Goreme, hot air ballooning capital of Turkey

 Goreme, hot air ballooning capital of Turkey 

Goreme in the heart of Cappadocia is the hot ballooning capital of the country. In the early morning there are more than a hundred balloons taking off anf the sky is filled with them. Whilst we were there, we had booked our flights but all the balloons were grounded due to bad weather. It was too cold and too much snow. 

We has several days eaiting for the weathr to improve but to no avail. There are several walking trails around the area which were open but not practical to walk as they were covered with knee deep snow.

We spent a lot of time in bars and restaurants keeping warm, scanning the weather forecasts and looking at the sky for any change in the weather. 

But walking around town, they are a lot of car collectors...

...and many were beetles...

...a pink beetle convertible is not the car to drive on a cold day...

...but someone was bold enough to take one for a spin...

...but there were plenty of other vehicles...

...and another beetle.

Crossing the Mountains

 Crossing the Mountains

It was a cold start and snow lay everywhere as we left Kahta and drove through thr mountains to get to Cappadocia.

A viw of the railway in th bottom of the valley. 

Looking back down the pass. 

There ar dogs everywhere, and every petrol station has its resident stray dogs...

... and despite being feral, they are friendly and don't bark or bite.

But atill lots of snow...

...and bleak at times.

En route to Mount Nemrut

 En route to Mount Nemrut  

We left Mardin at lunchtime so we had time to explore the city in the morning. I wanted to go and see the Kasimiye Madressa, located some way out of the town. It was completed in 1445 and has some ribbed domes and has a reproduction of an elephant clock designed by the 12th centuryMuslim engineer, Al-Jazari. 

I knew it was a long way out of town, so I set off early. I had walked for an hour and a half and still couldn't see any minarets or domes. There were fields, trees and olive groves but nothing on the horizon.  If I walked any further it would be all down hill making the return journey all uphill. And cutting into my time that I could spend in the madressa.

I decided to cut my losses and walk back (uphill) to the hotel in the centre.

We caught taxis out of town to where the truck was parked as it was too large to negotiate the narrow cobbled streets of the old city. 

We drove through the new part of town as we worked our way west towards Kahta. After leaving the town, we drove up to higher ground and there was snow lying on the ground and fog. It made progress slow. It was a boring journey as the windows misted up and there was little to see. Even wiping the windows was of little benefit as the ground was covered with snow and the fog limited visibility. 

In places the fields had been ploughed and rocks removed to sit in neat rows along the edges of the fields or piled up against telegraph poles in the middle of fields. We dropped to cross a bridge over the Euphrates which had been damned by the huge Ataturk Dam. 

By the time we arrived in Kahta, it had stopped snowing or raining but it was still cold. And we had had some bad news. Our local fixer had advised that there had been two metres of snow on Mount Nemrut so access was not possible either for our truck or our second option of a four wheel drive enabled minibus. 

We were offered alternative local tours but it is not the same when hearts had been set on seeing the carved heads at Mount Nemrut.

 

Marden, Turkey

 Marden Turkey  

We had a long day yesterday arriving at the border at 8am. We were through the procedures to leave Iraq by 10am. The rest of the day we spent getting through Turlkish immigration, customs, truck x-rays, searches. We were through by mid fternoon but Marianna took a loy longer and is drk after 7pm when we able to get bck on board nd srive for three hours to Marden. 

                                      

The Marden sign in the town square. 

                                                 

The town has a number of mosques and madrassas. The entrance to the Erkulu mosque.

The door to the nosque.

Another minaret with a municipal donkey. It carries brooms and the dirt swept up by the cleaner. The roads are so narrow and there are so many steps that donkeys are a common site.

They are used to deliver goods and move furniture.

And the buses are small and short to get round the corners.

The main square and a museum in the far distance.

The town has a lot of interesting architecture. 

Entrabce to another mosque...

...minaret...

...and an interestingly carved doorway. 

And another minaret. 

A Chalden church.

    A view of the top of the hill and the remains of the castle. 

Another mosque and minaret along the main thoroughfare. There was no shortage of places to eat, shops selling soap and tourist shops selling speciality foods, trinkets and jewellery. 

A part of the castle on the top of the hill silhoueeted against the sky. 

Entrance to a college...

...the college building. 

There are a lot of steps.

Another old building, now the post office. 

Another minaret with some interesting decoration.

More steps, covered against the elements.

                                       

An arch through part of the city walls with steps leading down to the lower town. 

A view away from the hilltop town to another hill.

This is not what I was expecting when I signed up for the trip. My plan to avoid some the harsher British winter and as I was already trvelling when I booked, I didn't have any cold weather gear so I am making do with my one pair of long trousers and my one long sleeved shirt but I did succumb and bought a pair of gloves.

Another snow scene.

A view of the castle at the top of the hill, now a military base with a NATO radar station. I walked around the base peering through the barbed wire but there is little to see from a disyance and there didn't appear to be a lot of the original stonewalls left standing.

En route I tried the Zinciriye Madrassa. It is an Islamic school complex and mosque dsting from 1385 and it was open when I passed in the morning but closed wen I returned in the afternoon 

The beautifully carved stonework around the door...

...and a view of the ribbed domess.

I thought that I would find time to visit the Sabanci City Museum and despite it claiming to be open according to the internet, it was closed.

Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan near the border with Turkey

 Duhok, Iraqi Kurdistan near the border with Turkey 

I went for a walk around the town.  From a park in the town, I could clearly see the lag painted on a hillside overlooking the town. 

I walked up the valley and across a footbridge across the river, but the outflow was concreted into a narrow channel.

Further up the valley, the outflow from the dam was held in a small reservoir before being siphoned off to be treated for drinking water. 

On the way up to the dam, there were some art installations...such as this concrete sofa...

... and its neighbour....

...both looking up to see some goats who in turn were unaware of the the jaguar storking them. 
Looking across the face of the Duhok Dam. 

Looking cross the reservoir behind the dam, I only saw the height of the dam and the difference between the level of the lake and the outtake of the water for drinking and irrigation and the missed opportunity for using the flow for producing electricity.  

The entrance to the museum of illusitions, a fascinating place of upside down rooms and odd specifics.