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Somewhere in these mountains lives an 80-year-old shepherd, completely alone, in isolation. I came here with my Turkish friend, Anıl. Hi, everyone. We are going to discover how does he eat, how does he sleep and survive in this hot summer day in Turkey. We are about to find out. The journey begins in Antalya, a coastal city in southern Turkey known for its beaches, ancient history, and dramatic mountains rising just beyond the coast. After meeting up with Anıl at the airport, we immediately start driving away from the city and deep
into the rural countryside. The problem is the shepherd has no address, and we don't have the exact location. All we know is the general area where he supposedly lives. So our first mission is to find some locals who might know about him and hopefully point us in the right direction. What do you know about this guy? They know him personally. They say they live up there in the mountain alone. They don't know the road, but uh. you can go to the village and you can ask. Okay, thank you. Bye-bye. We are in the closest town to Mehmet, and we're gonna ask people if they know. who he is or where to find him. Do you know him?
So the guy knows him and he's pointing us in the direction of where he lives, which is basically on top of the mountain nearby. We're gonna buy a bunch of stuff to bring to him, things that we think he would need, that he could eat, like pasta, easy things to cook that won't spoil. We have just left the village and we are now kind of already in the middle of nowhere. Thoughts? I'm trying to find the way. I hope I will.
You seem pretty confident. This is my country. We've just parked in the middle of nowhere. We're the only car in sight and we're packing our bags here to go try to find Mehmet. His name's Mehmet? What do we have in here? Abi, we have pasta, we have oil, we have bread, and watermelon. There's been a few articles about him in Turkish news and some Turkish creator found him, and so, that's how we discovered him. To be honest, we don't know much else. Off to find Mehmet. Ready? Where to find. You lead the way, man. I don't know where we're going.
Ready? Me neither. Guys, this is the season for snakes, for scorpions, and for ticks. Mind your step. Watch all the time. Don't go like this. We don't want to get any. surprise from these animals. And also, this is the time of the day that they, they get active, the snakes especially, so be careful. We are in the middle of summer right now, so it's about 100 degrees Fahrenheit out here. It's really sticky. We're walking for.
10 minutes and I'm dripping sweat. Humidity is insane. It's not only hot, it's just extremely humid. Which even begs the question, like. if he's living alone in isolation. and it's so freaking hot, how does he do it? We need to go east, right? We need to go right, and side. Huh? East? Yeah. We need to go up through here, through this. dry riverbed. Okay. The guy in the market, said don't give him anything like blankets or camping gear or like, kind of practical gear, but food. Because uh. he said. he never uses these kinds of things, and he throws them away. So, yeah. Like,
he's living in the forest for 20 years alone. So, his mentality towards something. is completely different than uh, than us, like a city, city boys. Interesting. Really? Yeah, for sure. City boys. Well, you're more of a village boy, right? Yeah, I am. About four years ago, me and Anıl went on a great Turkey road trip. For over a month, we drove all over this country. And I have such great memories from that trip. And it was one of the most epic journeys I've ever been on. And I really fell in love with Turkey. Then I took my parents here and my wife with him.
We went to Hatay and Gaziantep and other places. It was an amazing trip, abi. Yeah, bro. Thank you. for being my abi. Of course. Do we think that Mehmet made this? Possible? I don't think so, but other people, this, is a universal sign that you are on the right path to where no one knows, but this is a path to reach somewhere. There is a guy. walking. Maybe he's. the guy. Yeah. That's definitely him. This is freaking awesome. We see him right now in front of us. He's walking around by himself.
You can feel that he's lonely already. Just at the first sight. He's literally just looking around. I'm a little nervous. I hope he's going to be, like, welcoming, you know? After 20 years of isolation. I'm not sure. Yeah. Mehmet Amca! He's got a bunch of goats, dude. Yeah. He says, "Please sit. Don't wait, and. standing." Tourist, yes. How long have you been living out here alone?
"It has been, oh. so long," he said. When he was just like this, started walking among these mountains. He has been walking all around. So he says, "I know all the single parts. Every single part of this mountain." There are some jackals. on the mountain. who ate two of the baby goats already. So he was explaining, like, I don't know, "How will I survive here. with the jackals because they just keep eating my animal."
