Mini Gap Trip with Mardin, Midyat, Hasankeyf and Diyarbakir

Mardin It was one of the travel routes that I wanted to see for a long time and always postponed. When I had the opportunity to get cheap tickets months ago, I bought my tickets to Diyarbakir to go to Mardin in November and to Antep in March. The time has come, last Friday evening Diyarbakir'starting from Mini GAP trip my journey stops in order; Hasankeyf, Midyat, Mardin and Dara became a village.

Mini GAP Trip

I couldn't make much preparation for this trip, which was stuck in between a very busy work tempo, as I did in the Cappadocia trip, I compiled the information I gathered into a small booklet, but when I rushed out of work at the last minute, I left it on my desk. Fortunately, we were able to access the file in google documents from anywhere 🙂

I'll write a brief summary of the trip, and I'll explain the details later when I have time.

Mardin, one of the places that attracts the most tourists in Turkey in recent years, has been closed for 1 year as the airport will be made international, I hope it will be completed as soon as possible. However, my suggestion is if you are wondering about Mardin, wait a few more years, there is a serious restoration and recovery work in the whole city.

If I go back to the route;

• We reached Diyarbakır at night on the first day. We walked around the city wall (the part of the old city) at night and tasted the famous liver kebabs.
• On the second day, we went to Hasankeyf by extending the way to Mardin with the car we rented. Contrary to popular belief, the roads are extremely safe, do not have the slightest hesitation. Hasankeyf is a must see.
• We drove from Hasankeyf to Midyat in the afternoon. Midyat, the city of religions and languages. The place where Syriac culture is most effective. Plenty of silversmiths and the city's side streets are worth seeing.
• We reached Mardin late in the evening. The hotel I booked through Booking.com turned out to be a 1000-year-old stone mansion: Kasr-i Abbas Hotel. A complete Mardin house with a magnificent view of Mesopotamia. I strongly recommend it to those who want to go to Mardin.
• We had planned to visit Mardin on the third day, but we forgot something, churches are closed on Sunday and museums are closed on Monday. On Sunday morning, you will visit the Mardin Museum and Sabancı Mardin City Museum and drive 30 km from Mardin. We went to Dara Village at a distance. A civilization of thousands of years is a huge city, half underground half above ground.
• The fourth day was spent in madrasahs, churches and side streets in Mardin, and we finished the day in Deyrulzeferan monastery, 5 km from Mardin.
• On the fifth and last day, we returned to Diyarbakır early in the morning. This time, we toured the city wall, which we saw closed at night, with all its activity. Until our flight at 14:45, we visited the blacksmiths' bazaar, the coppersmiths' bazaar, the city walls, and the Gazi mansion.

Traveler's Note

• Eastern people are very hospitable, very friendly. You can do a Gap Tour by getting rid of your security-related doubts.
• Kurdish in Diyarbakir and Arabic in Mardin are the main languages ​​spoken, so you may have a hard time understanding when they speak Turkish 😉
• Finally, there is a different culture and civilization in every corner of our country, if you have the opportunity, you should definitely go and see it.

Stay on track.