Eastern Turkey (Diyarbakir, Van, etc.)

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Eastern Turkey (Diyarbakir, Van, etc.)

Postby Columbo » Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:41 pm

Anyone recently been to eastern Turkey? Any recommendations?

I should be going to check out Hasankeyf (before it's flooded by the dam project) and Sanliurfa mostly, but will probably check out Diyarbakir too, which I've heard has high levels of petty crime and overall a bad atmosphere. I will hopefully spend my time drink cay and playing tavla.

Further afield - anyone paid a trip to Sirnak or Hakkari?
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Re: Eastern Turkey (Diyarbakir, Van, etc.)

Postby vagabond » Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:55 am

There's a new Bradt guide out for E Turkey

http://www.bradt-travelguides.com/detai ... prodid=230
"If you were born near someplace called "The Erg of ____" you lost the lottery." - Kurt the Wise

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Re: Eastern Turkey (Diyarbakir, Van, etc.)

Postby ReptilianKittenEater » Fri Mar 04, 2011 4:14 am

I was in Van, Dogubayazit, Erzerum and the Kachkar Mountains a few years ago. Neatest thing about the region is that it feels real old. Lake Van is ok, Erzerum you can do in an afternoon. Dogubayazit is good, the main attraction is climbing Mt Ararat (it is not too hard to find a guide that will take you up illegally, but if you want to go up legally you''ll have to deal with bureaucracy for a couple of months). It is bloody cold at the top. There are some neat 3000 year old ruins near the town. Don't bother looking for the ark.
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