A more detailed version of my article published in Hürriyet Seyahat
Previous I think I am the newest in this fairy tale, which started as a result of visiting İshakpaşa Palace and taking a taxi there during my trip to Kars.. We will go to Nakhchivan and climb Mount Khacha. We will be the first Turks to climb Mount Khacha. To Mount Hacha, which has never been climbed by other nationalities before.
- Click to read my adventure in Kars.
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How Did I Reach Iğdır?
Pırıl I arrive at the airport at noon on a bright sunny day, but the mishap starts at Atatürk airport and the flight is cancelled.. Iğdır is under fog. Even if the offer of the authorities to take the plane to Kars at least makes one say, it also brings up the question of how I will go to Iğdır after that time of the evening.
When I witness one of the passengers speaking, I ask if I can go with them.. If the answer I received was not yes, my job would have been really difficult, but I had made up my mind to go to that Iğdır, even on foot. We managed to come from different cities and meet at a hotel in Iğdır, despite all the weather conditions and all the difficulties.. It’s an unknown for me, a black hole.
How did we get to Nakhchivan?
Getting up early in the morning and getting our visas done first We go to the consulate in Iğdır. When our passport procedures are completed in a short time, we set off immediately.. You give two photos and passport, half an hour later you get your visa. We did not pay a visa fee.
We were supposed to get this visa the day before, but it was late in the morning because we could not reach Iğdır.. So we’re in a hurry. When I see that the officer is slow at the consulate, I jokingly hit the man’s arm with my glove.. I say, “We’re in a hurry, we need to climb the mountain urgently”. The man is laughing.
As I learned later, the man who laughed was the consul.. I hit the consul. Of course I’m sending other friends to get the passport. Dilucu border gate is not far from Iğdır. I cross the border with people I don’t know in a minibus that we get on together.
Many transactions and passport control many times and we are in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. It is a very pleasant memory for me to meet the Azerbaijani language that we always hear through songs.
In the evening Nakhchivan Turkish Consul Nihat Erşen is hosting a dinner for us. We are honored, we are proud. We are very well received, pleasant conversations warm our hearts.
How did we reach Haça Mountain?
The climbers sleep early. ‘Cause we’re getting up at 5 in the morning. Nakhchivan is one hour ahead of us. We get up at five in the morning and we are on our way after breakfast prepared for us. We are on a dark journey. I’m going without knowing what kind of unknown I’m going, not knowing where to walk in this dark. I entrusted myself to people I have never met.
When the morning dawns, Hacha Mountain appears in all its majesty from afar.. Everywhere is a shadow, but just as the sun hit the cross, it shines brightly.. We are the first Turkish mountaineers to climb the Cross and I am not even a mountaineer.. This is my tale, I’m climbing the mountain, that’s all. I am trying. Neither my clothes, nor my mood, nor my attitude is a mountaineer.
Our journey, which starts from
Welsh Village, will end at the summit.. There are 17 students and 20 teachers in the village.. 50 manat pension. 1 manat is 2 liras.
We were going to go out on our own at first, but Kerim brother from Gal village fell in front of us and what a good thing he did.. I don’t know how he climbed with a normal shoe against the full-fledged mountaineer shoes on our feet, how he didn’t say no, how he never stopped breathing.
We started walking with the first light of the morning.. We climbed down, we climbed up from the floating stones when you stepped on what they call a scree.
Most of the time I crawled out. There were times when I was holding on to rocks like walls with my hands.. Climbers are serious, nervous, aggressive. They go to an unknown. Our climb took 7.5 hours, but what a climb.
We live on February 26th. We are on our way to show that we do not forget the massacre of innocent souls in Khojaly’, not to forget, not to make them forget. Technically speaking, this was a very difficult climb. At the end of 7.5 hours we are at the top. It’s a first for me.
Curious about how to climb that rocky mountain like a wall, I won the battle with myself and I’m watching Mount Ararat on the summit.. We are at 2426 meters. In fact, the name of Haça is Ilandag.
