Sewell Travels: Mardin

Mardin is known for its golden hued buildings courtesy of the big blocks of stone used. The old town is on top of a hill and new town at the foot hills. About 1m people live in the region - Kurds, Abyssinians, Arab and Turks. A classic middle eastern town of rough and tumble. Streets are kept relatvely clean, middle east standard, and buildings defy their earthquake prone situation. Lots of small shops and men drifting around with not much to do.

Downtown Mardin

Note the numerous steps and broken concrete footpaths

Staying alert and upright is the name of the game.

The alleyways are kept clean generally.

We spent our first morning catching up on laundry, diary, blog then wandering the main street, looking out for the Tourist Office.

Not worth the effort as staffed (loose term) by a couple of old boys, no English or really anything in their office helpful. We wanted to find out which dolmus ( local bus) we take to get to the Otogar to leave for Sanliufra. Young guy on the street told us "yellow M12" so that is sorted. Most Otogars (main bus stations) are 5km+ from the towns, too far to walk given the random traffic. Thankfully many folks do try English for practice. Can be a bit muddled but one gets the drift.

Mum, Dad and son hard at work making the flat breads that everone eats. Not a plastic cap or gloves to be seen and nobody gets sick or dies.

Quite fancied the pants but heard in my head the old quip " does my bum look big in these".

Fancy a copper, zinc, stainless steel vessel of any description.

Found a spot for lunch, a sandwich Turkish style. Jeff enjoyed joining the old boys playing cards, which they will do sitting in the shade for a few hours drinking tea (Cay). Older folks depend on the minimal Turkish pension, any savings but mostly the extended family for financial support. Family homes are passed down through the generations otherwise everyone rents.

One of the cultural charms of the middle east is that people are self reliant and can make decisions for their safety without the plethora of supports we seem to need in the west. Walking along you dodge holes in the ground, piles rubbish or broken concrete. When you see men working you calculate quickly if you need to take any action.

This was fun, see the gas bottles being hauled upto the top floor by these chaps above the footpath in the main street. I was explaining that in NZ this would be illegal without all the safety drama, even though pedestrians can decide to walk under or avoid as they assess the risk factor.

They were very bemused and am sure they thought I was some batty English woman.

Jack hammering the concrete, not a skywire to be seen

Trying their best to maintain the sandstone buildings

In general you see very few electric cars in Turkey, so far anyway. Earlier post I said NZD $2.36 per litre in fact it is NZD$1.11 so fuel no issue. Water from the tap, although ok for use, we, like all residents drink bottled water due to chemicals loaded in the tap water. Only NZ$0.55 cents a litre. No pests, flies or anything that wants to bite you. Bird life limited to crows, sparrows and screams of swifts every night. A lots of small shop owners have canaries in cages trilling away.

The food options are of a wider range in Istanbul but elsewhere very traditional Turkish. Asian restaurants are not allowed, very limited Italian. Turkish food very meat laden - lamb and chicken; ground, cubed, slow roast. A few potato dishes, grilled peppers, aubergine etc with tahini and every other condiment iteration you can imagine. Lots of flat breads and pita that have to be eaten same day unless your teeth are concreted in.

Some good salads which are a saving grace - pomegranates, tomato, an array of beans, quinoa etc. We have become quite the experts on salad bowls. Mezes are very small dishes of food that will cover a table for groups. Limited alchol, a beer if found say NZD $6.50 each but stonking 9% alchol.

Today we decided to take in the oldest church here, church of Forty Martyrs, Mardin Museum and the Zinciriye Mosque. Came across a market under the main street via steep stairs into the dark, only brave or stupid but worth it to see local trades beavering away.

Old boys sit on these chairs, drinking tea and rolling their prayer beads in their fingers later in the day.

Oldest area 600yrs old and packed

Repairing mens clothing. Another chap was making curtains but no photo

The church of Forty Martyrs is very old, 493 CE not in the best shape but probably understandable.

Mardin Museum not overwhelming and gave a good overview of this region. Somewhat spoilt by hysterical children whose noise volume bounced off the stone walls. We had lunch at one of the rooftop restaurants, humus and flatbread. This particular restaurant is known for its great view out towards the Metospotamia plain. Dust storms can reduce the view.

The Zinciriye Mosque was a beautiful building and a favoured spot for wedding photos.

Brides favour the meringue with mother of pearl and dimante inlaid. Quite the performance getting up the narrow stone stairwells, no handle rails. In fact being disbled here would be a nightmare, no facilites, uneven steps everwhere, no lifts.