Turkey Saturday May 10

Greetings!

Continuing our journey through the Kurdish southeastern areas of Turkey, we visited a wall in Diyarbakir built by Constantine II in the later part of the 4th century AD. From its top, the city seems very well organized and much less of the hectic pace one would expect with over two million people living in such close quarters.

















Traveling down the Tigris River, we stop by the remains of the Zeyl Abidin tomb, built for the wife of one of the leaders in this region, and have lunch overlooking the river. We hike up into a narrow valley at Hasankeyf leadng to Iraq, and view caves carved in stone cliffs. This valley will soon be flooded with the construction a a large dam being built to provide Turkey with more electrical power, so we feel honored to have seen it before its gone. The water level will reach the top of the mineret pictured here (the one with the stork nest on top).











Our hotel today is in the town of Mardin, only a few miles from the Syrian border. The city is a beautiful collection of terraced houses, and we walk its narrow streets before dark. I could sear this place is in Italy, France, or Latin Amrica. Except for the Minerets, it seems as modern and enjoyable as anywhere we have visited.



To view the photographs for the day, click on: Turkey Saturday May 10 and Turkey Saturday May 10

Here's another traveler's photo of Mardin: Mardin and the rest of his photos: Mutluhan Ceyhan