Day 31: Nemrut Dagi Milli Park to Nemrut Dagi Krateri

Waking early again as per habit of the past few mornings, and again with a long drive ahead, we were out of the tent prior to sunrise at about 5.15am. As we had camped not too far from the road, and not too far from the township, we figured it would be best if we packed up and moved on quickly also. It was quite a surprise, however, to have a man walking down the road in with suit and tie on, at about 5.30am as we had just finished packing up. 

The GPS was able to find a new route to take us in the direction we needed to go to make it to our planned destination for the night (Nemrut Krateri), avoiding the Google Map error of leading us along walking paths not accessible to vehicles. We decided to delay having breakfast until we reached the unavoidable ferry crossing of Ataturk Dam, figuring that by the lakeside would be a nice place to relax with breakfast whilst waiting for the scheduled service departure. 

Setting off for the first two hours we covered only about 60 km, as we were busily winding up and down the mountainsides in a seemingly endless maze of hairpins atop steep unguarded slopes. It made yesterdays detour road look like a learner driver training ground. Having not expected it to take so long to reach Ataturk Dam, we stopped by the roadside where we had a good view over the valley below for a quick breakfast of bread, tomato and tinned tuna. 

Almost Stelvio-esque

The bonnet served as the breakfast table

With strength regained from breakfast, we continued driving and the twisting and turning roads soon petered out as we descended into broad valleys on approach to Ataturk Dam. Before we reached the dam, we did pass by two noticeable monuments; the Old Khata (somewhat confusingly called the New Fortress) and the Cendere Bridge.

The Old Khata has been proven as the palace of the Commagene kingdom, and apparently inside this castle there are water tanks, a bazaar marketplace, a mosque and a prison. Having taken much longer than expected to get this far, we didn't stop to investigate further - much to the disappointment of a young boy both surprised and eager for tourist business at 8am in the morning. 

The Cendere Bridge (also callused the Severan or Chabinas Bridge), was built by four Commagenean cities in honour of the Roman Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus. The bridge is constructed from 92 stones, each weighing about 10 tonnes. The form of the bridge is as a single arch spanning between two rocks at the narrowest point of the Chabinas Creek. 

At 120m long, and with the arch spanning over 34m, it is the second largest known extant arch bridge constructed by the Romans. It is 7m wide, and is still being used for modern day traffic for vehicles up to a mass of 5 tonnes. Again, having spent longer getting to this point than expected, we did not stop, but viewed the bridge as we drove past on the bridge constructed in modern times for the bulk of the traffic passing through.

Old Khata (New Fortress), palace of the Cammageneans

Cendere Bridge, the second longest Roman extant arch bridge

Contemplating life nearby the Cendere Bridge

Getting closer to the dam, we rejoined a major road that would now take us most of the way toward Nemrut Krateri and eventually the city of Van the following day. Though the road was of good construction, it appeared that there was not much traffic... until we were almost at where the ferry departed from and we passed a rash of vehicles. Arriving at the ferry departure point, it was clear that we had missed the ferry service by about 5 minutes, with the boat slowly departing around a corner in the distance. 

Not to worry... though we had already had some food for breakfast, we were happy to sit down to some hot tea that was eagerly administered to us by a boy aged about 12. He was keen to practice some English, and even keener to make a sale. So, for the next hour we sat drinking tea in the shade of some trees by the lake at this makeshift cafe. With the ferry almost due to return, we had a quick look about at the waters edge where there were plenty of bait sized fish to see, but not much else, before returning to the car in order to board the ferry. 

Without signs or instruction, we acted like sheep and essentially followed the other vehicles onto the ferry. It was a bit of a worry at the start, as in typical local fashion the queue meant almost nothing, and we were a bit worried about missing our place on the relatively small vessel and having to wait for another hour as vehicles that had seemingly arrived 5 minutes previously boarded ahead of us. Not to worry, there was actually plenty of room in the end, and we boarded without issue. It was only as we were unloading at the other end that we were asked to pay for the ferry... a mere 10 Lira.

