20 July, Mardin
MardinKale Pansiyon 50TL (negotiated down from 60TL)
What a super rest day. We strolled up the hill
and along the main road of the old city, which clings to the hillside below the
castle. A çay evi shaded by trees and overlooking Mesopotamia was open and
served us Nescafe, the owner unperturbed by us eating our fruit breakfast at
his table: bananas, cherries and peaches. Then to Mardin’s museum, located in a
beautifully restored and modernised old sandstone building. Assyrian Christians
settled in Mardin in the mid-15th century. While few remain, Mardin’s museum
speaks with pride of various religious and other groups and the tolerance
practised in the town. We lunched well at a place that served Charl’s beer in a
pewter mug usually used to serve Ayran, a yoghurt drink, the proprietor
explaining that passing Turks might be offended if they saw him drinking beer
before sunset.
Mardin
Mardin
Mardin museum
Mardin museum
Charl drinking from Ayran cup