|
May,10th – May,18th | East Turkey
Route:
Osmaniye – Gaziantep – Adiyaman – Nemrut Dagi
– Atatürk See – Siverek - Diyarbakir
That we have reached East Turkey we realize not only because of the landscape getting mountainous, the missing of hotel complexes and the frequent mule and carts in the traffic, but also by the increasing interest of the inhabitants for our vehicle and person.
Had there been a lot of people asking us “what´s your name?”, “where do you come from?”, so we now have to give the answers some hundred times at every stop. Unfortunately the english vocabulary of the biggest part of the population is exhausted with this and it rarely comes to a continous talk, for our knowledge of the turkish language is similary limited. So we need a great portion of inner calmness for standing the always similar questions and the continuous observation by the people and staying friendly more over.
For actually we are nothing special, every household has already satellite tv and so knows the western culture. Nevertheless every step gets watched, they knock against the trailer and only a few hours are left for recreation, when nobody is questioning or watching us like an exotic animal in the zoo. And it is not only the children being so curious, also grownups make excursions to the tractor and its inhabitants. It even gets too much for Atreju, to get rid of the onlookers he uses the fear of dogs of the Turks and goes with Happy on the leash to chase away the children.
In Bahce in Osmania we experience a new side of hospitality, although not having a common language, the family of Ahmet took us into their home. He made us happy with the luxury of a warm shower and the washing machine, we made excursions to all beautiful spots of the town and were invited by the grandfather to buy a house in the neighbourhood, so we could stay there forever. The children started immediately to improve our knowledge of the Turk language. Actually we wanted to stop in that sleepy nest only for a tea, but the friendliness of the family let us stay for some days.
Then chance brought us, as we are on our way without a guide, to a tourist attraction, the mountain Nemrut. In Adiyaman we ask for the way to the mountain and got the information, that it was impossible to drive up on our own, we would have to take one of the mini-busses that go up at sunrise and at sunset everyday. But what a bus manages, our Fergy can also managed easily and so it steeply went uphill. The road led us to a wonderful landscape and wasn’t very bumpy, unless the last eight kilometres, but those had it inside.
Inside the trailer I tried to hold on to child, dog, myself, the bathroom door and the most important pieces of equipment. Exhausted completely I arrived on top and we started our race with the sun, that wanted to depart, to be able to photograph the tomb by good light. Steeply we hasted uphill, I carried Atreju, Ewald the cameras. More than a hundred of other people had already gathered on top to do the same. So I decided to visit the tomb again in the quiet of the early morning. It is hard to believe, how much strength, sweat and slavework was necessairy to provide for the immortality of a ruler.
Back in the “flatland”, tired of the long drive, we only wanted to reach the lake “Van” to find a quiet place to relax. But in Diyarbakir doom got hold of us.
top of the page
|
|
