Harran Hotel Sanliurfa

... Germany and talked until the sun went down at the horizon.

The 3rd day we went to Mardin which is a very small town with lots of history (stopover on the famous silk road) and has a mix of different people (Kurds, Syrian, Turks) and religions (Jews, Christians, Moslems). A great example how different people/religions can live together peacefully!!

So that`s it for Turkey, tmrw Helman & Hermann are off to Syria!!!

... off their 'done' list.

Fires on pavements burn beneath 1m-wide pans. Heavily clad woman slowly stir dozens of apples, or thick tomato pastes for spreading on Turkish style pizzas - foot long, narrow and shallow.

The men, or at least the unemployed or retired, sit at sidewalk tea cafes, male bastions. From first warmth around 10am, little glasses of tea flow, fuelling games of draughts, cards and backgammon.

I play a game, spot the woman. In five ...

... 4pm) and the dolmus was only 1.50 lira.

After I got my bus ticket, I walked to the town area to find my hotel. The city reminds me of JB in almost every other way, especially the traffic. There were some modern shopping centres mixed with some buildings that belong in the 60s. But I was getting excited though as Urfa is a city steeped in history and is one on the itinerary that Im most looking forward to next to Antakya and Damascus. I had some pide in a cafe which ...

... a fertility site but one where hunter gathers came to pray. This cathedral (as they call it) was built before the first writings. Stones show wild animals and lady giving birth between 2 lions. They are still excavating the site and Dr Schmidt is dedicating his life to this project. WOW - I am so impressed and blown away by this.

An update we raised £1261.76 for bowel cancer, £300 wil be given to a ...

... wıth more modern convenıences. The kıds ın the vıllage were partıcularly frıendly and about 10 mın ın Hong and I had a group of about 8 followıng us around as we made our way. They shared some crısps wıth us and asked for pencıls, whıch I forgot at the hotel, but thankfully I had a pack of Trıdent on me to doll out, much to theır excıtement. We made our way to the Kale- a combo of two castles, one from Hıtıte tımes the other dated 1059. Then we saw the ru ...

... a famous singer from Urfa) because he believes that Tatlises is always involved in fraud. Very few beggars... I have only seen 2 or 3. The tourists that I have seen are mostly from Iran and Syria. The Urfa Kebab at Altinsis was nothing special. Mikail is not contented with the local AKP government, because they don't collect the garbage around the castle. On the other hand, the manager of my hostel is quite fond of ...

... was supposedly born in - went in and had a look after having to wear a cloak, couldn't see much and cos it was so hot we didn't stay long. After that we made our own way back to the hotel which was a bit unnerving. Urfa is kind of like Khata - you feel like everybody is going to try and rob you. Once again we have a really dodgy shower with no hot water so you can never feel truely awake. We then got ready for our last dinner together as a group. Ilhan took ...

... about some of the women, especially the old ones, is that they have tattoos on their chins. Some even had tattoos on their cheeks or on their forehead between their eyes. I am sure there is a religious reason behind wearing these tattoos. I would have liked it someone explained the meaning behind these tattoos. Meanwhile, the Kurdish men wear these big puffy pants with either a vest or a blazer. I wish I could just step in front of them and take pictures of them as they seem so ...

... was actually a pretty new experience for me. The conductors on my bus were really nice guys. They stopped a local on the street and asked him to take me to a bus stop where I could catch a bus to my hostel. A young man took me across the street and told me where I could catch my bus. The guy even waited with me for about 10 minutes until he lost his patience. The bus came 5 minutes after he left. When I boarded the bus, I asked some locals to confirm that the bus was going where I ...

... crescent but over time had become dessert. It seems to be working. As we drove along it seemed we were driving into the set for the movie Babel. The small adobe like structures surrounded by desolation with the new irrigation turning once parched fields into lush fields of veggies with families in the field doing the work. Tractors were also moving through the fields, while ever so often a horse drawn cart would slow our progress along what ...