THE BEST AND the worst of Turkey sits in its mountainous east.
Some of the friendliest people we came across were out here. As we entered from Iran, my wife tossed of her hijab as we saw school girls with long hair flowing freely. The food was a welcome relief.
The sights and sounds, cities and history in the east are worth the long trek out. Regrettably, after decades of peace President Erdogan has brought war back to the Kurds. And the 12,000 year old city of Hasankeyf has been flooded for a dam.
With Armenian, Kurdish, Arab and Turk influences, the east has its own flavour. That comes out strongly in ancient ‘Urfa.

Inside the ruins of ancient Hasankeyf, which sat on the banks of the mghty Tigris river for a couple of thousand years.

After Iran, this humble restaurant in Turkey's mountaionous east was heaven. The owner came up with some things we hadn't ordered, saying simply "You are guests."

Very few of the historic buildings were saved. 80,000 people displaced, moved to a city, unable to take their livestock.

A young boy in Hasankeyf, now probably late 20s, would have been uprooted to make way for the dam. He lived in a cave, and herded goats and sheep.