As our van continued on, we eventually began a steady ascent. Our day had been full of historic and factastic sites, yet we still had not seen what we came for. We were nearing our destination– Nemrut Dağı, or Mount Nemrut. The driver parked the van and we set out. Although we were not trekking the entire 7,000 foot mountain, there was still a ways to climb to reach the summit, and we were now in a race against time. We had lingered over our çay a bit long, and there was no time to spare. We wanted to be at the top for sunset.

Our group then made our way to the other side of the mountain, where we discovered throngs of people just hanging out. There were more heads, and photos were being taken, but mostly people were scattered upon large boulders, just relaxing. We soon realized that everyone was here waiting on the sun to set. I’m not sure if it was the altitude, the mountain air, or the Efes we brought up, but rather than being annoyingly touristy and crowded, this gathering of people atop a mountain in Southeastern Turkey was really lovely. We were all gathered here to witness a glorious sight, and we all knew it. We were gazing out at a view many people in this world never see, hanging out with stone heads that knew where to settle. It was beautiful.