Day two: Antakya-Şanlıurfa

The sun woke me up today by shining straight through the window - it was already very strong at 7.30. I had breakfast and walked over the street to the archeological museum, which was really interesting. The mosaics were as impressive as the ones at the Bardo museum in Tunis and there were other objects of antiquity as well, such as a sarchophagus. There were only about three other tourists and I spent less than an hour inside.

After the museum, it was time to move on. I checked out of the hotel and bought myself some food for the trip. Finding out which of the local buses went to the long-haul bus depot wasn't as easy as I thought but I finally found the right one and rode with the locals back to where I arrived yesterday from Aleppo. I liked Antakya and the people were helpful - as a matter of fact, the only person who didn't help me a bit was a policeman. Go figure.

The bus was big and new and left the station punctually at 11. At first, there were hardly any other passengers, but gradually the bus got fuller as people got on from what to me looked like the middle of nowhere. We started climbing steadily once we were outside Antakya, and to my surprise the driver went via Iskenderun, so I got a good look at the Mediterranean.

After that, though, we finally headed east and the bus didn't stop so much anymore. The road was narrow and boiling in the sun - close to 40 degrees celsius - and we went through hilly country which meant several tunnels and bridges. The service on the bus was great - the onboard assistant kept pouring some sort of cleaning oil on everybody's hands and bringing drinks for free. A well-built Muslim woman behind me was all the time trying to catch some sleep but the assistant was getting furious at her because her feet were blocking the corridor. In the end, she just stuck them through the two seats I was occupying. At one point she sort of collapsed on the floor and I thought she was going to be sick, but she had just spread out a small carpet and was possibly praying. Whatever she was up to, she most certainly wasn't facing Mecca.

Just before crossing the Euphrates, we stopped at a gas station for about half an hour and everyone went to relieve themselves and get something to eat. The river offered a nice change of scenery, but soon afterward we were back in desert country again (no more mountains). Until just before arriving in Sanliurfa it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, but then suddenly we pulled in at the otogar (bus station). The trip took exactly six hours and the bus then continued all the way to Diyarbakir, which is supposed to be a gloomy place as well as dangerous because it's the centre of the Kurdish insurgency.

The otogar was extremely confusing and I had to ask around about how to get to the centre. Once again, I was given a lift for free - I don't even know whether it was an official city bus or just someone's private van. I know it sounds a little suspicious, but let's just say I could see I could trust them. I'm staying at Hotel Ipek Palas - the price is the same as in Antakya (I just asked for a discount and they gave it to me - talk about persuading skills) and it's surrounded by several barbershops; perhaps a pressing hint to do something adventurous with my hair?

The first place I visited was the company which runs the trips to Mount Nemrut - sure enough, it's run by a local teacher who isn't very modest about the fact his services are all over the Lonely Planet guides. I came out slightly deflated because he told me there needed to be four tourists for the trip to be done and they hadn't been any trips in a whole week. However, I'm going to ask again tomorrow and I already saw another agency which runs tours there. And if it doesn't work out, I'll have to change my plans and take a bus somewhere near the mountain and take a tour from there.

This is an interesting city. I walked through the main street past all the shops and services until I came to the bazaar. I sort of went around it and came to a huge park which is something of a main attraction here. At the centre of the park, which was really cool and pleasant in the evening climate, are the Pools of Sacred Carp - probably one of the most unusual names for a tourist attraction I have ever heard. Sure enough, the pools are FULL of the stuff - At places it looked to me like there was more fish than water. It looked like a place where locals like to go for a walk and I also saw some other tourists, but they all looked Turkish. Some boys were selling fish food to throw into the pools and many people were doing that, but the sight of all those fish flapping on top of each other to get the food would have probably made many feel slightly squeamish.

The pools are connected with each other through rivers and there are at least two old mosques next to the park - one can also see the castle which is high above the city. I should try to go there tomorrow. I will also definitely go to see the pools again and explore more of the park. The bazaar should also be interesting. I was approached by a local who was studying English and wanted to try it out on me. He owned a textile store for winter clothes. Understandably, business was slow. It was difficult to imagine this place in winter - indeed, I think I have come to the hottest place in all of Turkey! After walking around, I finally had a warm meal at a restaurant next to the hotel.

The nicest thing about this trip is visiting places I know absolutely nothing about. Antakya and Sanliurfa feel like very secluded worlds, minding their own business and oblivious to the outside world. It's like they know the world isn't making a big fuss about them but they don't really care. I was looking at a map of Turkey today and I realised how far to the east this country spreads. One can hardly say I'm in Eastern Turkey, it's more like Central Turkey. People seem to only know about the Turkey of the west, around Istanbul and the beach resorts of the Mediterranean. But who has ever heard of Sanliurfa, or Van with its huge lake, or the other cities close to the Iranian and Iraqi borders? I feel like I have really come somewhere special.