Dispatches - 28 September 2025 - Southeast Turkey

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Weekly Dispatch

I'm currently sitting in Şanlıurfa,Turkey, east of Mardin and still relatively close to the Syrian border. I move to Elazig tomorrow, which is a bit further north. This past week in Turkey has been both busy and not at the same time. I finished my time in Mardin, zipped through Diyarbakir, and am now about to end a hit-and-run stop in Şanlıurfa. It has been an interesting time learning about Islamic, Seljuk, and Ottoman history, which is the point of this leg of the Wayfarer Expedition. So, let's catch up.

In Mardin (after my last dispatch), I visited some old sites (go figure). The Deyrulzafaran Monastery, about five kilometres east of town, was the highlight. This monastery was built in the 400s on the site of an older temple under the Byzantine Empire. Even though the monastery doesn't have cloistered nuns like many of a similar age in Europe, it still holds Syriac Orthodox services (Syriac Orthodox having been the main Christian sect in this region since basically Jesus's resurrection). It took about 90 minutes to walk there in southern Turkish sun, but it wasn't too bad. I got to enjoy the Turkish countryside and see people living their everyday lives. Walking by the schools in the outlying villages made me smile as I saw children hard at play and free from any worry in the world. I have to admit, I was a bit worried about a confrontation with the police, but I guess enough people make the walk that they don't worry about it. I was fortunate to be picked up about 500 meters before reaching the monastery by a security guard on his way to work. I wasn't his first passenger; an Austrian man named Georg was also walking the five kilometres and was now sitting in the front seat. I experienced the very same when leaving the monastery. A young man saw me walking and pulled me onto the back of his motorbike (hat and all!). He took me halfway, apologizing for not making the full trip. He didn't have a driver's license, so he wasn't going to go near the city. All of this was through Google Translate, by the way. I tried to offer him money for gas, but he was having none of it. That's just how things are done here.

In Diyarbakir, I found myself in one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Diyarbakir’s old city walls are over 3,000 years old, and no one knows who built them originally. Of course, they have been built upon, reconstructed, renovated, and restored over the past few millennia, but the fact that they are 90% intact was amazing. The old city was a mix of modern meets ancient, with centuries-old mosques right beside fancy jewellery stores. Remarkably, the infrastructure looked nothing like Mardin or anywhere else I had visited in Turkey previously. The old buildings were a dark grey stone with lighter caulking holding them together. That was nearly universal, from Syriac churches to minarets to hans (a style of bazaar). Granted, this was probably done as a part of a larger renovation and preservation effort, but it was still interesting.

I also had tea with an Imam by chance. While waiting outside one mosque for prayers to end, I sat on the edge of the mosque's stone deck. When prayers ended, the Imam walked with his brothers outside, saw me, and invited me in (in English). As I was leaving, he offered tea in his chambers. Now, most people back home would be wary of this, and understandably so, but I knew that tea with an Imam was a rare opportunity and that he would not let any harm come to me. But first, he was bombarded with paperwork from one of his assistants, which I found funny. We often forget that our church leaders (be they priests, pastors, rabbi, or Imams) have to take care of business, too, even though we don't see that part of their jobs. He apologized profusely, but it was no matter for me. I didn't have anywhere pressing to be. When he finally finished, we sat on his couch and talked about our countries, my travels, and Islam. He explained the basic tenets of the faith to me, answered many of my questions, and even gave me a small Qur'an (he tried to give me a big one, but I told him I didn't have room for it (which I didn't)). I was actually happy to receive the small Qur'an in English. There aren't many easy-to-read English translations out there, something he lamented, so I had given up hope of delving into in while in Turkey. Now, I can.

Now, I adhere to the notion that I do not actively participate in other religions' practices outside of being generally respectful. That said, many Muslims revere the Qur'an, so I wanted to be sure I didn't offend anyone by putting it in my backpack or accidentally damaging it. When I asked the Imam how I could best respect the Qur'an he had given me, he waved his hand in dismissal. "This is just a book. It is what is inside the book that matters." I really appreciated that sentiment, especially coming from my background in counterterrorism. I told him early in our conversation that one reason I was learning about Islam was because my only experience with it is from the extremist terrorist version. In that version, putting the Qur'an in my backpack was a level of apostacy, blasphemy, and extreme disrespect for Allah. He lamented that that was my experience, but was glad to see that I recognised that it wasn't representative of every Muslim. Still, he said, it was just a book. Just put it in my backpack.

The past two days (day and a half, really), I have been in Şanlıurfa. This is a highly-important city in Islam, because it contains the cave where Abraham was born (according to Islamic tradition) and the pit where he was cast into the fire by Nimrod, King of Babylon (again, according to Islamic tradition). That area of town, called Balıklıgöl, was packed with people during my entire stay, and the mosque beside the cave attracted TONS of people at prayer time. It wasn't lost on me that there were still a great number of people around Balıklıgöl that didn't heed the call to prayer even with the several mosques around the site (my conservative count was five, but I'm sure there were more). I visited the cave, which was small (it's a cave, after all), which was cool to see, even if I didn't believe in the Islamic tradition, and several mosques. I got the distinct impression they don't get a ton of Western tourists around here based on the stares from old men and young kids alike. One young child in a stroller was throwing a fit until he saw me walk by with my Akubra on. He immediately quieted and stared with curiosity. You're welcome, random parents!

Tomorrow, I head to Elazig. This will be the last city where I arrive, spend a day, and then leave. That was fine on the Camino de Santiago when the bus rides were only 30-60 minutes, but these cities are hours apart. I certainly don't want to wear myself out to the point exhaustion puts me down like I did on my last trip through Turkey.

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Check out this week's YouTube video!

Wayfarer Packing Series: My Clothing | Talking My Choice of Travel Pants, Shirts, Underwear, & Socks

And be sure to check out these from The Great Gallivanting!

Travel Adventure: Egypt Tour - Part 1 | Exploring the Pyramids, Aswan, and the Nile

Travel Adventure: Egypt Tour - Part 2 | Luxor, the Valley of the Kings, and Our Last Days Together