After leaving Gaziantep, we kept heading east, further away from the Mediterranean and the parts of Turkey most often visited by tourists. Our next stop was Sanliurfa, an old city of incredible religious significance. Even without its pilgrimmage status, the city’s mixed population of Kurds, Turks, and Arabs, combined with the lively bazaars and frenetic street life make it an exciting place.

Right after getting off the bus from Gaziantepwe were greeted by really helpful and friendly people from the tourist office. They asked us to sit down outside their office while they told us about the city, gave us some brochures and information, and eventually put us on a mini-bus bound for the center of town. We really didn’t know what to expect from this place, so we stared out the window at all of the activity and the crush of people on the streets with excitement and a little anxiety.

We easily found our hotel and got situated, then promptly decided to stay for two nights, instead of just the one we had planned. It was obvious that there was more than enough to keep us interested, and we didn’t want to miss out on anything. We hit the streets and started wandering around, heading for the bazaar. Not many tourists visit Sanliurfa, so there was lots of staring, some smiling, and the occasional “Hello!” and “What’s your name?” from children, street vendors, or passersby. We got the feeling that everyone was happy to see tourists in their city.

We never really made it to the bazaar, but we did have our fist serious Ramadan experience in Turkey. We’ve been in Turkey for the whole of Ramadan, but it never really affected us (except trying to eat lunch in Malatya). Right before sunset the streets began to empty out. Quickly. By 6 o’clock we were the only ones walking down the street. Only ten minutes before there were people in all directions, street vendors, men hanging out in front of shops, and shoppers. There was not a single car, bus, or motorcycle racing down the streets. A few minutes earlier there was a cacophony of sound from all the traffic, and it was nearly impossible to cross the street. It felt eerie and strange, like we had gone from a bustling city to a ghost town in a matter of minutes.

It was incredibly quiet except for the sound of the final call to prayer for the day, the one that announces that it is time to break the fast. Right around this time there was also a few fireworks around the city, as people got excited about being able to eat and drink again.

The next day we walked through the bazaar and visited all of the major tourist sites. The bazaar was built by Seleyman the Magnificent and is very old. Some of the doorways still have heavy iron doors that are around 500 years old. There are lots of metalworkers in the bazaar, and walking down the lane filled with their shops is like stepping back in time.

The main attraction in Sanliurfa is the Dergah, a complex of mosques and holy sites revolving around the birth and story of Abraham. There is a beautiful mosque built next to the cave where he was supposedly born and spent the first years of his life hiding from King Nimrod. There is a castle on the hill where he was thrown into the fire, and there are two sacred pools filled with sacred carp, and a rose garden where Abraham landed. Pilgrims come from all over to walk around the complex and pray, and to feed the sacred carp. We had a local guide named Ismail show us around and tell us all about the area. It was nice to be led around for once, because it allowed us to go into places we might not have otherwise gone into. We both went into the cave of Abraham’s birth, which has separate entrances for men and women. It is a very holy place, always full of Muslims praying and filling up containers of water from a spring inside the cave. Val had to put on a headscarf and a robe in order to go inside.

When we started heading back to our hotel, the sun was about to set. Earlier in the day we had gotten some free candy from two teenagers working at a shop, and on the way back they implored us to sit down and have a cup of tea. They couldn’t speak English, and we can’t speak but a few words of Turkish, so it was difficult to communicate. As we were struggling, but having fun and trying hard, a tour guide walked by and started talking to us, so he was able to translate some. After we finished our tea it was almost time to eat, so they asked us if we would eat dinner with them.

Val and I had a late lunch because the only place to eat was back at our hotel, so we were full and didn’t have any room to sit down to the feast that follows a day of fasting. We politely refused, but felt bad about it. We had also had a little too much Sanliurfa hospitality all day, and weren’t up for the amazing struggle of eating with a Turkish family during Ramadan and being unable to communicate! We exchanged cards and went on our way.

By the time we left the shop the sun was down and it was time for Iftar, the breaking of the fast. By the Dergah there are lots of small shops and all the owners, the workers and their families were eating in front of their shops. Every couple of groups would try to flag us down and invite us to eat with them, waving us over excitedly and with huge smiles. We polity refused until one guy just wouldn’t let us pass without us eating some food with them. He kept breaking bread off the huge, Ramadan-sized loaves they make during the holy month and filling it with all of the stuff they had on their table. Each time we would try to refuse, pointing at our stomachs and saying they were full. And they were, I really didn’t think I could eat anything, no matter how much he wanted me to.

We had bread with soup, bread with french fries in it, bread with beans in it, and without our knowledge (until later) we had bread filled with the local specialty, which is a raw lamb kofte (meatball) mixed with spices. It was actually amazingly good, and we suffered no ill effects.

After a couple of rounds of food and attempts to communicate, we managed to make our escape and walked down the street laughing about how crazy everything was. We’re not sure if the incredibly hospitality was mostly due to Ramadan or whether it’s just always like that in Sanliurfa. I am sure that Ramadan helped, but that it’s just a unique city full of curious, friendly people.