Reminiscence from Anatolia- Part Twenty Four: In the cradle of civilization
I first heard of Yuvajali while surfing on thorn-tree forum.
Thorn-tree forum has been refuge while digging out information on my Levant trip… and Anatolia trip. It has been a treasure trove of information. I have always maintained that the best travel (and not tourism) information are not to be found on Lonely Planets, Footprints but on travel forum… where avid travelers talk to each other… there you find real information- on and off the beaten tracks.
It is near the Kurdish town of Hilvan… some 5-6 kilometers from it. An enterprising Alison Tanik, who runs a small tourism outfit ‘Nomad Travels’, arranges village home-stays in Yuvajali- a Kurdish village…
I contacted her once I landed up in Turkey… and she worked out a package for me… which was fetching me from Euphrates river crossing at Siveric- dropping me to Diyarbakir for sight-seeing- and then arranging a village home-stay in the night – and in the morning- after a breakfast dropping me to Sanliurfa… my next stop… all for USD 75. It seemed a shade expensive by backpacking standards… but the experience was something really unique. And I promised to myself… that I would come again to Yuvajali… with my family.
My first stop was at Alison’s house… she had made a dream-like cottage for her amidst a pistachio orchard… the location was so scenic… that I sighed out a cold breath.
Alison is a British national… and came to Turkey years ago and fell in love with the place… she never went back and settled in Turkey… marrying a gentle Omar… and recently the couple was blessed with a daughter, whom they named… INDIA. Life is full of surprises… meeting India in a remote village in South-East Turkey… who would have thought?
Alison offered me a hot cup of coffee… and then we spoke about a lot of issues… Kurdistan movement – which, according to her, was depleting… and then we moved to the topic of India… surprisingly, she was wonderfully well-read about India… and we shared an excellent discussion on India, its governance and the British effects on India… it was one of the most intellectual stimulating discussions discussion I had had in many years… I, thereafter, realized… Alison is a Cambridge alumnus… writes for Newsweek… and teaches, online, in host of US universities… ‘Nomad Tours’ is not a business- but a mission for her… to bring livelihood, employment and education in a distant Kurdish village… which thereafter replicates itself everywhere.
Yuvajali village is located a kilometer away from Alison’s house… presently Alison arranges village home-stay in Pero’s house… Pero, incidentally, is Omar’s sister… (Though recently, I heard from her… she has started arranging village home-stay in a few more homes in the village). Pero’s family consisted of husband Halil… and three sons- Faruk, Fatih, and Aylin.
It was wonderful meeting them all… the family was very kind… and went out of the way to make me comfortable… initially, though, I felt a hitch… I felt as if I am being too well-treated because I am a customer… but then later I realized that Kurdish hospitality in like this… a guest is always first and foremost.
It was, soon, time for dinner… a lavish dinner comprising of cottage cheese, honey, jaggery, country bread, rice, chicken and potato-puree was laid before me… Alison had earlier told me… that all the ingredients are from the village itself and nothing is brought from outside… the dinner was heavenly… it was after many days that I ate such a refreshing dinner… compared to it, the dinner at Cappadocia Carnival night was… too artificial.
I was tired because of continuous traveling… moreover I wanted to see the village in early morning… Alison told me that I can have breakfast at 9 am and then Omar would drive me down to Sanliurfa. So, she suggested me to wake by 6 am and have a walk around the village…
Yuvajali village lies in the Mesopotamian plains… the Euphrates flood plains… and adjacent to it is a small pond, which used to get flooded by floods every year… however, today, because of an upstream dam… floods don’t happen… the village pond- which was the only source of water for the village has dried- and water has become the biggest problem for the villagers… Yuvajali is on the verge of extinction…
What is even more worrying is that Yuvajali is not a new dwelling… but, like multitudes of its sister villages, is perhaps among the oldest villages in the history of mankind.
Euphrates flood plains are endless plains… but at some places, suddenly, some hillocks crops up… according to Archaeologists… such sudden change in contours are artificial… and hide a history. Pero’s house is located just below one such hillock.
About 50 kilometers, archaeologists dug one such hillock and found Gobekli Teppe… a 10000 years old pagan temple… which predates any other human dwelling… even the early Egyptian monuments… similarly, few years ago- there were heavy rains in Yuvajali… and this rain revealed some ancient Mesopotamian cuneiforms… Alison’s guess is that these cuneiforms were about 3-5000 years old… and they were revealed from the top soil of the hillock (and therefore are among the recent phases of history)… her eyes sparkled when she said… “Imagine what lies beneath the hillock… perhaps another Gobekli Teppe.”
I was sleeping in the cradle of perhaps, the first ever civilization in the world…
It is ironic that a water dam on Euphrates is going to destroy a 10000 year old way of life… for better or for worse… life, after such monumental changes… doesn’t remain the same… I don’t pass value judgments… still… we need to look back and question… some introspecting questions to ourselves as a society…
The Yuvajali pond… would never get flooded again… Alison told me… that people have started leaving the village… the new generation has moved to coastal Turkey… and would never come back… and if the pace is anything to go by… Yuvajali may become deserted in next 20 years… after almost 10000 years of existence.
