Hasankeyf (and also Batman)

Remember my shameless shot under the Batman bus company sign a while back? 

Two hours notice and no Sunday plans is apparently all it takes to get me on an overnight bus to a place with a story-worthy name. A couple of Fulbighters blazed though Antep and my apartment a couple weekends ago and I jumped in on their far east venture. It was quite a ride (especially the three hours of inexplicable standstill on the side of the road on the way back, but I’m not complaining about the opportunity to finish my book and pee out under the stars for the first time in Turkey) and I really appreciated the opportunity to spend some time in a Kurdish majority area for the first time.

Sunrise ruin wandering amid many birds was pleasantly pastoral and made for some spectacular photo opps.

Turns out Batman sort of sucks. It really just cropped up in the mid '50s because somebody struck some oil ('bat-'=some form of the verb for 'to sink'--roughly). So, I took these (still gratifying) photos and peaced.

Took off here, to Hasankeyf for some khavaltı by the Tigris (missions to the cradle, complete). By the way, breakfast at 7 am in the town of Hasankeyf in January pretty much means simit (a sort of bready ring covered in sesame seeds) that rode into town on our bus under the care of some preteen kid. And a little çay--tabiki.

Note the nest. What a BA bird, eh? The town has named him.
Apparently the crane has been presiding over the minaret for ten years and counting.

"Lavabo var mı?"    "Camii"

"Is there a bathroom?"    "[at the]Mosque"

Like Cappadocia but less commercialized and a few caves are still inhabited.
Satellites have been precariously attached.

Overnight bus rides mean chilly early morning arrivals amı friggin' glorious morning wandering too.

Hasankeyf is an endangered site. Plans to flood the Tigris and the ancient Persian/Kurdish/Turkish town into underwater oblivion are in the works. I've seen it before in Halfeti nearer to Gaziantep. It's all part of a complicated Eastern Anatolia Project to bring more water and energy to the rural underdeveloped areas of far east Turkey.
And the battle between historical heritage and modern enfranchisement rages complexly on.
In any case, Yeni Hasankeyf (new Hasankeyf) is under construction up yonder hill. Relocation is scheduled for about fifteen years from now. Or so our three 14-year-old buddies told us.

Friggin' badass, right?!

Just fishin' in the Cradle. The colors of the river get me every time. Far out.

Our strapping guides. Speakers of Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, and a bit of English. Impressive 14-year-olds, I'll tell you. We quickly made buddies and they talked our ears off on this place and showed us the best views. Çok tatlı ve helpful, ya!

The little meringue dollop of a building in the distance is a cool Persian tomb the likes of which is rare in Turkey but sometimes found in the far eastern parts of the country.

Turkish
Kurdish
English
Arabic.
(That's cool, man.)
P.S. This is officially my best ever photo from a bus window.