Day 8 - The problem with a lot of these hotel in Turkey is that they are run by men who they do not see the need for towels that are not elephant grey, toilet paper, sheets that fit the bed and curtains that are occasionally washed. We left the hotel with glee especially when we were able to tell sleezy manager that we would not be doing his tour. He tried to convince us to stay another night and he said he would take us out for a picnic - what an incentive - not. We had breakfast on breakfast street which made up for the lousy hotel and went out to Kars Castle which defeated us as we did not have time to try and find a way up without spending the day there which we didn't want to do. We got offered a lift back into town with a young man and his child. He spoke excellent English which he said he had learnt at school. After collecting bags we took bus back to Akdamar and fortunately the weather was beautiful to we took the boat over to see the Armenian church. This church was used as a church for the first time in many years just a couple of weeks ago and was why the Armenian Frenchman was in the country. Lovely lovely spot and the church was beautiful.

Back on the mainland, the guys from the ferry spot organised the bus to stop for us and we were dropped at the otogar outside Bitlis. A quick ride on the service bus took us into Bitlis itself and dropped us outside the hotel. Hotel was good and the people in the hotel charming. Dumped bags and headed out to investigate. Wonderful town with old stone houses. It is not a tourist destination so we got a lot of attention but in a good way. Back at the hotel, the owner sent Gorkan out to buy us a couple of beers and after those (no visible alcohol in this town) went back into town to a litle lokanta to eat lentil soup and meat and aubergine stew. Delicious. Good night except for the police banging on my neighbour's door at 3.00 in morning.

Day 9 - Sue rang me at 7.30 to suggest we stay another night here and I was very happy to agree. Met for breakfast and as you will probably realise by now plumbing is interesting in Turkey. Sue had cold water in her shower but hot water in her toilet. She was wondering whether to wash her clothes in the loo! We had a great day in this town. Firstly we walked up to Ihlasiye Medresi which was an Islamic school but now used by Council buildings. A guide walked us round outside and showed us the prison and the tombs and then we went into the main building. Unfortunately we could not get into the best looking room because the Mudur (manager) was in there but we hung around for a bit and he came out eventually and invited us in. We declined the offered tea and headed back into town. We could not get into the castle as it was being restored - too heavily for my liking but enjoyed walking round the town gathering children as we went. Little girls are sweet but the boys tend to be cheeky but are usually driven off by an adult passing by.

We had the great fortune to be nearly run over by a white van driver. Now whilst this may sound strange, he did us an enormous favour as he got us into the most amazing building. He got the owner of the building to open it up for us and it was beautiful. It was currently being used as a storage area for supermarket trollies and large jars of pickles and olives. The painted work on the wood was detailed and beautiful and there was even a little hamam and a water cooling system. Our new found friend conducted us around the town and, as we were ready to try and lose him, took us into a restaurant which served tandir kebab and disappeared. Tandir kebab is lamb cooked in a hole in the ground over steam and succulent and delicious. We ate an enormous amount plus pide, salad and three colas between us and it only cost 24 TL (about 10 pounds) for the two of us.
Continued to wander round town and bought jar of honey which replaced the Orhan Pamuk book which I had with relief finished and ditched my hot water bottle in a vain attempt of lightening my load. Took a dolmus out to a Kervansaray which was a huge disappointment as it had been rebuilt rather than restored and looked like a car park. Another visit to last night's lokanti for soup but rather spoilt that by going next door for baklava.

Day 10 - After breakfast we took our bags to the bus office and Sue went off to look at Bitlis from the hill above and I went to get my shoes repaired. I had bought them in Turkey a year or so ago and love them even though they are looking pretty tatty. I chatted to the man while he was working on my shoes and when it came to payment time, he refused to take any money. I eventually managed to persuade him to take something but he would only accept 1 lira (40p). Bus to Hasenkeyf was hot, slow and the driver quite manic. He smoked constantly, talked for 3 and a half hours on his mobile, drove slowly on straight good roads and like a lunatic round the sharp bends. Of course we made it in one piece even if nerves were a little shattered. Hasankeyf proved to be a bit of a disappointment in part because we could not get up to the citadal or walk along the valley due to a rock having fallen and killed someone a few weeks previously. In my cynical mood, I think probably the Turkish government has stopped tourists getting into the site because they are planning to flood the whole area. It would be a terrible shame and a lot of the funding from overseas has been cancelled because of the furore concerning this flooding. We were escorted by two little girls around the area where we could walk. They were aged about 10 and tried very hard to practice their English unlike the boys who just yell 'hello' 'goodbye'. The landscape is pretty hard and one of the girls lived in a cave until recently. Our onward journey proved a little difficult as all the dolmuses were full. We waited by the side of the road and eventually one very full dolmus stopped but the driver opened the back, pushed the bags aside and we sat of a little bench sitting sideways and had a very bumpy, uncomfortable and dusty journey to Midyat where we changed buses for Mardin. It was dark by the time we arrived in Mardin and we were just working out how to find the Ogretmin Evi (Teacher's house) when a car roared up and loaded my bag into it and Sue turned round to see me yelling for her to come as I piled into back of car. These young guys roared round to the Ogretmin Evi and bundled us out and roared off again. I love the Turkish people, so helpful and never (or most often) not wanting anything more than a thank you. The Evi was clean and spacious and we chatted to a young teacher who took us to a bar where we drank expensive red wine and ate bad toasted sandwiches.