Since we have a few weeks until Christmas, when we want to be back with our families, we decided to take a short detour while travelling west through Turkey. So, we head south to Lake Van, as we heard good things about the region. However, we’re quite disappointed. We don’t find the area particularly special, and it’s extremely dirty. The amount of rubbish is almost unbearable. Additionally, it seems that people here burn rubbish, or at least very poor quality wood, to heat their homes. Every day in the late afternoon, a dome of smoke hangs over virtually every village, making it increasingly difficult to find a proper place to camp.
We find a hotel in Van where we can take a shower, before heading straight southwest towards Hasankeyf. The city, which is located on the banks of the Tigris River, no longer exists in its original state. Over the last 15 years, the massive GAP dam project has led to Hasankeyf being entirely flooded, and it now lies beneath the dammed-up river. A new city has been built further upstream, and thanks to significant international support, some of the ancient city’s remains have been evacuated and are now housed in a museum. We spend a few hours exploring the city ruins further uphill on the southern shore, where we also parked for the night.
After a few hours’ driving the next morning, we reach our rather remarkable destination. We were now in the far south-east of Turkey, only a few tens of kilometres from the border triangle of Turkey, Iraq and Syria. Here lies Mor Gabriel Monastery. Founded in 397 AD, the Syriac Orthodox monastery is one of the oldest Assyrian monasteries in the world, as well as being one of the oldest continuously active Christian monasteries in existence. This also demonstrates the cultural richness of this region of the Middle East.
For the next few hundred kilometres, we’re driving alongside the Syrian border. Although we feel quite safe – interestingly, there was a much stronger military presence near the Iranian border in the Van region – we’re not comfortable wild-camping. So, we head to the city of Mardin, only a few hours from Mor Gabriel. Here, we stay at a campsite and explore the picturesque old town on the slopes of the mountain. We also eat some of the best food of our entire journey, and the meze at the Lummi restaurant makes us regret not visiting the Arabian Peninsula. But there’ll always be another journey…