How many goats do you have? He had more than 200 goats, in the beginning, but a thief stole them, so he has like, maybe 15, 20, maybe. Now he says, "I will take the goat to put it in the shelter, because it's getting dark." He's an interesting personality. Like, I don't want to piss him off. But then he seems very. happy we're here. And then he's like, "Leave me alone." Yes. Yeah, he's. Coming and going. And, like, time to time, he's happy, but I don't know. Now, goats are running away. But he got angry a little bit because of that.
Like, I cannot also understand from his appearance. Yeah. What are your, what are your thoughts? But right now, he went up the. little hill to. park the goats for the night. He's all the way at the top. You could kind of see through the trees. It's hard to explain the beauty of what we're seeing right now. We're just in this incredible little pocket of mountains. And look at him. He just has his goats. He cares so much about his goats.
His goats is everything. This is what he's doing right here. It's amazing how he has, like, a language to speak with the goats. You think he's been out here in isolation for so long that he just developed a way to speak to animals. So we made it by his little house. area where he sleeps, and he just got all the goats coming behind. You can see animals are suspicious, maybe because of the bright colors.
One. stayed in the mountain. They're all calling each other, "Ah, it's running! Coming!" Oh, see? One was left. Yeah. They sleep in the house? You know as much as I do. Yeah. I think because of that jackal. problem, he wanted to. keep them in a secure place. Got it. I am inside of Mehmet's house. I'm gonna go walk around and. check this place out. There's a goat tied up there.
He told us he sleeps in here. It is just covered in goat poop. Look at this. The floor, it's all goat poop. Flies. and trash everywhere. This is all trash. He said he sleeps on this side. Like, he pointed over here. I just don't know how a person can sleep here. Maybe on top of all these bags. Wow. It's so crazy! I suppose that is a mattress. So maybe he just lays it down here and sleeps.
Look at the roof. The roof is super interesting. Looks like it's about to. fall off. It's made of wood, but like. all the spider webs up here. Got a lot of stuff in these buckets here. Certainly one of the most interesting house tours I've ever seen. Okay. He just keeps running circles around his house right now and just screaming at the goats. And. we are ordered to go away. So, we go away.
I think he's suspicious of us, or he just is, just he cares about the goats so much, he doesn't want us to bother him. He turned upset for sure, at us. We're just trying to. break bread and see if he'll accept us. Anıl's helping him with some leaves right now, and we're. I offered him 20 times, "How can I help? I can help! I can help!" He said, ''No, no. Go away.'' Like, he doesn't want help. Or he's just as confident doing it alone? He's also confident to do it alone, and he knows that I cannot do it and I can just, like, screw things up. So.
Do you think he's mad that we're here, or he just doesn't care about us right now? We will figure it out soon. Hey! So it is almost dark outside, and he has just finished with his goats, and now he's coming back to us to talk. That was a two-hour goat chasing session. It was. bizarre. He was hitting him. He was running around the house. We are opening up all the supplies we brought him. He's been too busy. We haven't even had a chance to give it to him yet. Mehmet Amca, I have some money for you, for your goats, and for your. And your. in your health.
Your paths will be open, you will not be harmed, and you. And all your. Like a blessing? Things will be accomplished, I hope. Thank you. It's a, it's a nice blessing. We have a lot of stuff for you. We, we carried it here. Can we give you. Oh. Oh! Yeah, he's happy now.
It's all for you, my friend. We brought what he likes. Okay. That was all you. The man is happy. He kissed the bag of sugar. Did you see that? Amca! This is medicine for your goats. He. got pretty happy about the. medicine because he has a flea problem in the goat. He says it smells so this must be good. He says he never goes to the city. But once, someone brought something like this, like smelling pretty heavy. It was so useful for the fleas.
He got so many different medicines, nothing worked. This will work. For you. Amca. Give me your hands. This is natural hand sanitizer. It's called kolonya. It's all over Turkey. T-shirt. He repeat, he repeated the word T-shirt. Amca, if you never go into the city, how do you spend money? What do you buy? He. got some money. But first the thief got it, and the second one, he invested that money in the goats, and the jackals were eating it. And now,
there is nothing else but the medicine for the goat, and food. Dry bread he buys. He says he walks down to the village to the. restaurants and he buys the leftovers. He carries it here, and then, shares with the goats. And he says when they don't come to him, he's just calling the goats with the bread. Amca. We're going to cook some food. Would you join us for some dinner? He says he cannot leave to that area. So, we can cook. and bring.