The ferry wasn't much of a boat, more of a pontoon with vehicle access and a motor, but it did the job. The days of its existence seem limited however, with roadwork and bridge construction clearly visible during the journey that would indicate that  road will bypass the need for the ferry over the Ataturk Dam in the near future.

Our ferry arrives to collect us

Roadworks in progress that will soon bypass the need for the ferry service

First stop: truck delivery to the roadwork site (truck reversing off the ferry)

Remaining vehicles aboard the ferry

Gerle was the only woman on deck

Vehicles waiting to board where we disembarked

For the next few hours we continued westward along an excellent highway at good speed. Initially climbing from the valley that contained the section of Ataturk Dam that we crossed, we were quickly up to high elevation again where the temperature dropped. The rolling countryside at times looked a lot like rural areas of Mongolia, except that in most places the land was being cultivated. 

During this drive I was stopped multiple times at speed traps by the Turkish highway police; I am still unsure where or not I was doing anything wrong. The police were neither friendly nor unfriendly, all wanted to see the my license and were not interested in our passports, but as none spoke English we were sent on our way. I am pretty sure we were well above the speed limit, but couldn't be sure as the speed limits were pretty hard to decipher at times in Turkey (based on deciphering just what type of road one was on).

We stopped at a nondescript village to get fuel, but for the first time in Turkey (and the whole trip), my VISA card wasn't going to work at the cash register. None of the plastic in my wallet would work, despite multiple tries. Without the cash to pay for the fuel, amidst about 20 minutes of illogical attempts at problem solving by the staff, I announced I would leave the car parked here and go and find an ATM to withdraw cash... this didn't seem to register too well with the staff who didn't want to let me go. 

Finally, I was able to explain that I had money, but that it was their system not working. With the car (and Gerle) left as security, I managed to withdraw some cash and return to pay for the fuel. Somehow, after that, I received some Lira and other items (Coke, water, etc.) in change, as well as a manual car wash for only 1 Lira. It was a weird transaction!

After another hour of so, we stopped in another nondescript village to get some lunch. This place was unused to foreigners, and we seemed to be a major attraction (particularly for the local boys and men who were very interested in 'Yapponaise' Gerle). Lunch was good; shashliks, salad and bread... though we were both a bit concerned with the water and general cleanliness provided. Thankfully, no ill affects were felt beyond the lack of normality we were both already experiencing since leaving Istanbul.

Approaching closer to Van, we were soon aware of the military presence here. Perhaps this was as a result of the current (at the time and continuing now) activity in Syria? Anyway, we needed to stop a few times, show our passports and discuss our intentions, but at no time was it a problem for us and we were waved through the checkpoints. 

Almost about to enter the town of Tatvan, we turned off the main road north on a nondescript track without signage that according to Google was the way to the Nemrut Krateri. After an initial mix-up that was quickly sorted out by some excited young boys who were all too glad to receive some small presents for their efforts chasing us through a small village, we found some signage to follow into the crater itself. 

Mt. Nemrut is an extinct (I think) volcano rising from the southwestern shore of Lake Van. The peak of the caldera rim is at about 3050m above sea level, and the lake within at approximately 2250m above sea level. There are actually two lakes; 'Big Lake' and 'Warm Lake', which can reach temperatures of about 60 degrees Celsius indicating continued volcanic activity beneath. The last known eruption occurred in AD 1597. 

We were able to drive into the crater (there are roads going through the crater to destination on the other side of the caldera from Tatvan), and our path crested at about 2600m above sea level. Descending into the caldera, it as surprising to see that there was land under cultivation, livestock grazing and even forests within. The caldera is an elliptical shape of approximate dimensions 7 by 8 kilometres, so did feel like we were descending into a rather large hole.

Bypassing a 'camp ground' that looked more like a 'refugee shelter', we passed by the 'Warm Lake' to the shore of the 'Big Lake'. Here it was only too obvious that it was a popular place for camping, with rubbish strewn everywhere. Not too happy with this, we decided to backtrack and see if we could find somewhere to camp in the grassland atop one of the bluffs overlooking the lake. 

