19 July, Kiziltepe to Mardin, 20km (+6km by car)
MardinKale Pansiyon 50TL (negotiated down from 60TL)
An act of kindness made our day tolerable.
Neither of us is feeling very well, but Charl has been feverish and today felt
particularly blah and slow on the bike. Twenty flat kms took us to the base of
the hill on which Mardin perches around 900m above Kiziltepe. I am not sure
exactly what happened, but as a result of eye contact Charl made with the
driver of a VW Caddy, a look of despair and entreaty no doubt, the driver
offered us a ride up the steep 6km hill that lay ahead of us and dropped us in
the centre of this citadel town. He spoke no English, but chatted away to us
and took us to visit one of Mardin’s many historical buildings before handing
us his card and gesturing that we could phone him at any time. He obviously
took a shine to us as when he said his goodbyes, he shook our hands and kissed
us both on both our cheeks. As I said, an act of kindness... It took us nearly
two hours to find a hotel we could afford. Mardin is popular with wealthy local
tourists and most of her accommodation is in boutique hotels. We only found two
cheapies: one with shared squat loos and one slightly out of the centre, which
we took, thrilled with the aircon, fridge and private bathroom for just 50TL. In
the evening we managed to track down a beer for Charl, the first in a week or two,
which came with a stunning view of the town to the north and the Mesopotamia
plain to the south.
Mardin
Mardin
Mardin
Mardin
Mesopotamia