Mardin, Turkey Travel Blogs

The Saffron Town
Feb 24, 2008 (18 photos)

... tssst"  or "money, money" and others saying kindly "welcome to my town," in English. Despite the beauty in Mardin, still the streets displayed a modern dirtiness: a used disposable diaper in the middle of the street, plastic bags everywhere.  ...

'Turkey's Old Jerusalem'..
Aug 21, 2006 (15 photos)

... going to have to offer us something special if she was to capture our hearts and minds. And she didn't disappoint. Mardin is a beautiful ancient town crowned with a castle overlooking the vast, roasted Mesopotamian plains that extend into Syria. The ...

Mardin Cont'd
Oct 26, 2008

... are allowed to attend the Sunday service, but this Sunday the service was not held at the Forty Martyrs. Remember that Mardin has been established on a hill. Kurds occupy the lowest altitudes; Syrian Christians live in the middle and Arabs live at the ...

Mardin
Oct 25, 2008 (5 photos)

... Amca, for dinner. The best I have ever had. Apparently, they have chains in Istanbul. I'm staying at a renovated traditional Mardin house called Erdoba Konaklari. It's a boutique hotel with stylish yet dusty rooms. My hosts would not let me pay ...

Mardin
Jun 26, 2008 (25 photos)

... all the energy that puts something like our Super Bowl to shame.  The roar of the city, yes the ENTIRE city when Turkey scores a goal is amazing.  Sadly, Germany put an end to Turkey's hopes of getting into the final game while we were in ...

Mardin
May 18, 2007 (8 photos)

... 4 YTL but is free on Fridays, as well as some of the city at night. He was infectiously enthusiastic about Mardin's beauty. The next morning I found Murat waiting for me at the foot of my hotel at 7:30 in the morning. He smiled and ...

Savur
Jun 27, 2008 (8 photos)

We took the 35 mile ride to Savur just for one night.  It was recommended for being devoid of tourists and having a great place to stay.  Just a bonus stop along our way.  The accommodations were outstanding and, to be honest, we ...

Mardin: Not So Much; More Urfa
May 8, 2008 (7 photos)

... about Göbekli in the New York Times (I think) before leaving home, and had made a note of it on my map of Turkey. So, before coming to Mardin I decided to have Aziz run me out to Göbekli. The Australian fellow, David, also decided to go out again. Well, the ...

People buried in the walls of the Monastery
Jun 10, 2009 (4 photos)

Another fab view this morning across Syria.  The Saffron Monastery this morning, with a Sun Temple built in 1000 BC.  The stones which create the roof are only being held up by themselves, if one falls down, the the Monastery above will collapse ...

Cave of Abraham
Jun 17, 2006 (3 photos)

... the hotel, for if I stayed any longer, I think Steve could have fried an egg on my head! This is our last night in Turkey. Tomorrow afternoon we say fairwell to Turkey and Hello to Syria! :) It has been an unfrogetfull 2 weeks in this colouful land of ...

A Day in Mardin
Nov 10, 2008

photos coming soon.....

Just like home
Sep 24, 2008

... reason he went on that bus with me was to make sure I got to where I needed to go without any problems.   The ride to Mardin was pleasant. The 3 young adults I sat with knew some English so we spoke for a while. I told them I wanted to stay at a ...

Tatvan - Nusaybin
Nov 24, 2007 (16 photos)

... back crazy Kev! I really enjoyed this day as the snow was gone and I finally got to see what eastern turkey looks like. It was absolutely great to experience a new country with a new scenery again...And it was exciting to ...

Midyat
May 17, 2007 (12 photos)

... ;and restaurants have a citizen menu and a separate, cheaper military menu. Midyat, like the rest of southeast Turkey, supports the AK Party. Advertisements for AK are everywhere. Midyat Travel Tips: Mini-buses connect to almost everywhere, ...

Going South
Aug 24, 2009 (5 photos)

Mardin is an ancient town (established around 7 century BC) south of Diyarbakir, almost to the Syrian border. Its setting is beautiful, on the slope of a hill overlooking the sun baked, vast Mesopotamian plain, all the way to Syria. It has a big bazaar ...

Midyat
Oct 19, 2007 (8 photos)

Do you like Turkey?  Spoergsmaalet blev stillet i en forventningsfuld tone, mens vi stadig befandt os i turisttyrkiet,. Og vi svarede, hvad der blev forventet; yes, it's very nice here. Men skal vi vaere aerlige, saa var vi ikke imponerede over ...

PKK Country
Apr 29, 2006 (2 photos)

... lands of Mesopotopia. I'm looking out down on the fertile, flat plains running into Syria, but whilst a world appart from Western Turkey, this looks and feels so different from Northern Syria, 15 miles down the road. Some parts of the dress are different ...

Sanilurfa And Mardın (Turkey)
Mar 14, 2007

... imposıng cale. Simply gorgeous. I saw it both at night and this mornıng before drıvıng to Mardin where I am now. Tommorow I plan on visiting the nearby Deyrul Zafaran Monastery before passing thru the town of Batman - I wonder if its ...

Welcome to Southeastern Anatolia!
Apr 6, 2008 (135 photos)

... there, and hop on to the next place whenever the time seemed right. I immediately fell in love with Mardin. Quite often described as "the Old Jerusalem of Turkey" it really has this ancient, Middle Eastern feel to it. The town, composed of all honey- ...

Mardin : Mesopotamia starts here
Oct 16, 2009 (8 photos)

... same bus wıth me. He spoke good Turkısh although thıs ıs hıs fırst tıme ın Turkey whıch I gotta admıt ıs ımpressıve. I dıdnt bother askıng hıs name and luck&# ...

Picturesque Mardin
Nov 19, 2009

... surfing host. The old historic town of mardin is situated up on a hilltop overlooking the fertile fields below. I went to the mardin museum which was in a beautiful old but newly restored building. Woohoo for me it was free which is the only reason I ...

Mardin
Apr 24, 2005 (4 photos)

A day full of History and a good nice end
Sep 23, 2009 (8 photos)

... as the town is not invitıng to stay longer. The breakfast buffet at the hotel was plentiful and we started well fed. Mardin sits on the top of hill overlooking the mesopotamian plains to Syria. Its a very nice colorful city which is very clean and ...

Relaxing in Mardin
Jun 10, 2007 (5 photos)

short bus ride to mardin which is a beautiful city set against a small cliff with a view of the desert valley.  not much to choose from in terms of hotels/pensions so we splurged a bit and got a nice place.  it was nice after the past few days to ...

saffranimägi
Oct 25, 2009 (9 photos)

Suund Mardini peale, mille lähedal asub Deyrul Zaferan, süüria ortodoksi klooster, mıda külastas läbi raskuste ka William Dalrymple 90ndate keskpaigas. Tema omakorda kõndis 7. sajandi munga John Moschose jälgedes. Jõuan eksimatult kohale, tasub kõhutunnet ...

Mardın
May 14, 2007 (3 photos)

Mardın ıs a town of 150 000 people, 65 percent of whom are muslım.  Thıs ıs the closest ı wıll get to Syrıa, you can actually see the border from where ı am stayıng!  The town ıs very small wıth loads of charm, wıth not as much unemployment or needyness as ...