The Heads of Mount Nemrut

Mount Nemrut is a 2,000 meter peak in southern Turkey and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our curiosity was peaked by the huge statue heads that lay scattered around the summit encircling what is thought to be a royal tomb dating back to 1 BC.

We were repeatedly told that we needed a 4-wheel-drive to get to the top, mainly by agents trying to sell us a tour, but you don’t. The road is fairly decent, if winding, and we made it up in our dilapidated Ford Fiesta without a problem. Coming down needs your mountain driving skills — it’s a tough ask for the breaks. We pulled over a couple of times to wait for the smoke to stop billowing from them.

At the top the pleasant but blustery circular route took us past all the main attractions. It was impressive to see the huge heads sitting there, a couple of thousand years old. And the view over the Taurus mountains was stunning.