Reminiscence from Anatolia- Part Twenty Five: Reaching Urfa
The next morning I woke up at 6am… and went for a stroll in the village… Faruk could speak a little bit of English… even though in monosyllables.
Our first destination was the mound behind Pero’s house… it was about 30 meters high… the slope was gentle… and while walking up the mound… I could see, here and there, some pottery pieces… I remembered Alison’s word… quite a few of them could be almost 1000 year old… it was a humbling experience to walk amidst the littering of history. Equally humbling were the views of endless Euphrates flood plains from atop the mound… almost endless… where-ever I looked till the horizons… it was plain… green.
Earliest Civilizations were all river-based… these rivers- Nile, Euphrates or Indus… had vast flood plains amidst desert… and thus they provided much needed fertility. However, they did something more important… they used to flood regularly… thus providing water beyond their immediate surroundings- and did not let dense vegetation to survive… and therefore allowing easy agriculture in their flood plains. In comparison Gangetic Civilization came much later because Ganges did not use to flood regularly… and therefore allowed very dense grasses/bushes to grow in its vicinity… so man had to wait for the invention of iron-based tools to use these areas… to cut grasses etc.
Thereafter, we took a walk around the village… met many people… who were starting their daily chores… it was a beautiful village… almost like an Indian village… with kind people… smiling and welcoming us anywhere we went.
After an aimless walk we went to the village pond… which has almost dried up… Faruk told me that every year villagers dig the pond a wee bit deeper to find some more of water… and somehow things keep on moving for them. But now the water has become a scarce commodity… A few years ago the local government arranged piped water for the village and constructed a reservoir at the top of mound… but that water is only able to meet the personal needs of the villagers and not the irrigational needs.
I asked him if he wanted to stay back in the village… he refused… and said that nearly every second house-hold in the village has at least one young male-member working in cities… he said that there is very little of future left in the village.
It was time to move back… we went home… (And I purposely call it home, because I had started feeling as comfortable therein) and I got ready to move…
At 8:30 am Alison and Omar joined us for breakfast… the breakfast like yesterday’s dinner was fabulous and lavish… the cheese was absolutely delicious and melted in my mouth… the fruits smelled fresh and sweet… I stuffed myself… not sure if I’d good such a home-like food anytime soon.
Alison asked for my honest opinion and I told her… I relished being here… and promised to keep in touch and be back with my family soon… I hugged Hilal, Faruk and Fatih and said good bye… it was time to move… when I was going Pero said that she was very happy that she had an Indian visitor for the first time… she said that unlike other visitors, I did not have any problem in adjusting with her family… and frugal facilities like squat toilet and eating with hands… I smiled… and said something from the bottom of my heart… I felt as if I was in India…
Omar drove me to Urfa… my next destination… before starting I asked Alison if she could recommend me a place to stay… She said that there is one Lizbon Guest House… however; she warned that Aziz- its owner- is a wee bit eccentric. But the Guest House is cheap and comfortable…. So! Lizbon it was….
We stopped briefly in Hilvan… where Omar showed me a Kurdish wedding… almost like the one which I had seen in Diyarbakir… thereafter, we restarted our journey to Urfa… 50 kilometers away.
We reached Urfa at noon… Omar dropped me in a street leading to Lizbon… I waved him good bye… and started searching for Lizbon.
Much of Urfa (the older parts) is built on a hill. The newer parts of Urfa, however, have been built in the plains surrounding it… and smaller hills in the vicinity. Searching for Lizbon in the old city, therefore, entailed a small walk uphill… which lead me to the gate of Lizbon.
The door was opened by an old lady… Aziz’s wife… she gave me a room to stay… and told me that Aziz is out on a trip with two Dutch tourists… to Gobekli Teppe and Harran. I sighed… I missed an opportunity to see these places… both the places are not served well by public transport (Harran, may be… but not surely Gobekli Teppe)… and are the biggest attractions in Urfa.
Urfa, according to legends, is the birth and the resting place of Prophet Abraham… and Harran some 60 kilometers away in South… was a place where he rested and preached for monotheism, while going on a Hajj to Mecca.
Apart from Harran, Urfa is famous for one more place… a pond full of fishes…. When, Prophet Abraham started preaching monotheism… the pagan king of Urfa got annoyed and order that Prophet Abraham should be thrown into fire. But when he was thrown, Allah intervened … the fire turned into a pond… and the burning charcoal into fishes… the pond remains. With thousands and thousands of fishes… it is believed that if somebody catches a fish from the pond… he would go blind.
After a quick lunch at Lizbon… it was time for some outing… to see the pond- the birth and resting place of Prophet Abraham… and then the Urfa citadel and the souk of Urfa.
Urfa lies at the Turkish-Arab frontier… it is very difficult to decide whether culturally its Kurdish or Arab… perhaps a mix… I felt very comfortable speaking Arabic in Urfa… quite a few people understood me.
