We left Adıyaman after breakfast and headed towards Mt. Nemrut, or Nemrut Dağı in Turkish. It was about a two hour drive through small villages and some windy roads once we entered the park
One of the villages we drove through.
Getting close to the national park.
Park entrance
The drive through the park was very scenic...and again we did not see any cars as we traveled towards the summit.
The roads were very windy and within a few minutes we hit the snow line.
And the snow got thicker.
And thicker.
Eventually, the road was not drivable, and we were told by the ranger that just pulled up that the road was closed. It was still another 2 miles to the top, and the ranger offered to take us to the summit. Since it would have been too difficult for Eliza, I stayed with her at the car, and Nathan and the boys went with the ranger to the top. We were really lucky we arrived when we did!
While they went up, Eliza and I played in the snow and talked to the few people that arrived after us. Only one couple went up by foot, the others decided to turn back.
Setting off for the summit.
The ranger apparently lives at the top of the mountain most of the time, and runs the gift shop and coffee shop. Everything was closed that day, but he let Nathan buy a few things from the shop.
The boys and the ranger.
Benjamin decided he wanted to stay and play in the snow, so he stayed with the ranger while Nathan and Caleb continued to the top.
They had to take this small trail to get to the heads at the summit.
Mt. Nemrut is a 7,001 foot mountain that is famous for the large statues that were constructed on the summit of the mountain by King Antiochus I of Commagene in 62 BC. He constructed statues that are about 30 feet high of himself, two lions, two eagles, and various Greek and Iranian gods. King Antiochus apparently was trying to create and spread his own religion that was a mix of himself, Armenian, Greek, and Persian traditions. The statues were once seated, with the names of each god inscribed on them.
The heads have since them been removed from their bodies and are scattered throughout the site. It is said that the damage to the heads and noses suggests that they were deliberately damaged as a result of iconoclasm, and the statues have not been restored to their original positions.
What an amazing view of the surrounding mountains!
Nathan is a great dad and he always challenges our kids to try their hardest and get out of their comfort zones.
It is amazing to me that people brought these massive stones to the summit and carved these statues by hand in 62 BC!
More spectacular snowy views.
Starting the trek back down the mountain.
This kid (Benjamin), he loves the camera, haha.
Normally this road is drivable up until the last 500m before the summit, and most days of the year it gets a lot of visitors. What an incredible experience to visit Mt. Nemrut under these conditions, and they had it practically all to themselves
It was a great way to spend half the day! Hitting the road again...next stop, Diyarbakır.
After leaving Gazientep, we drove about an hour an a half through the Yavuzeli district to the town of Rumakle, on the Euphrates River.
We arrived mid-morning to this incredible sight.
Rumkale, which means “Roman Castle” in Turkish, is where John the Baptist is said to have lived at one point in his life. The site was also occupied by the Byzantine and Armenians, and in the 12th century, it became the seat of an Armenian bishop, and in the 13th century, Rumkale served as the residence of the Catholics of the Armenian Church. In 1293 it was captured by the Mamluks of Egypt, and it was then called the Muslim Castle. The fortress only accessible by boat, and has been under renovation since 2017.
This was our boat for the tour. We were the only people on the boat, and likely the only people on the river!
Setting out for the tour. It was a chilly and sunny morning. The water looked like glass. For most of the tour, we were the only boat on the river. It was incredible.
The first stop on the tour was the sunken village of Savaşan, which was flooded from the construction of the Birecik dam in 2000. It is only possible to reach Savaşan by boat, either from the Rumkale or the Halfeti side. Approaching the village...the emerging minaret of the sunken mosque is in the foreground.
We got so close you could see the sunken mosque and submerged homes in the village.
Our boat docked at this tea shop. There is a elderly man that lives alone in the village and he runs the shop.
We got off the boat and explored the village for a little while. It had been over 20 years since this village was thriving. When the village was flooded, people moved to other nearby villages.
After exploring, we had tea at the shop with the man who lives in the village.
He was very sweet and quite a hardy man to be living here for so long by himself. In the summer months, he sees plenty of visitors, since this area is very popular for scuba diving to explore the sunken villages. But this day, it was just us:).
This is a very glared photo of what the village looked like before it was flooded. It was so green and lush.
