Exhausting climbs to ancient cities

Today, more sights were waiting for us to explore, so we left early - as most days. Our first stop was Arsamaia, in Mount Nemrut National Park. It's located on a hill and we had to cycle up a very steep road to get there. However, it was a super interesting place: an ancient city (over 2200 years old) where you can still see a cave used for food storage, a 156m-long tunnel and the ruins of the houses. It is most known for two reliefs, one of King Antiochos and Herakles shaking hands and one of the Sun God Mithras. We could also see Arsemia castle from here, a castle built on a narrow rock. Plus, the views of the surrounding mountains were stunning.
Next on our route was Cendere Bridge, a Roman bridge dating back to the 3rd century. We stopped here for breakfast and enjoyed the scenery. Many dogs of all ages (including 4 young puppies 😍) joined us and hoped for some snacks.
After some more exhausting kilometres on steep rolling roads, we found a Lahmacun bakery in one of the small villages. The owners were very friendly and told us about the tobacco industry in the area. Most people around Adıyaman work in this field as it's good money. At this time, dried tobacco plants are hanging everywhere - in shops, bakeries, sheds. People are waiting for rain to be able to pack it.
In the North of Adıyaman, we stopped at the ancient city of Pirin. It was excavated just over 10 years ago. The area is huge and you can easily walk around the ruins. Most of the excavated area is the former Necropolis, so you see a lot of graves. It's impressive how well this 2000 year old city is preserved. It was carved into the rocks and during the excavation they basically just took out the dirt.
We then continued to the centre of Adıyaman where many people talked to us. Again, we experienced Kurdish hospitality at its best. Hasan welcomed us in a friend's apartment and took us out for dinner and tea with a couple of friends. Afterwards, we had a short stroll through the shopping centre before going back to the apartment. His friend Hakan is a phd student in music and played some traditional music for us on the instrument called bağlama. Czytaj więcej