guide Serkan sings us a Turkish folk song which is truly lovely. His accomplished tenor does real justice to the haunting melody of this song. We are happy troopers for sure.

Saturday 30 May

We are up and on the road again by 8.00am. We are travelling to Birecik this morning to see the colony of bald headed Ibis which are an endangered species. On from there to the very interesting city of Gazi Antep. We are lucky to get a tour into the centre of this city because Gerry, Arlene and Linda are leaving us here and Serkan and Nagir insist on dropping them at their hotel. It is a wonderful city of bazaars and interesting winding back streets. This city is also considered to make the best baklava in the whole of Turkey with pistachio nuts rather than walnuts. We have been driving past many plantations of pistachio trees to get here and figure this must also be the pistachio centre of the world!

We are treated to a special CD of music, which Gerry and Arlene are using for a show they have written which will open in Texas in October. The music is all written by a married couple – now passed away – and rights are owned by their two sons. It features a lot of hit songs sung by such artists as the Everley Brothers, and other names we have since mislaid in our boat brains. We spend most of the trip this morning singing along as the eastern Turkish landscape passes by outside. Our guide and driver are very amused… we hope that their smiles are not just out of politeness!

We wave goodbye to our new friends after swapping email addresses. This reduces us to 3 in the back of the bus and the drive back to Cappadocia is all a bit of a blur as we sleep on and off and stop every so often to freshen up.

All good things must come to an end some time... goodbye its been great to meet you!

We are booked in for one night at The Flinstone Cave Hotel at Goreme. We arrive around 6pm to check into our cave room. The weather has improved and it is a clear sunny day. We hastily dump our bags and with Karen from Hong Kong make our way up to the top of the surrounding cliffs to watch a true Cappadocia sunset.

Saturday 31 May

Our night in the cave is an experience we are glad to have done but will not repeat. Richard’s face is puffed up with hay fever and he is very groggy this morning. We meet up with our Bugra Tour Group this morning at Sayan Onyx Stone Factory in Avenos 7km away, only to discover that in the rush to get away Richard has left our precious camera in the hotel room back in Goreme. Pippy must have looked a bit upset because a lovely young man from the Stone Factory staff soon has us in his car racing back to Goreme to collect the camera. We are blown away by their kindness towards us especially when this same young man absolutely refuses to accept a large tip. What a relief to get the camera back. We will never forget you.

Once again the journey back to Alanya Marina is a vague memory of dozing, refreshment stops, reading and wishing we could “be there” already! We arrive back on Matelot around 7pm and open all the hatches. She is like an oven down below. It is suddenly very hot in Alanya.

This last 6 days has been a truly memorable experience.

We must now make our plans of what we will do next….