More hitching, more couchsurfing and the world's oldest temple - Goodbye Turkey!

So, what has happened during the last week? Well, I made one final stop in Urfa, Turkey and then crossed the border to the Syrian city of Aleppo, my current location.

Urfa was meant to be a short stop following the recommendation by the Kurdish owner of the kebab shop in my home town. I had planned to go there by bus from Diyarbakir, but I couldn't face all the ticket touts that started competing for my attention as soon as they saw me outside the Diyarbakir bus terminal. Too much shouting, too much arm-pulling... so I decided to hitch instead. A few kilometres down the road three Kurds picked me up and gave me a ride to the a nearby police check point on the road. I didn't really know why they dropped me off there, but it didn't matter anyway as one of the police guys actually helped me to get a ride to Urfa. He stopped some of the cars, enquired where they were going and 10 minutes later I was sitting in the car with Suleman who droped me 2 hours later in the centre of Urfa... sweet! Actually, the ride was a bit awkward. I don't think Suleman would have given me a lift if the police officer hadn't stopped and asked him, so he had done the police dude a favour, not me. On top of that we had virtually no way to communicate, so I could not even offer him a conversation in return (which I am sure he would not have minded because after an hour or so he started yawning like hell). Anyway, he put a CD on after some time and later I passed him my phone with Halil on the other end, a potential couchsurfing host in Urfa. Between the two they sorted out where I would get dropped off in Urfa.

It was Saturday afternoon and I was standing on the pavement in downtown Urfa, waiting for Halil. With my big backpack on my shoulders people looked at me like I was a visitor from outer space who got lost in a foreign world. During the 10 minutes wait until Halil showed up I got offered help three times; people gave me their cell phone numbers in case I needed help later on, they offered me to take me to internet places and a middle-aged headscarf wearing woman even offered me her phone in case I wanted to ring someone. It was just amazing! Halil spotted me right away on the crowded pavement and before anyone else of the friendly Urfa people would invite me to their home he took me to Semih's place, one of his friends that I ended up staying with for the next 5 days. I think in total I met like eight or nine of Halil's friends during these days, most of them being students and/or teachers of some kind, a pretty crazy but warm and welcoming bunch. For most of the time I had my own key to Semih's flat, which was also home to the communal chill-out lounge called “The David Lynch Cinema”. What a place! We would often hang out there till late in the night, watching football on a beamer system whilst listening to lots of Goth and metal music. All the flats around us were apparently used as offices, so cranking up the volume did not annoy anyone. Only very few of the guys spoke English, but no matter what flat we were in there was always a computer with internet connection around and we could use the “google translate” service when it got too complicated.

Watching Semih's and Osman's shopping that they dumped on the street whilst they were organising a few more bits and pieces for their new flat

Goodbye meal with Halil, Semih and friends in Urfa

During my stay in Urfa I heard about a place called Göbekli Tepe, a site outside the city in the mountains where a German-Turkish research team had discovered stone temple structures dating back to 9000-10000B.C. Of course I had to go there to check it out! I made a map of how to get there, involving public transport and a 24km return hike. I ended up walking only 10km and the remaining distance I got driven around in a school bus and a private car - people are just so friendly! Once at the site you couldn't actually get close enough to touch any of the ancient structures (a lot of the area was covered up as the excavations are still ongoing, although currently they are on hold) but it was still a pretty good feeling to be there in the middle of nowhere where history gets rewritten.

Göbekli Tepe and its T-shaped stones. Separated from a stone that was erected more than 11000 years ago. The fence couldn't stop my shadow though :)

Water canal on the way back from Göbekli Tepe. With a huge number of dams and a canal network Turkey has tried to change large areas from dry to wet agriculture to increase yields.

Having spent four weeks in Turkey it was time to move on, although I easily could have spent the rest of my trip there without getting bored or disappointed. But my trip isn't open-end any more and I am too excited to see Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. And so I left Turkey with the desire to go back soon but at same time looking forward to the unknown adventures waiting for me in Syria and beyond.

First challenge in Syria, which toilet entrance is for men?