Blogs from Gaziantep, Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East

Gaziantep, Southern Anatolia, Turkey June 9th 2014 “Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose...” Janice Joplin This story is just not going to have graphic pictures! This story is a tad embarrasing. But this story is hilarious (my only option is to laugh, else I would cry). I had been itching to try an authentic Hamami (a Turkish bathhouse). Those in Istanbul and Kapadokya were pricey due to the tourists (upwards of 70 lira or about $35). I was not going to pay that price. So finding myself in Gaziantep (known as Antep) and seeing a simple looking hamami in the street, I thought my time had come. I had done no research about what exactly was supposed to happen here, and I suspect my very rough fantasies of steam baths, professional and thorough ... read more

Gaziantep was another of those towns that it was suggested that maybe we shouldn't visit. Apparently it is meant to be a bit wild. Well once again we were pleasantly suprised and we are so pleased we included it in our trip. It was only a stopover arriving late afternoon and then out again in the morning. The trip from the Yuvacali Home Stay to Gaziantep was about 210 km's, a 3 hrs bus ride and it cost 39 Turkish Lira, about $21 NZ. Sad goodbyes to our wondeful Kurdish host parents and Halil took us to the bus station at Hilvan. Gaziantep is another large city about 1 million people. It was easier to catch a taxi from the Otogar to our hotel, The Belkis Hotel. Staff were very friendly and we had a comfortable ... read more

From Gaziantep to Syria are many organized trips. As we wanted to go 'last minute' we had to find our own way to arrive to Syria. Most logical way is to go to the border city Kilis. The cheapest way to travel between Gaziantep and Kilis is to use the 'dolmus' a frequently used minibus service in Turkey. From the terminal we traveled by dolmus to Kilis and from there we were planning to look further. Once arrived at Kilis, we didn't noticed that we passed the terminal. This 'city' was so small that probably the bus terminal looked like a bus stop. When we arrived to the end station, the driver asked us where we have to go. We asked him for advice how to reach Aleppo. The most logical way is to drive to ... read more

To get from Aleppo (Syria) to Gaziantep (Turkey), we hired a taxi from a driver who smelled vaguely like gasoline, barely said a word and (after crossing the border) promptly stopped the car and pulled a carton of cigarettes from down his pants and grabbed who knows what from the undercarriage of the car and tossed it all in the trunk... An interesting ride and my easiest border crossing yet! The guidebook describes Antep (the Turkish name for Gaziantep) as having a "modern, laissez-faire attitude", and they couldn't have nailed it any better! It is a very laid back, with a relatively young and very friendly population. We sat with a young shop owner for tea and chatting (via a translator on his computer), and as we were leaving he insisted on giving (as a gift) ... read more

Dag 232 og 233. Det var en tung og regnfull dag, saa vi pakket paa oss regnjakkene for vi gikk ut. Vi hadde baade hort og lest at museet i Gaziantep var vel verdt et besok, saa vi gikk for aa besoke det. Paa veien spiste vi kringle med sesamfro, siden vi hadde “forsovet” oss til frokosten paa hotellet. Like for vi kom til museet ble vi stoppet av 4 menn i dress - de fortalte at museet stengte om 15 minutter, for saa aa aapne igjen kl. 13. Vi gikk derfor tilbake mot hotellet; Jane kjopte en Garnier haarfarge paa en svaert butikk i et kjoptesenter, og betalte kun ca. 20 NOK. Siden vi regnet med at vi om til aa bruke litt tid paa museet, gikk vi for aa spise lunsj paa en liten ... read more