ishak pasa palace

I loved the Ishak Pasa Palace & the stories attached to it:
He was sent in Ottoman times to this remote place, to manage
the caravan trade on the silk road. He built huge storerooms
for his take of that trade, & this warm & refined palace.
His son continued, & Constantinople was far away..

I could imagine him personally choosing the site, which is
overlooked by an early Urartian castle/fort, it folds
itself into the crags, almost invisible. Now there is a roof
protecting the palace, it must have been deserted for many
years, graffiti scratched across walls, possibly a source of
building materials, though there's not much else around.
Dogubeyazit in the distance.

Georgia Russell ~ amazing, thought provoking constructions
Watched Brilliant Moon last night,
about the great Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche ~ lovely!

seljuk

Something poetic about this Seljuk cemetery,
as if warriors were buried where they fell, defending where
they'd staked their claim. They were nomads from central Asia
who came to this land & discovered the wish to settle.
Rumi was from that line.

Some larger tombs are nearby. The design right was
explained as resembling tent pegs, used so they would
remember their roots.. "so they say".
Quite a few of the historic details, everywhere, are
subjective at least, don't you think?

Have been attending some of John de Ruiter's meetings
over last few days, we are lucky that different teachers
come to Byron Bay.

Van

As we came through more mountain country to Van, I
realised the tour was close to over, we had 4 nights here, taking
shorter trips in different directions each day.
So it slowed down a little, but I sort of speeded up,
wanting to see every thing around me..

always nice to see quiet picnics under the trees, I also took
many shots of the small isolated houses in large landscapes.
Van was busy with a unique event about to happen, the
Armenian church on Akdamar island, in the lake, was to
have the first service in almost 100 years, many people
including Armenians, were expected.
On the day it was fewer, unfortunately; there is still a lot
of strong feelings on the subject.

we spent a day with the interesting journalist who wrote this

volcano lake

After Tatvan, on the western end of Lake Van, we drove into
the surrounding mountains, an extinct volcano, with it's lake.
I was deeply affected by that place. The clouds were low &
fast, their shadows curved across the slopes, it was an
immensely still & pure space.

Obsidian boulders. Lake Van in the distance, largest salt
lake in the world I think, it's wonderful, & so far they
have done quite a good job of keeping the foreshores vacant.

mapping the marvellous what a great poem on Nov 1 post

hasankeyf

A late afternoon arrival at Hasankeyf, which will soon be
under the waters of another huge dam, unless there is a
timely discovery of oil, or minerals or Aladdin's cave or
something. It's falling apart, though the shop sells sim cards
& maybe the people won't mind,

cave living could be uncomfortable.. but there's many caves,
people have lived there for time beyond memory,
I wonder what might be lost beyond recovery.
They will be relocated on the far rim.

carolyn drake's photos at Hasankeyf
tibet archaeology

country

Saw another Syrian orthodox church/museum
~ liked the tapestry~ & passed through small towns
of the sort you only want to be old enough to leave,
but which looked pleasant, & lots more mountains..
Turkey is big & often reminiscent of Australia.

Syrian artist in the New York Times

mardin

The travelogue continues! Mardin is a place to spend more time in,
there's a long history of all religions living together harmoniously,
& it's an attractive city.

That's tiaras above left ( indispensable items!). & the frothy
wedding dresses are in many places, as is gold jewellery.

The Saffron monastery & the hermits' caves above. It had some
interesting naive paintings.

romeartlover again ~ there's a lot we didnt see there.