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Published: November 28th 2014
Van Kalesi
Van city and castle wallsThe one quadrant of Turkey that I had yet to visit during my previous 4 trips was the southeast region wedged in among Iran, Syria and Iraq and way off most travelers' radars. I started in Van in the far flung reaches close to the Iranian border. It's a great town famous for their imposing castle and unique and delicious breakfasts and utterly bereft of Western tourists, or any for that matter, except for a few intrepid French heading to Iran. Definitely felt like winter was approaching out there not only because of the close to freezing nighttime temperatures but also because it was completely dark by about 4 p.m. Turkey only has one time zone so not only was sunset early but so was sunrise and that first call to prayer around 4 a.m. known to many as 0'dark thirty.
$US ≈ 2.2 Turkish lira (TL)
Van
Accommodation and food After the long trip from Cyprus I settled on Hotel Cemil in the frenetic market area. It was the only hotel I looked at and arguably the worst place I've ever stayed in Turkey prior to Hasankeyf. However, the price was right at only 20TL/night for the room
Breakfast At Sütçü Fevzi With Erol
Great Turkish breakfast but found only in Van with a just clean enough share bathroom and hot water shower but my room was very cold because of the antiquated, inefficient heating. Consequently, the only place to hang out in the hotel and stay warm was the reception area where the manager and other guests' principal activities were chain smoking while watching cheesy Turkish
mafioso soap operas. The WiFi worked great and everyone staying there (exclusively Turkish men save for the French tourists) was friendly and I was even offered
rakı (simliar to Greek
ouzo) to stay warm which I politely declined since I am repulsed by anything flavored with anise. Not sure I saw any other alcohol anywhere else during my 3 days in Van. There was always tea brewing at the hotel but no breakfast which I did not want anyway. I would recommend Hotel Kent around the corner from Cemil or Hotel Sehrivan or its neighbor further north across from the gargantuan mosque, both ~35TL for a single ensuite.
There is no shortage of places to eat -
kahvaltı salonu (literally 'breakfast room'), kebabs, or
pide (Turkish pizza) - and the city seems to be entirely comprised of restaurants, tea shops, and jewelry stores. Close
Van Gölü
Lake Van down at Akdamar to the hotel and open earlier than most is Yeni Seher but on "Breakfast Street" is the famous Sütçü Fevzi run by the affable Kurd Erol. Bottomless cups of tea served at either place to ward off Van's early morning chill. Also close to the hotel, very good, and very warm is Kebabistan which served every
kebap imaginable plus some I have never seen anywhere else in Turkey. I tried
yogürtlü kebap for 13TL which was similar to
iskender and served with several side dishes or
meze. Also plenty of tea after the meal.
Transport From the airport are airline
servis shuttles to the center for 5TL or there is purportedly a 1.5TL city bus just outside the airport entry gate. Leaving Van I took a Vangölü Turizm bus to Hasankeyf for 40TL departing from the
otogar at 7:30 and there is a free
servis shuttle to the bus terminal from the city office at 7:00. Arrived Hasankeyf ~13:00.
Akdamar Island I wasn't expecting a large group of tourists with whom to share the cost of a boat to the island (200TL for up to 20 pax) so I was not disappointed when I got there and was
Hoşap Kalesi
Hoşap Castle alone drinking
çay with the boat captains. To get there take a
dolmuş from the depot in Van's center to Gevaş (6TL) then another to Akdamar (2TL). I left Van at 8:45 and got to Akdamar at 10:30.
Van area castles For the castle at Hoşap (entry 5TL) take an ~hourly
dolmuş (10TL) with Gever Turizm leaving from the south end of Cumhuriyet Cd. Trip takes ~45 minutes. The castle looked very cool but was closed when I arrived purportedly because of the snow - a 10m
2 patch of hard pack around the ticket booth. Very lame. I then hitched to the ruins at Çavuştepe but there isn't much of a castle there, sort of unimpressive but no fee although there was what looked to be an unmanned ticket booth. Caught a
dolmuş back to Van for 5TL.
Hasankeyf
Soon to be inundated ancient town upon completion of a dam. Easy to visit if toiling around the southeast.
Accommodation and food Two lodging options here: the recommended Hasbahçe Hasankeyf and the shabby, definitely not recommended Hansankeyf Motel. I stayed in the motel right across from the bus stop for 25TL for one night with share bathroom, WiFi,
Hasankeyf
Old ruins and the mighty Tigris River and never any tea offered. Room in the way back immune to rumbling trucks cruising over the adjacent bridge. There's really no need to stay in Hasankeyf if coming from Mardin or Midyat as it is possible to arrive in Hasankeyf early from either place, see the old ruins (easy since a lot of them are closed), and catch late transport to Batman (yes, Batman) from where there are coaches to every corner of the country. Also possible coming all the way from Van but really only in summer or early fall/late spring as the days are too short otherwise. Up the street from the motel is Nehir serving kebabs for ~6TL and
lamacun for 1.5TL. Next to the restaurant is a café with 2TL
Türk kahvesi. Classic shave for 5TL at the
kuaför across from the motel.
Transport Frequent
dolmuş to Midyat (~40 min. and 9TL stopping in old city) continuing to Mardin.
Midyat
Didn't see the big deal about Midyat but it was on the way to Mardin and easy to stop for a night. The weather was lousy which I'm sure had much to do with my impression of the town. If sunny, head to
Hasankeyf Citadel
Closed for archeological works but they better hurry before it's flooded the Midyat Ev Kulturu (Midyat Culture House, 1TL entry) for sweeping views over the old town.
Accommodation and food Took me a while to find Dara Otel in the center of the old town. Bargained to 50TL for a nice, very clean ensuite room with TV, WiFi, tea but no breakfast. Everything is close by including Çağdaş Et Lokantası (~14TL kebabs and free tea) and a couple pastry shops across the street.
Transport 10TL to Mardin (old town) and the
dolmuş will pick up at the office next to the hotel for the ~1 hour trip.
Mardin
Nicer than Midyat but one night would have been enough as the castle and museum are both closed. The nearby Deyrul Zafaran monastery is reportedly impressive but it would have been a ~7 km walk one way and the weather was still not that nice so I gave it a miss. And to be honest, after Meteora and other sites in Greece it would have been difficult to appreciate another monastery.
Accommodation and food I reserved 2 nights at Dara Konağı for 56TL/night in a single with breakfast and WiFi which was imperative in order to watch the New
England Patriots dismantle the fraudulent Indianapolis Colts in prime time which was 3:30 a.m. in Turkey, again 0'dark thirty. The hotel is an old, restored
konak (mansion) with a nice rooftop balcony and a bit tricky to find in Mardin's ancient maze of alleys. A cheaper, very basic place is Hotel Başak right in the center for 35TL for a single room with share bathroom. The dining scene is pricey so I would stroll down to the area near the bus terminal to eat at Mardin Sofrası, nothing fancy just typical kebabs at atypical prices for Mardin. Close to the hotel is Öz Yasemin where a single
lamacun is only 1.5TL.
Transport Dolmuş to Diyarbakır leave frequently from the old
otogar passing thru the new city en route. 12TL and about 1:20 after leaving the new town arriving at the
ilçe otogar (country bus station) in Diyarbakır from where it's easy to catch another
dolmuş to the center for 1.5 TL.
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Heidi Cusworth
non-member comment
Hansankeyf
Hi, Do you know when the dam is going to be completed? Hansankeyf looks amazing......