Nov 24 - I remembered last night that Thanksgiving is today. It is easy to forgot holidays when there is no local observance of it. Fortunately, our hotel has a good heater, unlike in Diyarbakir, as it is about five degrees C cooler here on average. We are in taxi tour today, just a driver and us. Take the road west along the southern shore of Lake Van. Good views of the lake in the morning sun, and the mountain range to the south. At Tatvan, take a small road up the southern slope of Mt. Nemrut.
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Mt. Nemrut is one of four volcanos in Turkiye. They formed in a complex compressive zone where the Arabian Plate clashes with the Eurasian Plate. This collision, occurring in the Eocene, is what closed the Tethys Sea (mentioned in several previous entries). Unlike the other three mountains, the central part of Nemrut collapsed, forming a wide crater about 8 km across. Also unlike the other three, it has erupted in historical times, the last activity being in 1650 CE. The caldera shape is clearly visible in the map shown for today’s route.
This volcano, which first formed about a million years ago, is responsible for the creation of Lake Van. Lava flows from early in its formation blocked a nearby river valley, more or less where the city of Tatvan is today.
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It is really quiet up here, with no other traffic. Apparently in summer it is busy.
On the western side of the crater is Nemrut Lake. It is the second largest lake inside a caldera, the largest being Crater Lake in Oregon, USA.
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Descend the northern rim of the crater. The outer slopes are highly eroded here, undoubtedly because they are composed of recent ash and debris flows. Down through some farms, where, as fitting with the day, we see some turkeys running around. From here north to the town of Ahlat. This is a small place, but famous for the numerous tombs dating from prehistoric times. The town itself dates from perhaps 4000 BCE, being a Hurrian then Urartian settlement.
First visit some cave dwellings, that may originally have been housing, later tombs, and now storage areas for potatoes in the winter (similar to what I’ve seen in Peru).
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Nearby is a large cemetery (Ahlat Selçuklu Mezarliği). This area was used for tombs for millennia, though much of what we see is Seljuk in age. The Seljuks took over this region in the 11th century BCE.
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