Blogs from Mardin, Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East
November 3rd 2011
Mardin is a city unlike any other I’ve seen. It’s a city of nooks and crannies; of cobbled, twisting, narrow lanes; of archways and stone houses rising in layers up a steep mountain. Stone in Mardin, however, is more than just stone. It lives and breathes and guards centuries of secrets. It plays with the sun, changing colors from rose at dawn to honey at dusk. It sings the glory of God and recites the poetry of the Koran. I’d like to say that I gave the city and its vast cultural diversity all of the attention it deserved, but instead it received only a cursory look before I hit the road for the old Roman city of Dara. Nine kilometers outside of the city walls, I got picked up by the rickety Saab of the ... read more
September 16th 2011
Harran to Midyat Another jam-packed day on our tour of Southeastern Anatolia. Today we woke with the tiny birds perched on the wires above, who were singing as the sun appeared on the horizon. Actually, we were awoken earlier by some very enthusiastic roosters. There was a light dew on our blankets and even a slight chill in the air but it disappeared VERY quickly as soon as the sun came creeping. By 7am it was distinctly warm! We watched the Harran household gradually come to life. First one up was the patriarch, who bid us good morning on his way past out taht to the loo. Soon after there were sounds of baby crying and a few people getting up and calling out to one another. It wasn't long before a couple of the women ... read more
June 14th 2011
Ráno jsme vyrazili do Mardinu. Cesta uběhla rychle a zanedlouho jsme stáli na ulici v novém městě. Starej Mardin se nachází na osamělé hoře na kraji planiny, která se směrem na jih táhne až do Sýrie.Novej Mardin seč nachází pod kopcem. Do starého města nás vyvez busík MHD. Vystoupili jsme tak nějak když jsme cítili, že už jsme v centru. Stáli jsme na náměstí před muzeem, kde se nás ujal místní teenager a začal nás provádět uličkama starého města. Jelikož je město na úbočí hory, tak to znamená spoustu schodů, náhlejch odboček a překvapivejch nádhernejch výhledů dolů do kraje. Ze všeho nejhezčí je výhled ze střechy madrasy (školy), která se nachází až úplně nejvýš. Po prohlídce pamětihodností jsme začali řešit, kde složíme hlavu. V úvahu přicházelo buď pokračovat do Midyatu nebo přespat tady a pokračovat ... read more
12.gün Hasankeyf, Midyat, Mardin
Published: January 21st 2012Middle East » Turkey » Southeastern Anatolia » Mardin
May 15th 2009
12.gün Hasankeyf, Midyat, Mardin Akşam, diğer günlere göre daha erken yattığım için saat 05:30’da uyandım. Zaten günlerdir saati kurmadan kendiliğimden erken saatte uyanıyordum. Erzurum ve Kars’taki kuru soğuklardan sonra Van’dan itibaren kemiklerimiz ısınmaya başladı. Tatvan’dan Bitlis istikametine doğru ilerledik. Bitlis kalesinin önünden şehir merkezini geçerek, Baykan dolaylarında Siirt il merkezine girdik. Siirt ilinin Ziyaret kasabasında bulunan ünlü Veysel Karani Türbesini ziyaret ettik. Burası İstanbul’un Eyüp Sultan’ı gibi. İnsanlar akın akın Hz. Muhammed’in samimi dostu olarak kabul edilen, çağdaşı Veysel Karani’nin türbesini görmeye geliyorlardı. Siirt ilini geçmeden hemen önce Diyarbakır il sınırını oluşturan ünlü Malabadi köprüsü’nün önünde durur durmaz, altından geçen Batman çayına inerek ... read more
July 22nd 2008
The heat in Hasankeyf was a fierce test of our stamina. Thankfully, we both passed, but my camera failed miserably and now only takes pictures with horizontal stripes. Though, even with a frustrating setback like that, it's hard to complain about much of anything right now. We have, after all, lately been spending most of our time in paradise... Our next stop was unforgettable Savur. We rolled up the hillside of the lovely little town on cobble stoned streets intended to service nothing larger donkey traffic. Nevertheless, our minibus driver was able to manage with some brave and creative maneuvers. He had not heard of our destination, which seemed to me to be a hopeful sign that we were getting even farther off the beaten track. With some lucky guessing, we found the (completely unmarked) Hacı ... read more
July 5th 2007
Before starting about day 4, I forgot to add in the previous entry that we went to a small restaurant in Mardin, the capital of Kurdish area. The people there were extremely gentle and kind to us, the music was a blast and the food A LOT! hehehehehe I danced a lot, I didn't eat so much, but again, I danced like crazy, with all the girls (belly dancers we could be) Early in the morning we left the other dormitory where we spent the night for Mardin Museum. The weather was as sunny as during the last days, but still with the cool air of the night...still I couldn't spot any cloud on the sky. The streets of Mardin seemed tiny, but clean, cute, with crowded small buildings, lots of differently shaped shops. The ... read more
December 11th 2004
I'm in Mardin, the final stop before Syria. Perched on the side of a hill, crowned with a castle containing an immense radar dome spying on the middle east on behalf of NATO, packed with historical honey-colored houses lining crooked streets, Mardin is a real beauty. At least the old city is. There's the obligatory concrete sprawl, but it's kept in the back so as to not ruin the view. And the view is beautiful: an unspoilt plain, stretching out as far as the eye can see and beyond, into Syria. The weather has been clear for the last couple of days, and that makes all the difference in the world in terms of my perception of the place... Too bad it started snowing tonight. Mardin shuts down early, even earlier than other towns I've been ... read more
