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As autumn cools the high plateau, a nomadic family from Batman, a province in southeastern Türkiye, packs up camp on Bercelan Yaylasi, a pasture roughly 3,300 meters above sea level near Hakkari, close to Türkiye's borders with Iran and Iraq.
After four months grazing livestock on the plateau's grasslands, the family now faces a demanding journey of nearly two months to return home before winter sets in.
Before setting out, the family dismantles its tents and loads them, along with cooking equipment and other belongings, onto a truck bound directly for Batman.
Herder Bayram Calp explains that while some possessions travel by road, the livestock must be walked the entire distance, since animals do not fare well confined in truck beds for long stretches.
With the camp cleared, Calp sends his family ahead by car, while he and his brother, Mehmet Calp, remain behind to guide the herd on foot.
Their flock numbers close to 900 sheep, animals that grazed all summer on the plateau's pasture and clean water sources near Hakkari before the seasonal cooling forced a return south.
The brothers guide their flock down from Bercelan's high elevation, tracing a route through Hakkari's rugged mountain terrain in southeastern Türkiye.
The descent marks the start of a journey of roughly two months, one the family repeats every autumn as temperatures drop and the plateau's grazing season closes.
Each day's distance depends on where water can be found along the way, Calp says. Some days the herd covers only five kilometers, while on others it advances as far as 15.
The brothers time their stops around water sources, letting the animals rest and graze before continuing.
At each stopping point, the brothers let the flock rest in areas offering both water and pasture, careful also to guard the animals against wild predators along the route.
The pace of the journey is set less by distance than by the resources available at each stage.
In stretches without pasture trails, the brothers must move the flock along paved roads, a segment of the journey Calp describes as particularly hazardous.
He appeals to drivers passing through these areas to exercise caution, noting that shared roads pose one of the greatest risks to both herders and livestock.
As night falls, temperatures on the route drop sharply, a change the family has grown accustomed to after years on the road.
Mehmet Calp, who has spent five to six years accompanying the family's herds between seasonal pastures, describes the nomadic lifestyle as demanding work rooted in a tradition his family has practiced for generations.
The brothers expect to reach Batman after nearly 60 days on the road, where they will rent pasture land for the winter months, an expense Calp says has grown increasingly costly given that the family also pays for summer grazing rights at Bercelan.
Despite the hardships, Mehmet says the family plans to return to the plateau again next year, drawn back by its climate, water and wildflowers.
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