Heading off road, we followed a barely there track through the scrub before coming to the conclusion that it was taking us nowhere good. After a bit of mucking about and almost getting bogged, low range 4WD enabled us to reverse back up the slope which we had travelled down. There was no where to turn around without risking getting seriously stuck in the mud. I guess I had imagined that we would have been walking distance to the lake, but we settled on a great spot that although was quite distant from the lake provided us with panoramic views of the lake and the crater rim above.

Over the 'Big Lake'

The view from the campsite

Good photo, shame about the model.

It was relatively early, about 6pm, when we arrived. Thus, with time on our hands we relaxed and enjoyed the last of the sun which wasn't too hot at this elevation. We had a few beers in the fridge, which went down well at the end of the day, before we opened a bottle (actually two bottles eventually) of the wine that we had purchased in Goreme. This was also quite nice, the Rosé in particular. 

Our campsite

Gerle, by now an expert camper, taking it all in her stride.

Toyota... can get you anywhere.

As it darkened, the temperature dropped considerably. Gerle rugged up and I put on jeans and a fleece, and tending to the barbecue was a pleasure. We had picked up some chicken drumsticks and lamb chops amongst other things at a small supermarket earlier in the day, and with the other remaining food items that we had with us from previous nights camping we were able to cook-up something of a feast with the luxury of time that we had both remaining today and with only short distance to travel the following day.

The Cappadocian Rosé went down well (yes, Gerle is wrapped in a towel for warmth)

Mmm.. lamb chops, chicken drumsticks and mushrooms on the barbecue.

We ate dinner as we cooked it, with the small grill doing well to cater to two by now tipsy and hungry carnivores. We had a  great night as the moon rose above the lake, providing ample lighting without need for torches. Carelessly, we discarded the food scraps in an 'over the shoulder' fashion, not thinking that we would have an issue for disposing of biodegradable waste in such fashion... 

With the barbecue burnt out, all our food eaten and no beer or wine remaining, after a quick trip to the nature toilet we were up and into the tent. The temperature was not cold once away from the gentle yet firm breeze, and we were soon cozied up under the blanket and asleep very quickly.

A few hours later, at about 1.30am, I awoke to the sound of something rummaging through our camping equipment, which we for the first time since Austria figured was safe to leave unpacked and out of the car. It was definitely a rummaging sound, not someone trying to be careful about avoiding noise, so I figured it must be some kind of animal. Maybe a cow, sheep or goat looking for the uncooked vegetables in the food box?

Poking my head outside the tent door, and then turning on the torch, I was a bit unsure of what I could see at first. Was it a dog? Crikey... it was a big dog. Despite being six feet off the ground and inside the tent, there was a little surge of a adrenalin within.

Wait a minute... that's not a dog. It is too squat, with no tail and short nose. Holy mackerel... that is a bear! A god damn bear!!!! Now the adrenalin was pumping. Not wanting to panic Gerle, I didn't tell her anything yet. It seemed like a pretty small bear... but I wasn't about to get out of the tent and shoo it off yet. Kangaroos, OK, bears... not a bloody chance. 

Almost immediately my mind focused on the size of the bear. I'm no expert, but I figured that it wasn't yet the size a fully grown black bear should be. Did that mean that Mama bear was somewhere nearby as well? Now I sure as shit wasn't getting out of the tent until the morning when I could see all around the car and tent. True to the discussion that bears are actually quite timid, simply shining the torch in the eyes of the bear had it moving on out of sight pretty quickly. I could hear it in the distance munching on the discard lamp chop bones, so I wasn't going to pack up camp now. 

In the morning, after a cautious scan about the car before fully descending the ladder, inspection of the campsite revealed that nothing was missing and all that had happened was that the bear had overturned the Esky looking for food and found nothing appetising. Another two good lessons learnt; (i) pack up camp before going to the tent, and (ii) dispose of foodstuffs carefully. I wasn't expecting an encounter with a bear in Turkey, but knew of their existence in countries like Georgia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. There were likely some other scavengers that we would come across best not to invite into our camp also.

If only I had the presence of mind to have taken a photo before the bear sauntered off, the chance encounter would have bee perfect... trust me, it's a true story!