Okay, perfect. Let's go set up our tent right now. And then we'll come back and we'll have some food together. hang out tomorrow. Sounds good? Here. We've located a spot about. 50 meters away from his camp. And we are going to set up our tents here, make ourselves comfortable, and chill for the night. Fold. Fold it? Yeah. Why? Because it's way bigger than. the tent. You can open the other side. Okay. Did you do this in A Africa?
Every night. I used this in Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark. This guy's a crazy traveler over here. He stays in places very long time and like. roughs it out in the nature. Drives motorcycles across Africa for years. That's this guy. There's big ass ants over here. Just letting you know, like huge ants. I used this tent for the last 12 years. Wow. Still in good shape. This is the only broken part. So instead of. giving up on my tent, I decided like, okay, I will uh. just fix it and keep using it and.
Ta-da! Your house is ready. That's it? We're starting to make our dinner, and he is here. Hello. I asked him if he eats onion, and he said like, "no, I cannot eat because I don't have teeth." I said like, I will. chop it fine. He said like ''Okay, let's see.''
He's hungry. He says, yeah, he understood. We are going to eat, why he shouldn't join. What are you saying to the goats? Yeah. All right. This looks incredible. It is hot. Pretty good, huh? It's kind of like noodles. like a little bit crunchier texture. But the garlic and onions, man. When you're out here in nature, anything fresh, cooked over the fire.
It tastes wonderful. If we didn't give him food, I feel like. he wouldn't eat. Yes. Do you think you do agree? He said no, I don't need to eat. It's a very bright smile over here. He's happy. This is like a Turkish sweet. dessert thing. It's it's kind of flaky and it's sugar and it's so good. Mehmet amca.
He. he wants to eat it tomorrow. Perfect. Okay. It's like a pumpkin. It's a watermelon party. Is it good? Yeah. He said, ripe. to my selection. This is easy now. That is so good, man. He seems to be pretty happy with that big-ass watermelon. Bye-bye. See you tomorrow. Good night. It's pitch black out here and I keep thinking he doesn't have any light. So how does he see in his house? I have no idea.
This is a crazy experience. I have so many questions that I want to ask him tomorrow. Like, why is he out here? What does he eat? Is he lonely? 'Till we continue tomorrow. Sleeping arrangements. Good night, bro. Good night. Sleep well. It's 5:35. This guy comes screaming to wake us up. Good morning, morning. Did you sleep at all? Not much. Bro, that was brutal.
Seems like he slept pretty good. What is inside here? Goats? What the. He cares about nothing more than his goats. Nothing. Mehmet Amca, why are the goats so important to you, to your life? He says. he has nothing but goats. And also, because of the jackal, he's trying to. keep a good care of uh. the goats.
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All right, now, let's head back to find Mehmet. Hey! Mehmet is a man of routine. After 17 long years alone in these mountains, every part of his day has a purpose. And this morning we are following him on a deeper hike into the mountains to gather feed for his goats. It's crazy how fast he goes. Like, one minute goes by, you can't even see him. After walking with the goats for like. several years, he became a goat.
He's so fast, like. Small steps, but. Yeah. Mehmet Amca, I just want to know, are, are you happy? You seem to be always stressed. Is it a happy life out here? He said, "Of course it is difficult, but I like it." "But the path became. rougher and rougher." So, you always need to be careful. You always need to take this walk and. like every day. So, it is like, I think, 50/50. for him. Got it. So, he also says uh. he has nowhere to go, nowhere else to go. If he would, he would probably like to go.
I think he's tired of this difficult life, after some point. This is super interesting. This guy wakes up every morning and does this. It's not even 6 yet, it's 5:59. But check out this amazing view there. Look at this. Unreal. We're wondering like, I think this guy's going to live a while, because he's hiking every day. But Anıl said he's not eating. and his. sleeps there. It's a very interesting thing, he's almost a superhuman. I don't think I could hike as fast as he is. He is like almost running straight up this hill.
I mean, basically he's doing fast walking. He says his house is on the only flat surface. The rest is like rocky terrain like this. And he is always saying in the last section, "Oh, my foot are dying, my foot are dying. It's hurting." So he does that, but he also complains. Mehmet Amca, how do you feel when visitors come in and say hi to you?
Do you want to be left alone? If they can act properly, he likes. If they're just like. he says, like, I don't know, jiggly, uh. he doesn't like. And he is the man to show his. feelings right away. And, and he's gone. Disappeared, like, vaporized. But he said he does want to be left alone or doesn't? He doesn't. Okay. No, no, I don't want to be alone. Okay. And in the beginning of the walk, he was talking to the goats and he said, "Oh, are you afraid of the foreigners? They're also one of us.
