Mor Gabriel

 Our reason to be in this part of Turkey was to visit the Tur Abdin area. 'Tur Abdin' means mountain of the servants (of God). Numerous churches and monasteries can be found in this area. Almost 100 years ago, the British explorer, Gertrude bell spent significant time here surveying all the monasteries and leaving a legacy of her findings. Most of the buildings were in bad shap but of late money has been sent back from the Syriac diaspora all over the world to restore most of the monasteries. Today Mor Gabriel, the principal monastery in the area is beautifully and lovingly restored. Not too many visitors come here but on the day of our visit, we crossed paths with a French group and an Italian group. It was quite heartening to see. There is a bus between Midyat and Cizre that stop on the main road just one mile from Mor Gabriel. We took the bus, got dropped off and was going to walk the mile to the monastery when a tour bus stopped to give us a lift. It belonged to a French group. That was so nice of them.

 Part of the church was built by Empress Theodora, Justinian's wife.

In the dining area there was this painting of the last supper. We didn't have a guide, so we followed the Italian group, their guide spoke some English.Gertrude Bell wouldn't be able to regconise this place if she came back today.

Old Midyat

 Old Midyat is run down but charming, full of old buildings which are being used as sheds for the sheep. It's quite a pity that no one has come forward to restore these beautiful buildings. The locals live in newer and ugly concrete blocks. Its a poor area but the churches are all being restored with money sent home from abroad.

 We were not always welcomed in some of the places that we visit. This boy is trying to throw some eggs at us.

One can only walk around old Midyat. We stayed in the new part of town called 'estel'. There are 2 bus stations, the one at old Midyat and the one at Estel. Our hotel was right next to the Estel Otogar which makes quite convenient. However to get to some places we had to go to old Midyat.

The tombs

 And we continue to dawdle along the river bank....

 We saw this tomb and walked up to examine it...

 In the distance we saw a lovelier and more unusual tomb....we walked closer...

 A Seljuk tomb, with some of its blue tiles still intact, and so beautiful....

 Head stone with ancient script....

The interior of the tomb. It is truly a beautiful monument.

Hasankeyf

 What is any tourist site without the souvenir shops?

 The old mosque and minaret.

 The troglodyte area which is now closed because of unsafe conditions. People still live in caves in the areas nearby.

It is a small site but absolutely stunning in beauty. It's a sad thing if it one day is submerged.

The clash of the old and the new

Throughout our trip to the south, our mini buses has to slow down to let pass the various herds of sheep and goats. Here it wasn't any different, this herd of sheep and goats came charging through. It was fun to watch. This is why Anatolia is so fascinating, travel is easy and quite comfortable and we still see rural village life.

Turkish hospitality

I've seen this in Morocco too, families having picnics on Sundays. Here this sweet lady poured out tea for us. She didn't have any sugar so she went to the next family to borrow some. The gesture, though simple, was so overwhelming.