Şanlıurfa

I totally skipped over my amazing time Van, but I will have to insert that later. With time to upload just a couple pictures I have chosen the most recent ones. In this picture I am at the site of Balıklı Göl in Şanlıurfa. If I had a car I could drive to Syria or the Euphrates river in probably 20 minutes. And shown here is the main part of the Balıklı Göl (fishy lake). Very fishy but not very lakey in my opinion.The weather here is at least 30 degrees. I tried to fast like everyone else, but the really devoted ones here are not tourists hiking everywhere in the heat with a backpack. So a tthis internet café, I chugged a bottle of water. Still holding off eating til I get some Urfa Kebap at İftar.

My first impressions of Urfa:

1 - very diverse. so far I have seen tourists here from Germany, East Asia, and Syria. Also there is a large Kurdish population living here.

2 - gorgeous. The city has an enchanting old feel. Buildings made of stones instead of concrete, old looking streets and religious structures.

3 - very friendly. But that is true for every place I have been in this country so far.