Our first destination was the mound behind Pero’s house… it was about 30 meters high… the slope was gentle… and while walking up the mound… I could see, here and there, some pottery pieces… I remembered Alison’s word… quite a few of them could be almost 1000 year old… it was a humbling experience to walk amidst the littering of history. Equally humbling were the views of endless Euphrates flood plains from atop the mound… almost endless… where-ever I looked till the horizons… it was plain… green.
Earliest Civilizations were all river-based… these rivers- Nile, Euphrates or Indus… had vast flood plains amidst desert… and thus they provided much needed fertility. However, they did something more important… they used to flood regularly… thus providing water beyond their immediate surroundings- and did not let dense vegetation to survive… and therefore allowing easy agriculture in their flood plains. In comparison Gangetic Civilization came much later because Ganges did not use to flood regularly… and therefore allowed very dense grasses/bushes to grow in its vicinity… so man had to wait for the invention of iron-based tools to use these areas… to cut grasses etc.
Thereafter, we took a walk around the village… met many people… who were starting their daily chores… it was a beautiful village… almost like an Indian village… with kind people… smiling and welcoming us anywhere we went.
After an aimless walk we went to the village pond… which has almost dried up… Faruk told me that every year villagers dig the pond a wee bit deeper to find some more of water… and somehow things keep on moving for them. But now the water has become a scarce commodity… A few years ago the local government arranged piped water for the village and constructed a reservoir at the top of mound… but that water is only able to meet the personal needs of the villagers and not the irrigational needs.
I asked him if he wanted to stay back in the village… he refused… and said that nearly every second house-hold in the village has at least one young male-member working in cities… he said that there is very little of future left in the village.
It was time to move back… we went home… (And I purposely call it home, because I had started feeling as comfortable therein) and I got ready to move…
At 8:30 am Alison and Omar joined us for breakfast… the breakfast like yesterday’s dinner was fabulous and lavish… the cheese was absolutely delicious and melted in my mouth… the fruits smelled fresh and sweet… I stuffed myself… not sure if I’d good such a home-like food anytime soon.
Alison asked for my honest opinion and I told her… I relished being here… and promised to keep in touch and be back with my family soon… I hugged Hilal, Faruk and Fatih and said good bye… it was time to move… when I was going Pero said that she was very happy that she had an Indian visitor for the first time… she said that unlike other visitors, I did not have any problem in adjusting with her family… and frugal facilities like squat toilet and eating with hands… I smiled… and said something from the bottom of my heart… I felt as if I was in India…
Omar drove me to Urfa… my next destination… before starting I asked Alison if she could recommend me a place to stay… She said that there is one Lizbon Guest House… however; she warned that Aziz- its owner- is a wee bit eccentric. But the Guest House is cheap and comfortable…. So! Lizbon it was….
We stopped briefly in Hilvan… where Omar showed me a Kurdish wedding… almost like the one which I had seen in Diyarbakir… thereafter, we restarted our journey to Urfa… 50 kilometers away.
We reached Urfa at noon… Omar dropped me in a street leading to Lizbon… I waved him good bye… and started searching for Lizbon.
Much of Urfa (the older parts) is built on a hill. The newer parts of Urfa, however, have been built in the plains surrounding it… and smaller hills in the vicinity. Searching for Lizbon in the old city, therefore, entailed a small walk uphill… which lead me to the gate of Lizbon.
The door was opened by an old lady… Aziz’s wife… she gave me a room to stay… and told me that Aziz is out on a trip with two Dutch tourists… to Gobekli Teppe and Harran. I sighed… I missed an opportunity to see these places… both the places are not served well by public transport (Harran, may be… but not surely Gobekli Teppe)… and are the biggest attractions in Urfa.
Urfa, according to legends, is the birth and the resting place of Prophet Abraham… and Harran some 60 kilometers away in South… was a place where he rested and preached for monotheism, while going on a Hajj to Mecca.
Apart from Harran, Urfa is famous for one more place… a pond full of fishes…. When, Prophet Abraham started preaching monotheism… the pagan king of Urfa got annoyed and order that Prophet Abraham should be thrown into fire. But when he was thrown, Allah intervened … the fire turned into a pond… and the burning charcoal into fishes… the pond remains. With thousands and thousands of fishes… it is believed that if somebody catches a fish from the pond… he would go blind.
After a quick lunch at Lizbon… it was time for some outing… to see the pond- the birth and resting place of Prophet Abraham… and then the Urfa citadel and the souk of Urfa.
Urfa lies at the Turkish-Arab frontier… it is very difficult to decide whether culturally its Kurdish or Arab… perhaps a mix… I felt very comfortable speaking Arabic in Urfa… quite a few people understood me.
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