Mardin, Turkey


2:04 PM Carisa: tell me a story !
2:12 PM me: Yosuke, Josh, Rajay, wai and I got off the bus. We were in Mardin. The way that the lonely planet described it was that it “emerges like a phoenix from the roasted Mesopotamian plains”. It stood on top of this mountain looking over this valley. As soon as we stepped off we had this taxi cab driver shoving us into his cab although it only fit 4 people, and there were 5 of us with back packs as huge as we were. They stuffed the trunk and tied it down with a piece of string they found in the garbage can. We packed in reluctantly, and the driver speed off on the old coble stone road. I watched Wai's backpack shift and shift until it was almost hanging out of the trunk. Luckily the string held. The hostel it took us to is just another story...

Haran, Turkey

So at this point in the game we were three separate traveling groups; Wai & I, Josh & Rajay, and Yosuke. We each planned our own rough itinerary but we decided to just continue traveling together. It’s hard to leave new found friends. We convinced each other that we’d do a long tour of the Harran ruins in Eastern Turkey. Again, it was just the handful of us which was perfect.

Writing this blog I almost forget how painfully hot it was, it was demoralizing but we trekked on. The first place was the remains of a grand mosque called Ulu Camii. Next door to this were some locals that lived in beehive type housings made of mud and sticks. The kids would ask to wear my sunglasses and then immediately say “gift?” with a huge smile, sadly I wasn’t that kind. We also strolled through the Harran Castle (Harran Ic Kalesi) which looked like it was about to crumble underneath my feat. There were plenty of other places we visited but I’ll just talk about three more locations.

Standing inside the Bazda Caves

So that was the short tour and I’m glad we continued for the long one because I just couldn’t enjoy those ruins and sites compared to the rest. The tour guide brought us out to the middle of this desert no-man’s-land. We walked into this caved that was used for excavating large stones for building structures, the Pyramids? It escapes my mind. The cave was enormous, we saw people drive their cars and bikes in there to take naps because it was nice and cool.

Talking to the local kids.

We stopped at this place called Han-el Ba’rur Caravanserai where these kids ran up to meet us. These kids were as cheerful and bright as their clothes. The guide would sing children songs with them as we just sat across from them in the walk way. Most kids, besides these ones, would always pester you saying “money money” holding out their hand and wouldn’t leave you alone. You feel a little bad, but there are just so many kids begging.

Catching the light.

This picture of Wai was taken in this small underground room at the bottom of a mound in Suayb. There are numerous mounds filled with small rooms and tiny dark passage ways. I had to pull out my cell phone just to illuminate my path. Half the time, you’re hunched over in a dark room trying to listen for someone’s voice and somewhat wander over there. It reminded me of a dungeon from one of these fantasy video games i used to play.

Sanliurfa, Turkey

I really should write up reviews for the hostels that I really appreciated. I suppose I should also write ones up for ones that sucked ass. (ie: the one where my shorts were stolen.) But I digress; this place in Sanliurfa was great. The host was friendly and reminded me of one of my parent’s friends. It turns out he would be our tour guide the following day. We would sit outside on the patio with all our cameras on the table. The host would bring us chai and sugar, later he gave us ice cream and pastries. Yosuke would smoke his cigarette contemplating our next sight. Wai and the two Australian guys (Josh and Rajay) would argue about what the moon looks like. I’d sit there eating off the ice cream while no one was looking.

Two Canons, and Three Nikons.

I wonder at what point in life I’ll stop staying in hostels.

Mt. Nemrut, Turkey

What another guided tour? Blasphemy.

Standing on top of the mountain where the Arsameia Ruins are.

After another over night bus ride we arrive at the town of Kahta to be shuffled off to a hostel. People are quick to offer their services or hostels. We started to travel with this guy named Yosuke and decided to follow his guide book recommendation. We setup a tour with this hostel for the latter half of the day to catch the sunset on Mt. Nemrut.

Staring into the distance on the East face of Mt Nemrut.

I think I actually preferred this type of tour because it primarily was just a driver announcing a destination, a brief description if inquired, and no real time limit and we’d leave when the handful of us decided we were done with the spot. It was a nice small group which we made good friends with and continued to travel with for about a week.

The heads on Mt. Nemrut watching the sunset on the West face.

After a small trek up to the top of Mt. Nemrut we realized that it may have been a better choice to catch the morning tour to catch the sunrise. There are statues on both the East and West side but it has better reconstruction on the East face.

Cappadocia, Turkey

Cappadocia is this huge region in the middle of Turkey and Goreme is only this tiny portion of it. So we’ve lost one day recovering, one day exploring Goreme’s valley’s and open air museums. Some of the people we met at the hostel actually suggested joining them on a tour. After a bit of debate we hesitantly agreed to do a tour only because I wanted to visit this Ihlara Valley which you can only get to if you have a car or if you do this tour. Public transportation to this Valley seemed almost nonexistent.

Giant rolling door to the underground city.

We drive out a few hours from Goreme to these rolling hills and fields of nothingness. Off in the distance you can see an inactive volcano. We arrive in this flat town in Derinkuyu and in the middle of it is this endless underground city. This place is massive. It goes down eleven floors, it could accommodate up to fifty thousand people, and even a wine press room. This rolling door was used to keep out enemies.

Wai lounging at the bottom Ihlara Valley

I thought this place was bad ass. Too bad we were stuck with a tour group because it seems like there’s so much to explore and hike around in this valley. Supposedly it would take a day to walk the entire length of the Valley, or maybe the brochure said you could spend a day hiking here. The reason this place appealed to me was because it’s in the middle of nowhere, flat fields and small rolling hills and then this anomaly of a canyon with its steep walls. In the middle of our hike was a small rugged snack/café place with benches in the middle of the creek, an easy place to take off your shoes and take a nap.

Staring up at the remains of the Selhime Monastery.

At the end of the valley was an opening and at one of the corners was this maze of a Monastery. Supposedly there was ways to climb all the way to the top inside the carved out passageways, but apparently it was too dark, steep, and dangerous. We at least took our flashlights to check out the entrance of this passage way.