She's About To Go Under..
Trip Start
May 02, 2006
1
42
113
Trip End
Mar 02, 2007
Hasankeyf,
Turkey
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Hasankeyf I have to say is probably the 2nd biggest surprise in Turkey for us behind the beautiful Ishak Pasa Palace. We had no real plans of coming here but had heard on the 'travelers' grapevine that it was one of the most amazing places in Eastern Turkey if not Turkey itself.
It's a gorgeous honey coloured village clinging to the rocks of a gorge above the Tigris river. You could call it a miniature Cappadocia.
Unfortunately despite it's beauty and history the town is slated to vanish beneath the waters of the massive Gap Project. This project will flood the region drowning Hasankeyf as well as many other treasures and displace 40 odd villages along the way
01 Before The Walk Up The Hill..
.So it was this in mind that we made our way to Hasankeyf with no real expectations of what to expect other than what we had read in our guide book. And boy were we pleasantly surprised. The town truly does perch on the cliff side overlooking the Tigris which in itself is quite an amazing thing to finally behold being that it's one of the original lifelines of early civilisation.
All around the village are the cave dwellings we came to love in Cappadocia and perched upon the hilltop is the largish fortress. The majority of the village within and around the fortress dates from the 14th century. We climbed to the top of the hill in our usual midday heat as we slept in again, with the midday heat being a punishing 45 degrees in the shade. We really need to start getting up earlier.
To reward ourselves however we had a couple of ice cold drinks whilst bathing our feet in the Tigris which is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. Great stuff.
So that was Hasankeyf in a nutshell, we loved it and are very happy that we got to see it but it's also very sad that within 4 years the place will be 50 metres underwater. Good for divers maybe but not so good for the villagers. A real shame because the people were super friendly and it had really laid back feel. Slowly slowly was the mantra of the day.
Next pod, Mardin - Turkey.
Love,
Nath and Kat.
