After our incredible experiences in Sanliurfa and Harran, we set off on a complicated trip to Mt. Nemrut. Like most of our backpacking adventures, it was a long travel day! We endured four extremely hot bus rides to reach our hotel near the summit. Thankfully, at 2,150 meters above sea level, the intense heat finally let up, and we stopped sweating.
Once we arrived at the hotel, we quickly put our bags in our room and caught a ride to the trail’s starting point. From there, we hiked for a short 30 minutes to the summit. The views from the top of Mt. Nemrut were absolutely stunning, with rocky mountains and river-carved valleys all around. However, the real highlight was the incredible 2,000-year-old statues of Roman Kings on the mountain’s peak, some of Turkey’s most recognizable landmarks.
Many of these giant rock statues are headless due to numerous earthquakes that have knocked their 2-meter-tall heads to the ground. These stone heads now sit at the statues’ feet, gazing out over the valley. As the sun set, these heads glowed a beautiful golden hue, and the intricate features of their carvings became more visible. After admiring the statues, we returned to our hotel and promptly fell asleep, exhausted from an amazing travel day in Turkey.
The next morning, we hit the road again at 6 a.m. As I mentioned before, Turkey is too large to stay in one place for long, especially if you want to see a lot in five weeks. As budget backpackers, we rely on local transportation instead of flying. While flying would get us to our destinations faster, traveling by bus allows us to connect with the local people, which has been one of the highlights of our trip.
The continuous bus rides and early mornings were starting to wear us out, so we knew we couldn’t keep up this pace for much longer. We decided to stop in Diyarbakir to break up the 16-hour journey to Van, located in the far eastern part of Turkey. Other than the old walled city and a few mosques, there wasn’t much to see in Diyarbakir, but we stayed for two nights to rest before the nine-hour bus ride to Van.
One unexpected surprise in Diyarbakir was channel 11. We never thought we would find American adult content in a hotel in an Islamic country, but there it was in Diyarbakir! It was surreal to flip through channels showing soap operas and newscasts featuring women in headscarves, only to stumble upon a naked blonde woman. Turkey is full of surprises.
The next day, we endured a grueling nine-hour bus ride to Van. Our luck with buses wasn’t great, as the air conditioning always seemed to be off, leaving us sweating in the back with no breeze. This certainly contributed to our travel fatigue. But the scenic beauty and friendly locals made the heat and discomfort more bearable.
As we climbed toward Lake Van during the final two hours, the air finally cooled, and we stopped sweating. The bus journeyed through tunnels, along cliff edges, and through lush valleys dotted with rivers and waterfalls. The scenery in Turkey is some of the most breathtaking we’ve ever seen, and Van was no exception. Seeing the massive lake for the first time was a relief, and we would spend the next three days enjoying this beautiful location.