23 July, Midyat to Hasankeyf, 44km
Has Bahçe 100TL (breakfast included)

At dinner last night we met a young man, a social worker helping homeless children. When we told him we were cycling through Turkey, he said he did not believe us, then turned to Charl and added: “She is woman; she cannot.” Half of today’s short distance was climbing, half was coasting, all of it on a beautifully graded road that sought and found the path of least resistance through hills sparse and dry. We took a coffee break at a permanent roadside stall alive with bamboo wind chimes tunking on a combination of cooling breeze and electric fans. Hasankeyf is a village of 3,500 people that sits between cliffs on the Tigris River. On the edge of town, when we caught our first glimpse of the Tigris, we stopped to admire the town’s setting and the caves and old cave-dwellings in the honey-coloured cliffs. We did not notice that we were standing astride our bikes opposite a military base until an armed soldier behind sandbags and barbed wire shouted for us to “Go, go”.

Between Midyat and Hasankeyf

Between Midyat and Hasankeyf

Between Midyat and Hasankeyf

Between Midyat and Hasankeyf

Hasankeyf and Tigris River from our motel room