The city we were in on Tuesday night was (Sanli)urfa, which is supposed to be one of the more religious and conservative cities, but I was surprised to find there weren’t as many covered women as I was expecting and I didn't feel uncomfortable walking around. The night after we left there was a really really important football match there so the city was full of football jerseyed guys. The city was nice with lots of history and green space, it’s worth a visit.
Pretty arcaded mosque. There are lots of carp in the water who were incredibly happy because so many people were in the city and they were getting fed a lot of food.
Nice castle but we didn't go into it.
In our hotel that night the couple on the trip and I went to a sira gecesi, which is a special thing only in Urfa. Traditionally, men gather at each others homes, talk, play instruments, sing, and eat, but ours was in a hotel so we just ate food (on the floor, on cushions!) and watched a band perform traditional music. Pretty good food, pretty good music, it just started to get loud and smoky so I had to leave (luckily before I would have gotten pulled onto the floor to dance).
An hour away from Urfa is Harran, which is one of the oldest inhabited places on earth. Abraham came here from Urfa in 1900BC and stayed a few years. Harran is famous for its beehive houses and also the crumbling remains of a university. The beehive houses in the picture are actually only from 200 years ago, they are built with stones taken from other ancient destroyed buildings for the roof, and the sides are made of mud and straw. They were surprisingly cool inside and actually quite roomy because they are all connected to form a large complex. They use these materials because really, it’s all that there is out there! I've heard mixed things about the style - it dates from 3,000 years ago or it's a recent way to build - I'm not sure, sorry! Soon more water will be accessible as the GAP dam project continues – a project to boost Southeastern Turkey’s economy through agriculture in particular. Then people out here in these areas will be able to farm more easily.
Inside of one of the houses - it's really hard to capture - sorry!
Man on his motorcycle and a woman walking. Almost all of the women I saw had (purple) scarves wrapped around their heads, and many men did too. Harran is really close to the Syrian border and so I think many Arabic people live here. It was only the first week of May but it was very hot and dry, but as I said, things will soon change because of irrigation.
The large tower in the university was actually used as an astronomy tower. This university was the oldest Islamic university, dating back to the 8th and 9th century. There was also a church because Harran was also a center of Christianity early on.
Fascinating landscape, but just to visit, not to live!
After Harran we stopped by one of the GAP projects – the Ataturk Dam, the 3rd or 5th largest dam in the world (mixed resources). Again, this is part of the project to boost the economy by providing electricity and water to those who need it.
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