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Watching the Sun Rise Over the Euphrates River in Mt Nemrut, Turkey
The climb up a treacherous gravel mountain path seems endless in the pre-dawn darkness of Eastern Turkey. The steep hundred-foot drops to the sides are thankfully obscured by the shadows. Panting and exhausted from a four a.m. wakeup call and the early morning workout, the mountaintop is finally visible. A handful of people are already there, peering to the east expectantly. We wait as the sky very, very slowly begins to brighten. The deep black turns to dark blue then periwinkle. More waiting, then a stripe of pink appears on the horizon. The Euphrates River becomes visible below us, twisting beneath the high mountains that still deny us our first glimpse of sun. Finally, the long-awaited flame-red ball peeks over the mountain range, its rays revealing in full light the ancient glory of King Antioch and his tumulus.
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- Jennifer Hattam FYI to the editors, there's a separate entry for "Nemrut Dag," which is just the Turkish way of saying Mount Nemrut. If you're trying to draw a distinction between the mountain itself and the statues on top of it that people come to see, maybe use a different wording?
