tea in a most unusual place

You can always find a çay in Turkey, even in a volcano.

into the volcano

It is easy to ignore the seemingly innocuous hill on the edge of Tatvan, but sometimes wondrous things are disguised as ordinary. This is Nemrut Dağı (not to be confused with the other Nemrut Dağı), a dormant volcano which hides three lakes in its cauldron-like bowl at its summit.



The lake was cerulean, darkening to an intense lapis, and the quiet only broke to the chirping of swallows or the hum of a bee. I lifted up my long skirt and waded into the lake, the cool water reaching my knees, little grey fish darting through my shadow. On the shore, small furry butterflies flashed their best blue.



Pedro's telescope picked up a hitchhiker.