Gerga

Sunday, we got up when it was still dark for a trip with Zirve Dağçılık to Gerga.  We made it to the meeting place in time for a glass of tea before the bus left.  Then it was a two hour drive to the last half an hour up a narrow winding road south of Çine.  We got out of the bus to admire a Roman Bridge.  Then we walked to Gerga, about a two hour walk along unmarked trails, not all easy walking, some was quite challenging (steep and slippery rocky bits) but not so challenging that it detracted from enjoyment of the landscape.

Gerga itself is impressive.  There has been some work there, but it’s not in the slightest bit restored.  It’s spread between a series of fields separated by stone walls.  Two massive monolith-type structures, several smaller structures, a few inscriptions (most of which say Gerga or Gergas in Greek script) and a couple of stone lions, so worn away that you can hardly tell they are lions.  Ashley spotted they were lions before the guide pointed them out to us.

We got a talk about the history of the place and some of the attached mythology.  In Turkish, of course, though Hilary did understand most of it.  The guide spoke good English and told us the same stuff in English a bit later.  There is not a lot known about Gerga, it appears to have been fairly small, referred to as a village at one point.

Below Gerga there is a dam, it’s made a big reservoir.  We understand there is more old stuff beneath the water.  The views were good, the dark clouds and rain over the reservoir were particularly impressive., We were actually quite lucky with the weather, rainbows and intermittent showers when we were walking, torrential rain at times when we were on the bus.

On the way home we stopped to sample the famous Çine köfte which were delicious.