We all love Turkish tea!
Back on the boat, heading up the river.
Along the way, I noticed a bunch of make-shift wooden huts, with what looked like blue tarps as roofs, and I asked the boat driver what it was. He said during the COVID lockdown, rich people from Gazientep built these tents and would come out here on their boats and spend the weekend together, since they didn’t want to be bored and stuck in their homes. We got a kick out of what people did, but hey it sounds pretty nice to spend the weekend alone on the Euphrates River with some friends!
He also told me there was a tunnel built under the river connecting the ‘daughter’s cave’ to the castle. I asked multiple times about there being a tunnel ‘under’ the river and he said yes. That’s when I began questioning my Turkish abilities. Turns out that there is a legendary Euphrates tunnel supposedly built between 2180 and 2160 BC under the river, however the existence has never been confirmed.
Shortly after, we arrived at the town of Halfeti, along the east bank of the river. More than half of the town was flooded by the construction of the Birecik Dam and many people in the town moved to a nearby village, that they call ‘New Halfeti’. Halfeti is a popular tourist location today and people stay at the town in little boutique hotels to get away from the business of the bigger cities. Halfeti is also famous for the only place on earth where black roses grow, but there is also an urban legend that a Muslim and non-Muslim fell in love and since the parents did not approve of the marriage, they jumped into the river and killed themselves and the rose garden that the woman tended turned from red to black.
There were sunken mosques, homes, an Armenian church, and yet plenty of newer looking structures, hotels, and restaurants. It seemed to be closed to tourists for the season because everything looked empty, but then again, we were the only ones on the west side of the river in Rumkale.
Making our way back to Rumkale and enjoying the peaceful river for a while longer. I love the Turkish flag. It flies large and proudly all over the country. The Turkish pride and nationalism is so strong here!
This was one of the the most interesting experiences, to see and travel on the Euphrates River. We pray when the kids get older, they understand what they have seen and been exposed to over the years. Our minds were blown!
This cute cat hanging out in the parking lot wanted to play. It was such an interesting mixture...tabby, calico, and probably some other breeds. I had never seen on like this before!
From Rumkale, we drove about two hours to the town of Kurdish town of Adıyaman, to stay for the night before going to Mt. Nemrut the following day. From this point on, all of the cities we visited were considered Turkish Kurdistan. Up until just a couple of years ago, this area was off-limits for us to visit, so we are so thankful for it to open up and the opportunity to visit.
We drove through many small villages along the way.
We arrived at Adıyaman in the early afternoon and wanted to explore more before going to the hotel, and we discovered that there was the Ancient city of Perre just a few miles away.
We had no idea what was in store for us when visiting this site that we just learned about. Perre, is an ancient town that was one of the four main cities of the kingdom of Commagene, and it was an important place for travelers getting ready to cross over the Taurus mountains. This site was also occupied by the Byzantines, Romans, and several other civilizations. The Romans used the site as a burial ground and there were caves with tombs all over. The kids were so excited to see all the space to climb and play and we ended up staying here for several hours exploring and letting them run and climb all over the rocks.
We pretty much let Caleb and Benjamin loose and they found all kinds of nooks and crannies to climb around in.
Eliza loved exploring with us too.
The caves has 3 tombs inside.
Benjamin pretending to meditate, haha.
Love these 3.
Larger view of the caves. Following this, there was an open area of multiple ongoing excavations. Perre was first discovered during an excavation in 1925, but many of the areas within the site have only been partially excavated (20% or less).
We came across the structure and turned out to be a long narrow pathway down to a well.
We all went all the way down!
Then we explored what was up the hill.
More open areas to run and a nice view of the town of Adıyaman. We were surprised with how green everything was being that is is winter. Guess there’s a reason why it is one of the agricultural centers of the country.
I love hearing the Call to Prayer in places like this, where it echos across the valley.
Eliza was pretending to sing, haha!
At the bottom of the hill, we found more caves and a frozen pond. The kids had fun throwing big rocks into the pond and finally got the ice to crack.
It was an unexpected and fun way to spend the afternoon. We checked into our hotel, ate some food, and called it an early night after an exciting day on the river and exploring the ruins. Next stop, Mt. Nemrut....
