These are the fattest, most overfed fish in Turkey, maybe anywhere, and yet, when food is dropped into the water, they fight frantically over every morsel as if they were on the brink of starvation.
Yes, that is a man in a lavender headscarf. Many men wear them -- possibly my favorite thing about this area.
I also took a side trip to Harran, another claimant to Abraham's life story (he is considered a major prophet in Islam). It has a dry and dusty middle-of-nowhere feel to it, near the Syrian border with more Arabic spoken than Turkish.
I was fed couscous - a welcome change - by this lovely family.
One of Harran's famous beehive-shaped houses. They are supposed to be ideal for the desert climate, staying very cool in summer, but few people still live in them. This one is now a hotel and gift shop, for example. Harran also claims to be the location of the world's oldest university, and the place where zero was discovered, among other things. This last fact is probably only of interest to math nerds, though.
The southeast of Turkey is markedly different than the western half of the country, and merits further exploration, possibly with a wide detour around the Iraqi border area. It has a distinctly Arab influence, and some very ancient ruins, outliers of the Fertile Crescent. Few tourists make it out here, and I'm pretty sure I was the only foreigner in town. The markets here were the best I've seen, with metal workers and woodworkers turning out products on site. Being the only native English speaker in town, I had to move pretty quickly to avoid countless interactions with people wanting to practice their language skills. Sometimes it's nice to have other tourists around to spread the wealth.
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