Thorn-tree forum has been refuge while digging out information on my Levant trip… and Anatolia trip. It has been a treasure trove of information. I have always maintained that the best travel (and not tourism) information are not to be found on Lonely Planets, Footprints but on travel forum… where avid travelers talk to each other… there you find real information- on and off the beaten tracks.
It is near the Kurdish town of Hilvan… some 5-6 kilometers from it. An enterprising Alison Tanik, who runs a small tourism outfit ‘Nomad Travels’, arranges village home-stays in Yuvajali- a Kurdish village…
I contacted her once I landed up in Turkey… and she worked out a package for me… which was fetching me from Euphrates river crossing at Siveric- dropping me to Diyarbakir for sight-seeing- and then arranging a village home-stay in the night – and in the morning- after a breakfast dropping me to Sanliurfa… my next stop… all for USD 75. It seemed a shade expensive by backpacking standards… but the experience was something really unique. And I promised to myself… that I would come again to Yuvajali… with my family.
My first stop was at Alison’s house… she had made a dream-like cottage for her amidst a pistachio orchard… the location was so scenic… that I sighed out a cold breath.
Alison is a British national… and came to Turkey years ago and fell in love with the place… she never went back and settled in Turkey… marrying a gentle Omar… and recently the couple was blessed with a daughter, whom they named… INDIA. Life is full of surprises… meeting India in a remote village in South-East Turkey… who would have thought?
Alison offered me a hot cup of coffee… and then we spoke about a lot of issues… Kurdistan movement – which, according to her, was depleting… and then we moved to the topic of India… surprisingly, she was wonderfully well-read about India… and we shared an excellent discussion on India, its governance and the British effects on India… it was one of the most intellectual stimulating discussions discussion I had had in many years… I, thereafter, realized… Alison is a Cambridge alumnus… writes for Newsweek… and teaches, online, in host of US universities… ‘Nomad Tours’ is not a business- but a mission for her… to bring livelihood, employment and education in a distant Kurdish village… which thereafter replicates itself everywhere.
Yuvajali village is located a kilometer away from Alison’s house… presently Alison arranges village home-stay in Pero’s house… Pero, incidentally, is Omar’s sister… (Though recently, I heard from her… she has started arranging village home-stay in a few more homes in the village). Pero’s family consisted of husband Halil… and three sons- Faruk, Fatih, and Aylin.
It was wonderful meeting them all… the family was very kind… and went out of the way to make me comfortable… initially, though, I felt a hitch… I felt as if I am being too well-treated because I am a customer… but then later I realized that Kurdish hospitality in like this… a guest is always first and foremost.
It was, soon, time for dinner… a lavish dinner comprising of cottage cheese, honey, jaggery, country bread, rice, chicken and potato-puree was laid before me… Alison had earlier told me… that all the ingredients are from the village itself and nothing is brought from outside… the dinner was heavenly… it was after many days that I ate such a refreshing dinner… compared to it, the dinner at Cappadocia Carnival night was… too artificial.
I was tired because of continuous traveling… moreover I wanted to see the village in early morning… Alison told me that I can have breakfast at 9 am and then Omar would drive me down to Sanliurfa. So, she suggested me to wake by 6 am and have a walk around the village…
Yuvajali village lies in the Mesopotamian plains… the Euphrates flood plains… and adjacent to it is a small pond, which used to get flooded by floods every year… however, today, because of an upstream dam… floods don’t happen… the village pond- which was the only source of water for the village has dried- and water has become the biggest problem for the villagers… Yuvajali is on the verge of extinction…
What is even more worrying is that Yuvajali is not a new dwelling… but, like multitudes of its sister villages, is perhaps among the oldest villages in the history of mankind.
Euphrates flood plains are endless plains… but at some places, suddenly, some hillocks crops up… according to Archaeologists… such sudden change in contours are artificial… and hide a history. Pero’s house is located just below one such hillock.
About 50 kilometers, archaeologists dug one such hillock and found Gobekli Teppe… a 10000 years old pagan temple… which predates any other human dwelling… even the early Egyptian monuments… similarly, few years ago- there were heavy rains in Yuvajali… and this rain revealed some ancient Mesopotamian cuneiforms… Alison’s guess is that these cuneiforms were about 3-5000 years old… and they were revealed from the top soil of the hillock (and therefore are among the recent phases of history)… her eyes sparkled when she said… “Imagine what lies beneath the hillock… perhaps another Gobekli Teppe.”
I was sleeping in the cradle of perhaps, the first ever civilization in the world…
It is ironic that a water dam on Euphrates is going to destroy a 10000 year old way of life… for better or for worse… life, after such monumental changes… doesn’t remain the same… I don’t pass value judgments… still… we need to look back and question… some introspecting questions to ourselves as a society…
The Yuvajali pond… would never get flooded again… Alison told me… that people have started leaving the village… the new generation has moved to coastal Turkey… and would never come back… and if the pace is anything to go by… Yuvajali may become deserted in next 20 years… after almost 10000 years of existence.
1 comment:
Reading your blogs after a long gap and its quite rfreshing. Your writings are as good as an encyclopedia or wiki in itself...
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