Reminiscence from Anatolia- Part Twenty: Amidst peace and tranquility
These were the lean tourist seasons… no one was present at Nemrut… leaving the entire place to myself… winters are generally very severe in these parts of Turkey… and before reaching Nemrut, I was wondering as to whether I would be able to make it there or not… would Nemrut be snow-bound (In fact a few days after my departure from the place… heavy snow was reported in this area… I was definitely lucky)
The vantages from the summit are commanding… the hill is surrounded by Euphrates from three sides… and at a distance you can see majestic views of Euphrates… the river which harbored, arguably, the oldest civilization in the world… (Yes, the oldest… I discovered its timelessness at a place called Urfa)
I left Nemrut Dagi with a sense of fulfillment of having come here and seen it… one of the most enduring images of Turkey- along with Istanbul and Cappadocia.
It was time to drive down to other sites in the vicinity… apparently, the whole area was a Commagene empire stronghold… and therefore they constructed a number of sites all over the place… the ruins of these places are dotted everywhere in the vicinity.
The drives around the place are simply breath-taking… the vantages, the landscape are surreal… as if you have been transformed in a dream world… hills all around… covered with shiny golden grass… as if they are made up of gold… steep roads… and then a straight road… a strip of tarmac amidst the golden surrounding… for miles and miles… I was blessed to be here.
We reached to a place called Arsameia… which arguably represents the zenith of Commagene kings… a hundred years before the fall of it under King Mithradates… it served as the summer capital of the kingdom… a rock edict facing the Euphrates valley stands today- bearing testimony of the great empire… so does a statue of Mithradates shaking hands with Hercules… and besides a never-ending cave, which goes down and down… some 150 meters… I tried going inside with a small torch, but after 20 meters I started feeling claustrophobic and came back.
A few more steps atop the hills, one can find the ruins of Eski Kale… the old Arsameia fort… the dilapidated ramparts and rubbles indicate that it must have been a great fort… the views are majestic… you can see all around… views of the Euphrates Valley… perhaps that’s why this fort was impregnable… the enemies could had been sighted from miles…
It was time to move… while going back…I met a English guy traveling with her Hong Kong based girl friend… they planned to go to Nemrut in the night and try seeing the Sunrise from there… I wished them good luck…
A couple of minutes of drive ahead is the Yeni Kale… the new castle… probably erected by the Selcuks… a fine work of masonry… this fort is made up of thin bricks, held together by limestone… the works looks majestic… but lies in a dilapidated state… a villager told me… nobody comes here, not even the authorities, to maintain this place… I realized I have started seeing the Kurdish heartland… where there is a deep resentment against the government in Ankara… which is dominated by the Turks.
A little further ahead… is the Roman bridge… constructed in 2 Century AD… this bridge was constructed by Romans after the conquest of Commagene empire… in the honor of their mighty general Septimius Severus… the bridge was constructed over one of the tributaries of Euphrates… Numphaeus… and despite being 2000 year old… is in working condition… (Though heavy vehicles are not allowed on it because of preservation purposes).
I went down the bridge and touched the water of the river… touching water of a river, which has nurtured the oldest civilization of the world… Euphrates and Tigris… and the Mesopotamian Civilization… I had heard stories about Dajlah and Farrat (Euphrates and Tigris) since childhood… I felt sad that when I was in Syria in 2007… I didn’t go to Deir-Ez-Zor… where I could have seen Euphrates… but when I touched the waters of Euphrates… I felt blessed… I could feel a shiver down my spine and a tear drop in my eyes… civilizations are ephemeral… but this river would always communicate stories about those who sat by it… those who relished it… FOREVER.
It was getting darker…I had to move… we drove through the villages of the area… where school kids were returning home… I could see the idyllic life of the villages… many a times... I wondered if I could just stay in these charming vistas a wee bit more… but knew I had to move… tomorrow to Diyarbakir… the headquarters of Kurdish militancy… many had deterred me from going there… they told me that Diyarbakir is a dangerous city… any time… but more so, these days, when Kurdish riots have broke out all over the place.
A day ago, I spoke to Alison Tanik… who runs Nomad Tours in Urfa and adjoining areas… and arranges for village homestays in Kurdish Villages… she offered me to pick me up from Kahta-Diyarbakir Ferry Point (there used to be a bridge on Euphrates, on the road connecting Kahta to Diyarbakir, however, it got destroyed by a flooding and now… people use ferries to cross this stretch of Euphrates)… she told me that I can see Diyarbakir and then in the evening stay at Village... and enjoy the Kurdish hospitality… all for 75 dollars… it sounded nice… Aly agreed to drop me at Ferry point in the morning so that I can take the very first ferry across Euphrates.
I came back to Karadut Pension at around 5 pm… it was already dark… Aly told me that dinner would be ready by 7 and I can take a walk around the village… I was waiting for this hour…
Amidst the prayer calls… small kids saying money money… people winding up their daily chores… and a burbling brook… the walk was heavenly… serene… words were not enough to capture… I looked around, the sun had set… there was an orangish hue to the sky… I started missing my family… I wondered how much my sons would have relished this serenity… how romantic would holding hands of my wife been in these heavenly surrounding.