According to the rumor, the bottom of the ship first passed under the water by rubbing against a rock. Hz. Noah said “what a heavy mountain”. The name of the mountain remained Ağırdağ (Ağrı Mountain).
After that, it was also on a split rock. Noah said to those with him, “Believe it, it is a mountain”. First it was called Inandagi, then it became Announcement. Such is the legend and I am in the middle of this legend.
Hacha Mountain Peak
The peak is high, the summit is lonely and proud. Our flag, the victory of determination to succeed in the Khojaly massacre with our banners are mingling with each other.. We made it and everyone will hear our voices. When I go up, I face the fact that I say “how can I get out of here” when I try to silence it, but it is easier than climbing up.
A day that starts at dawn and ends at nightfall after a descent of 4 hours.. I don’t remember ever being this tired. On the last straight my legs carry me so hard. Everyone is fine, everyone is getting into the vehicles with the happiness of success.
For the first time in history, Turkish mountaineers climbed the Cross and I was there. Along with them, I also achieved this. Even though no one believed I had climbed before, it was a first for me.. Normally, I couldn’t go out, I had to vomit.
We leave the hotel in the morning to visit Nakhchivan. Azerbaijan TV made news about us, we even appeared on the main news.. We were covered in 50 different places in Turkey.. In short, “WE SUCCEED“
Ashab-i Kefh Seven Sleepers Cave
Our first stop is Ashab-i Kefh Seven Sleepers Cave. This is a natural cave in the city of Julfa and an hour away from Nakhchivan. It is said to receive a lot of tourists from Turkey and Iran.
This is the place where Nakhchivan receives the most tourists in terms of faith tourism.. This place, which is mentioned in the Qur’an, is an important visitation site in terms of religion.
I saw an old aunt.. People who cry in a small cave at the entrance, pray, touch the stones and get off their shoes with socks on their return.. Snow and ice everywhere.
This is a sacred place, the mountains and stones are so majestic.. There are places to make wishes. Giant rocks are so majestic that they do not fit in the frames. The weather is foggy and very cold already.. There are many steps. You reach the hills and caves by climbing the climb.
The Tomb of the Prophet Noah
Then we go to the Nakhchivan Castle, that is, Old Kala. Old Kala’ is thought to be the most annexed fortress in Nakhchivan. NUH Prophet’s Tomb is here.
Excerpts from the Qur’an about Noah’s Flood and photographs of those on Mount Khacha are exhibited on the walls of the tomb.. It means that our photograph will be hung here.
There is a glazed section in the tomb of Prophet Noah, and this tomb was built on it, thinking it was there.
Nakhchivan City Center
Nakhchivan is very cheap compared to Turkey. It’s cheap for us, but not so cheap for their earnings.. The city looks pretty tidy. Presidential buildings and government offices illuminated at night. Their visuals are also very beautiful.
The hotel we stayed in is also very nice.. A very modern city awaits you when you go, but with a difference.. Nakhchivan is lagging behind us for many years.
There is a small passage called a shopping mall, for example.. This is the most famous mall.. Many places are closed on Sundays. So is the mall.
There is a spice bazaar on the ground floor.. food is cheap. They usually come here from Turkey for shopping.. Alcohol is also very cheap. But the writings on their food take us away.
And Returning Home
What a great feeling it is to be successful and return home. To live that happiness to the fullest after success. Melek came from Bursa to Iğdır, I from Istanbul, Hülya from Ankara. We had never seen each other before, we did not know each other.. But the passion for mountains united us.
We signed an unforgettable, lasting friendship on the holy Hacha mountain in Nakhchivan. After the success, we are now visiting the İshakpaşa Palace one last time before we return.. I’m at the place that started it all, again and again.
As we were leaving each other, we said to each other that we would meet at another event.. We were the lionesses who conquered the cross. After the success, we deserved the happiness and the joy of victory.
While everything is going well, Iğdır, which is under the fog, still does not allow our flight to arrive and I get a cancellation message.. I am in Doğubeyazıt and I am taking a bus to Bursa.. The rest is 25 hours of land travel, long long roads that do not end to death.. I’ll do it again though.