Come close." So. he likes us. Really? We just followed him on a little walk here. He went to go collect these leaves. And I don't know what's in the bag here, but he's, he's hustling. Doesn't waste any time, this guy. What do you think he uses that for? This? Yeah. For the baby goats. To eat? Yeah, for them to eat.
Are you ready to live here? I'm learning, but. it's a long way, and it requires a lot of patience and. knowledge. to survive here. This guy's got all kinds of secrets out here, living in the wilderness alone. It's hard to even. believe, you know, in today's world, everyone's living in cities now. Everyone's trying to make the money, but he's out here doing the opposite of all those things. And that's incredibly inspiring.
You just wonder how many more generations are left to find people like him. I would like to think that. he's the last. Are you tired? Yeah! Mehmet Amca, do you know your age? He used to know. the exact date and year. because he needed to calculate things about the goat. But his goat got stolen. So after that day, he says, like, I let the days go. So he stopped counting.
So he doesn't know how old he is. He used to live. up. on those hills. Yeah, I see. Because he says it was the best spot for the goats. When he has. so many, he says it is. much more difficult to live there. But I did it for my goat. And. one night. they just discovered some barbed wire and like to move the goat one direction. And they put them. all in the trucks. They had barbed wire? Someone stole them. Yeah. He. went to the police station. and, like, he tried to track them down, but it was impossible. But that was the. breaking point for him.
Wow. Do you have any family that. looks after you that you see every now and then? He says, because he's unmarried. So he says, I have nothing. I have no one to take care of me, look for me. Only the goats. What do you use your goats for? Do you sell them for money? Do you eat them if you're hungry? Or do you just like them for company to be with you?
In this pack, there is no goat to sell. If they can give enough babies, he can sell babies. But for the last two years he couldn't sell anything. So he doesn't sell them, he doesn't eat them? He doesn't eat the goats. So it's literally for like something to do. Yes. Where are you originally from and what was your childhood like? He used to be a shepherd for the entire life of his. So. he was also harvesting crop with his family, but mostly sheep, goat, and. shepherding. So the golden question that I've been wanting to know this whole time,
how did you end up here all alone and why are you staying here? What's the reason? In the town all the places are fenced and like they are the gardens and farms for people And people must have to leave the. goat to live. He doesn't want any problem to his goats. So he says like. So it's literally only about the goat, nothing else. Yeah. No other thing motivates him. It's just a goat.
He says "it is free here with my goats, so why shouldn't I live here?" Inspiring. He's also pretty realistic. I don't have anything but goats. If I sell them, I can get money, I can get clothes, I can get something, but it will run out of. But these are alive and I can keep them until I need. I can make them money. Yeah. I think it is also important he is trying to live. away from the main roads. for the thieves not easily to come with a. vehicle and like, get all the goats. Mehmet amca, when is the last time you went into the city to go to a restaurant or just to like hang out, or, or never? He says probably several years.
Have you ever owned a phone or ever wanted to own a phone? He never bought a phone. And he says, I know myself, so I'm just running on the rocks all the time, so probably I just lose it somewhere, it will get out of my pocket and I don't want to go back for seeking it, so I never. bought one. Mehmet has spent so long out here by himself that this way of life is completely normal to him. Even if it seems strange to the rest of us. But after a long morning hiking and chatting in the heat, I'm ready for a bath.
And being this far from civilization means jumping straight into the mountain stream. This is what happens on our break time. We're just chilling, homeboys up there in the mountain somewhere. We came to the creek to take a shower. It's cold! Do you drink this water? He thinks all the toilets up there, they leave the. trash here in the river, so better not to drink.
He doesn't drink this water. for over 10 years maybe. Do you shower in the water? He never showers here. He only. have a shower in his little river, like stream. How come you wear this hat on your head? Is it for protection or just a fashion?
He used that. thing, to wash. when he is crossing any river, and he puts it on again so it helps him to feel cooler. This is bizarre, man. We just passed over a stone that was not supposed to be on the path. And he goes, "Oh, the stone fell from over there." And then he mentioned he knows like every stone on this path. It's crazy. He says, I need to take care of this tree because if it falls, because eventually it will fall one day. So he wants to make sure that it's not going to fall on him or. or on us.
Abi, what are you doing right now? Abi, I bought some flea and tick medicine. for him. from the veterinary and he got so happy. because we will take care of his goats. So I'm going to prepare it as prescripted. What is it going to do for the goat? I think it will kill all the fleas on it. That was so convenient. You have that in your wallet. Yeah.
