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
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