Three and a half months later

What to do on this Sunday?

Wake up late and get lazy?... Too much of that in this past few days.

Watch the last episodes of my favorite TV shows?... I can do that anytime.

Go to the Zoo with my Ukrainian couchsurfer?... I don’t like animals in cages.

…

Let’s go to Rumkale!

 

Birecik castle

In Birecik, halfway to Halfeti something unexpected happened: For the first time, a woman gave us a lift! I was stunned, and wanted to share my appreciation, so I was just asking Adem to translate my gratefulness for her courage when we had a accident... Just a small crash, quickly solved by some shouting in the middle of the road, and it wasn’t even her fault. Turkish driving is gender unbiased, equally terrible. I collected some material on the subject, if I have time I’ll get back on that on a future post.

Some bargaining made it cheap to go on a boat trip.



The half submerged mosque in Eski Halfeti

And there it is, the medieval Rumkale! From the place with the best view to the ruins.

It was a magnificent seven-gated fortress on Euphrates (Firat) river, and its name stands for “Roman Castle”. It is now located in a new peninsula, formed by the reservoir of Birecik Barrage, built in 2000, 150 meters above the level of the water.




Batıköy, submerged village like Halfeti



A little fun on the way back





I had to ask...



The question is: So near form Gaziantep, we’ve been in Halfeti before more than once so we knew the “tricks” of the way, we travel thousands of miles to nice places but that doesn’t even compare to this and I’d seen the photos of this place before… Why did it take so long to go come to Rumkale?!

Paco