We're teaching Mehmet right now to use the medicine that we brought over to him for his goats to protect against fleas. So he's very happy because his goats will be healthy. I did it, but he doesn't like how I did it. So he said like, can you just open the hair and like do it on the skin? I said like, "Here you go, master." He's really getting in there. Now you're put to work. I can move.
How do you feel that the goats are going to be healthy now? He doesn't like how. he applies. Like he cannot apply as he wanted. So he's like doubtful. But still happy. He wants me. even to wash the balls. So we are doing some. personal care. You can't travel in Turkey without having many cups of chai a day. It's just the way they do it. Black tea, from Rize, which is a region in northern Turkey which we went to on our last trip in Turkey.
It's just amazing. Chai. Okay. We've tried to give him chai and he won't eat. My question to you is, what do you eat out here? Like. On the way down. he brought some food. He has only one goat that he can milk. He gets milk from only one goat. And he. brought some food.
He is eating food right there. He doesn't cook? He cooks, but like maybe twice a week. If you get sick, where do you go for a doctor? When he gets sick, first, he goes and drinks water. Someone comes here, he asks them to call a doctor. And the worst-case scenario, he walks down to the town. and asks someone to call the doctor. But uh. how often? Like maybe once in a year he needs. So he's pretty healthy. Yeah. I've spent the last day with you, observing your life. It's really interesting. But I have a question.
Do you feel lonely? No. It's a big no. He doesn't feel lonely because. he knows every single detail in these hills and in these mountains, it is like a secure and safe place, home for him. What was your relationship with your mom and dad?
So his. father was. not really hard-working and like, not careless about the family, but his mother. was taking care of the family. a lot. So he also says, my mother also started like this to. be a shepherd. Really? Do you miss your mother? Do you think about her all the time? His father died pretty. when he was pretty. young. And mother died later. But mother didn't even know he moved here and like ran away from the civilization. So he ran away? Really?
Yeah. So, why did you run away? Did something happen or you just said, freak it, I just want to live alone in the mountains? All the shepherds knew. the mountain sides which belong to rich family. But they stole his almost 200 goats. in one night. And then he. left his. already known place. And then he moved away to the mountain. with his just like a few numbers of goats. He got so upset and it's like a rebellious thing. He's like, "I'm just going to do it on my own." Yes. What has living in the mountain taught you that. people cannot learn in cities?
I learned how to take care of goats and sheeps. pretty well in these mountains and I have no idea about how to farm, how to grow crop and how to harvest. And I said, did you learn some patience in these mountains? And he said, like, I had some patience when I was young, but I lost it in the mountain because when goat is running away, you just lose all your patience and ability. So you keep. swearing and running after this. It's amazing how much he really cares about these goats. Like, it's everything. So you brought him a bunch of sugar. What, what did he do with it?
Off the camera, he said like, oh, Mehmet Amca. It is a sugar for tea. So he said, like, isn't it candy? I said, no, it is tea, like sugar cubes. And he said, I already ate the half of the pack, like almost one kilo of. sugar cubes. So that's what he eats. I keep asking him what he eats and he doesn't give a good answer but, we have found out he ate half of the sugar that we brought him. We are leaving especially because he is already like halfway up that hill. He's gone. he doesn't care. He kept shouting and running after the goat.
What's amazing to me is that humans have kept themselves occupied since. their existence 200,000 years ago. They've been living out in the nature, herding goats and just living this. kind of nomadic life. It's really only in the last 20 or 30 years that the world has evolved so much since the birth of the Internet and social media and, and smartphones and. all these things that he's completely missed because he's been living here. I kind of like his attitude. He's just kind of like, "freak the world! You guys can do whatever you want. I'm just happy in my little corner of the world, hanging out with my goats.
They're keeping me company. I'm living a nice peaceful life up here. I have no interest in doing anything else, going anywhere else." He's funny too. Like the way he talks to the goats, the way he kind of makes fun of himself. Gotta respect it. I came up here not knowing at all what his personality would be like. I just heard about his story. I just knew that he was living somewhere in these mountains. So to be here and spend time with him and, and feel his personality is. is really. quite pleasant. At the end of the day, Mehmet has his goats, his mountains,
and a life that makes him happy. So maybe he isn't missing out on the world after all. He's just figured out how little of it he actually needs.
