I apologize to all those who have been checking back dilligently. (Jeanne - thank you for your loyalty)
So I think that I'll update on my trip around Istanbul and my trip to Gallipoli and Troy in future posts. This one will be devoted to my trip to the southeastern part of Turkey and my voyage to the town of Dohuk in Iraqi Kurdistan.
How's a mini-series sound. A few episodes of 600-800 words each? Agreed? Okie dokie.
I had originally planned to go to Diyarbakir, the capital of Turkish Kurdistan, for the weekend falling on the Iranian/Kurdish New Year, Newroz (3/21/09). It was slated to be fantastic by a friend who had studied abroad in Turkey during spring of last year. A day after I booked my flight, however, Tim, another undergrad study abroad here, suggested that we change our primary destination to Iraq instead. Shocked, I wondered aloud how we would do such a thing - visas, transportation, death - you know, minor details.
He told me about a website called backpackiraq.blogspot.com, so we went to it to check it out. Loh and behold! Iraq actually sounded feasible.
So we planned out our trip, crossed our i's and dotted our t's, and left Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul at 6.45am on Thursday. We arrived in Diyarbakir a couple hours later to meet Tim's friend Mehmet, who graciously met us at the airport, took us to the bus station (across town) to buy our bus tickets to the border, and then showed us to a great breakfast stop for some nosh. Our bus wasn't leaving for a few hours, so we ate in peace and tried to get Mehmet to eat some food too - he's a fairly thin guy, so we wanted to beef him up American style. He wasn't having it because he'd already eaten breakfast. Mehmet - I'm gonna take you out to a big dinner next time I see you.
The time to go to the bus arrives and we head on over. We see a few busses around, most of which are the normal 50 passenger size "luxury" busses. There are also a few smaller (20 person) shuttles. Suddenly, another (smaller) shuttle pulls up. There are already a bunch of people in it, but Mehmet tells us that it was our bus. We get in with our backpacking backpacks and attempt to find a couple seats. I asked a fellow passenger how long the trip would be - 4 hours he replied. I thought to myself, "Well... I guess I better jostle for the most comfortable position, cause this is gonna be a loooooong ride. Couldn't see out the windows, couldn't tell what was going on, speed bumps really sucked. If you've ever been on a "chicken bus" in Guatemala or any other Central American country, you know the type of feeling I'm talking about. Ready for Iraq baby!
We traveled about 10 minutes through town and then stopped. Now, I've been on Turkish busses before, and they don't like to go long distances in one stretch. They take rest stops early and often, but this was unprecedented. 10 minutes? Not out of the city yet? I thought. I guess this is what you get for 20 TL ($13). Then I realized that everyone was getting out and going to a larger luxury bus... oh. Whoops. My bad. I took my bag, put it underneath, and hopped on. Tim and I both got two seats each to ourselves. Score! We departed a few minutes later for Silopi, the town on the Turkish side of the Turkey-Iraq border.
Next time - The bus ride and border crossing. Fun times with the local taxi cartel and pictures! No pics of getting on the bus to Silopi...
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