We leave Antep with a Felix so dirty that we are almost embarrassed. Not that Gaziantep has made our Felix dirty. No, our Felix hasn't had an outside wash since Switzerland. Snow and road salt in Germany and Austria, rain in Hungary, bumpy roads in Bulgaria and Serbia and dusty areas in Greece and Turkey have left a romantically dirty adventure patina on our van. The problem: we can't even open the door without getting dirty ourselves.
So while we have breakfast at some rest stop, Felix gets a little spa treatment with a hose and broom. My boots are also polished to a shine.
And all this just to drive through the muddiest and rainiest city of our journey exactly 10 minutes later. And even some well-maintained roads suddenly end. In true Turkish fashion, the route then quickly leads along sandy (and today muddy) bypass roads. But: we tried, with a clean car. Good will counts!
We arrive in Harran. The town (or rather, we think, the village) may be familiar to some from biblical stories - it is thought to be the place where Abraham lived before he moved to Canaan. This connection gives the city a deep spiritual significance and attracts religious historians and pilgrims alike. I myself have no idea why I chose this place weeks ago. I probably read about it somewhere. I was impressed by the pictures. I have no idea. I should make more notes in my notes.
Throughout its history, Harran has been part of various empires - from the Assyrian to the Persian. These diverse cultural influences made Harran an important centre of trade and science. Particularly noteworthy is the city's role as a centre for astronomy and education, especially during the Islamic heyday.
In the Middle Ages, the University of Harran was an outstanding centre of knowledge, famous for its contributions to philosophy, medicine and science. The madrasa, considered the oldest university in the Islamic world, attracted scholars from all over the Islamic world and played a crucial role in the preservation and transmission of knowledge.
Today, the university is being excavated again and made accessible to tourists. However, we are standing in front of tiny pieces of the excavation, there is still a lot to do. We are actually standing on a field of rubble.
The people here mainly speak Arabic and we meet a family whose origins go back several generations to Iraq, not far from here.
The beehive houses are particularly beautiful. We are reminded of the ones in Italy, where they were called trulli. Here, these houses, which we are also allowed to visit briefly, are adapted to the climatic conditions. In summer - we are told that it can get up to 50 degrees Celsius and more here - they stay nice and cool inside and in the mild but still cool winter they can be heated well. They are excellent places to live.
Unfortunately, a strange incident occurred after the tour, which will leave us with somewhat bad or at least unpleasant memories of Harran. Unfortunately, we had not negotiated the price of the tour in advance. And stupidly, the half-hour guided tour of the scree field in question was not good at all (we had done a lot of research on Wikipedia beforehand). And at the end, the guide said he wanted 50 euros per person. Anything less would be embarrassing and more of a tip. No bargaining: Not a chance. He then got really angry and we had the feeling that he wanted to protect his pride in front of the others rather than negotiate with us.
We then gave him the equivalent of 20 euros (which, as we later learnt from Turkish friends, was far too much), he waved his arms around and didn't want the money. He would rather give it to us than be fobbed off with so little money.
I then quickly paid the women for the tea, we gave the children a football (we had promised beforehand and the kids couldn't help it) and rolled out of the yard.
It felt strange. Very strange.
On the long road towards Şanlıurfa, it was very quiet in our van. We both had a bad feeling. And didn't know what to do with it. A shitty feeling, to be honest.
We start talking about it. We think about strategies for dealing with it in future and then we both decide that we will always negotiate the price beforehand in future. And if that doesn't work, then we simply won't use the service. Yes, that feels good. And we feel better.
A small addendum: We talk to Turkish friends about it later and our solution for dealing with it is also approved by them. So, our little traveller world is back in order.
Merci for "travelling with us
We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.
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