27.09.09 Nemrut Dagi

Left Malatya at 8 am, to see Nemrut Dagi. These are stone heads carved by a king on top of a mountain. Well the mountain is 2100 m high, and the road to get there is 98 km of steep winding roads. There are places on this road where the car can only drive in 1st and 2nd gear. The landscape is very dry except in the valleys where there are apricot trees. It is amazing driving up this tricky road with no other car in sight. Jesus, what an experience. Reached the summit after 1½ hours drive. It was so windy up there that Mum and myself could not open the doors on our side, so we decided to sit in the car. Susanne and Daniel went to see the stone heads which were anyway tumbled down by an earthquake. The car was rocking so much because of the wind, that we drove it a bit further down the summit, so we could get out of the car. It was a clear sunny day and what a view. I almost felt that we were at the top of Mount Everest. Drove back again and had to sit behind two car processions which refused to let us overtake. I had great fun overtaking these rows of cars with Mummy and Susanne screaming and Daniel urging me on. Hit the town of Elazig at about 2 pm and checked into a 4 star hotel. This hotel has everything, spa, Turkish bath etc. But no A/C. The only room left was a suite which we checked into. Had great lunch, spend the afternoon having a Turkish bath and massage, which we well deserved and had a lovely dinner. The further east we go the food gets better and cheaper and the people more friendly.
By the way, there was only one masseur for all 4 of us, and since we were in the same room, he did not try any funny tricks, except put soap in my eyes, under the watchful eyes of Mummy and Susanne. We had a sauna, shower, steam bath, shower, massage with sandpaper and soap massage, amazing stuff.

Vi kørte fra Malatya kl 7.45 vi skulle op og se Nemrut Dagi, et af Tyrkiets ”world heritage sites” (Verdensarvslisten). Vi skulle køre 98 km af en snoet bjergvej indtil vi nåede frem til en stormomsust bjergtop i ca. 2100 meters højde, for at se nogle stenstatuer. Statuerne er ca. 2000 år gamle og de store hoveder er faldet af under et jordskælv. Det blæste så meget, at vi næsten ikke kunne åbne bildøren, og bilen gyngede så meget at Michael måtte køre den i læ. Det var et rigtigt flot syn, Daniel og jeg gik op til toppen og så på dem og tog nogle billeder. Farmor og Michael synes det var for blæsende og blev i bilen. Faktisk burde man komme til solopgang eller solnedgang, men det gjorde vi så ikke. Så kørte vi tilbage af den samme snoede og stejle vej til hovedvejen. Vi måtte med gru overhale 2 bryllups korteger, men det gik Det var en rigtig flot tur igennem et meget afvekslende landskab, men overalt er det meget tørt og nogle steder meget øde. Derfra kørte vi til byen Elazig, og fandt et ret godt hotel. Efter frokost var vi alle 4 i tyrkisk bad og fik massage, dejligt, hold op hvor føler man sig træt og godt tilpas bagefter. Vi spiste aftensmad på en restaurant lige overfor hotellet, hvor de bare havde de bedst kebabs og tomat salat.
I det hele taget har Tyrkiet bare de bedste tomater, aldrig har jeg smagt bedre. Jo længere østpå vi kommer, jo bedre er maden og også billigere, så hvad kan det ikke blive til efterhånden.