The vantages from the summit are commanding… the hill is surrounded by Euphrates from three sides… and at a distance you can see majestic views of Euphrates… the river which harbored, arguably, the oldest civilization in the world… (Yes, the oldest… I discovered its timelessness at a place called Urfa)
I left Nemrut Dagi with a sense of fulfillment of having come here and seen it… one of the most enduring images of Turkey- along with Istanbul and Cappadocia.
It was time to drive down to other sites in the vicinity… apparently, the whole area was a Commagene empire stronghold… and therefore they constructed a number of sites all over the place… the ruins of these places are dotted everywhere in the vicinity.
The drives around the place are simply breath-taking… the vantages, the landscape are surreal… as if you have been transformed in a dream world… hills all around… covered with shiny golden grass… as if they are made up of gold… steep roads… and then a straight road… a strip of tarmac amidst the golden surrounding… for miles and miles… I was blessed to be here.
We reached to a place called Arsameia… which arguably represents the zenith of Commagene kings… a hundred years before the fall of it under King Mithradates… it served as the summer capital of the kingdom… a rock edict facing the Euphrates valley stands today- bearing testimony of the great empire… so does a statue of Mithradates shaking hands with Hercules… and besides a never-ending cave, which goes down and down… some 150 meters… I tried going inside with a small torch, but after 20 meters I started feeling claustrophobic and came back.
A few more steps atop the hills, one can find the ruins of Eski Kale… the old Arsameia fort… the dilapidated ramparts and rubbles indicate that it must have been a great fort… the views are majestic… you can see all around… views of the Euphrates Valley… perhaps that’s why this fort was impregnable… the enemies could had been sighted from miles…
It was time to move… while going back…I met a English guy traveling with her Hong Kong based girl friend… they planned to go to Nemrut in the night and try seeing the Sunrise from there… I wished them good luck…
A couple of minutes of drive ahead is the Yeni Kale… the new castle… probably erected by the Selcuks… a fine work of masonry… this fort is made up of thin bricks, held together by limestone… the works looks majestic… but lies in a dilapidated state… a villager told me… nobody comes here, not even the authorities, to maintain this place… I realized I have started seeing the Kurdish heartland… where there is a deep resentment against the government in Ankara… which is dominated by the Turks.
A little further ahead… is the Roman bridge… constructed in 2 Century AD… this bridge was constructed by Romans after the conquest of Commagene empire… in the honor of their mighty general Septimius Severus… the bridge was constructed over one of the tributaries of Euphrates… Numphaeus… and despite being 2000 year old… is in working condition… (Though heavy vehicles are not allowed on it because of preservation purposes).
I went down the bridge and touched the water of the river… touching water of a river, which has nurtured the oldest civilization of the world… Euphrates and Tigris… and the Mesopotamian Civilization… I had heard stories about Dajlah and Farrat (Euphrates and Tigris) since childhood… I felt sad that when I was in Syria in 2007… I didn’t go to Deir-Ez-Zor… where I could have seen Euphrates… but when I touched the waters of Euphrates… I felt blessed… I could feel a shiver down my spine and a tear drop in my eyes… civilizations are ephemeral… but this river would always communicate stories about those who sat by it… those who relished it… FOREVER.
It was getting darker…I had to move… we drove through the villages of the area… where school kids were returning home… I could see the idyllic life of the villages… many a times... I wondered if I could just stay in these charming vistas a wee bit more… but knew I had to move… tomorrow to Diyarbakir… the headquarters of Kurdish militancy… many had deterred me from going there… they told me that Diyarbakir is a dangerous city… any time… but more so, these days, when Kurdish riots have broke out all over the place.
A day ago, I spoke to Alison Tanik… who runs Nomad Tours in Urfa and adjoining areas… and arranges for village homestays in Kurdish Villages… she offered me to pick me up from Kahta-Diyarbakir Ferry Point (there used to be a bridge on Euphrates, on the road connecting Kahta to Diyarbakir, however, it got destroyed by a flooding and now… people use ferries to cross this stretch of Euphrates)… she told me that I can see Diyarbakir and then in the evening stay at Village... and enjoy the Kurdish hospitality… all for 75 dollars… it sounded nice… Aly agreed to drop me at Ferry point in the morning so that I can take the very first ferry across Euphrates.
I came back to Karadut Pension at around 5 pm… it was already dark… Aly told me that dinner would be ready by 7 and I can take a walk around the village… I was waiting for this hour…
Amidst the prayer calls… small kids saying money money… people winding up their daily chores… and a burbling brook… the walk was heavenly… serene… words were not enough to capture… I looked around, the sun had set… there was an orangish hue to the sky… I started missing my family… I wondered how much my sons would have relished this serenity… how romantic would holding hands of my wife been in these heavenly surrounding.
3 comments:
With your experience of homestay in the Kurdish village, do you think such a concept can be replicated in off-beat places in India...?
I guess it could be... but the problems are aplenty...
We Indians do not take Tourism as a serious activity... it is not about only having places to visit but also requisite infrastructure....
I dunno how such an arrangement would work in India... I guess some people are doing it in Uttaranchal etc... but we still have to go a long long way
I plan to start as a pilot and may be then replicate
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