After roaming around Sanliurfa for a day, I ventured out of town to a dusty town of Hilvan to experience Kurdish culture and hospitality through a homestay programme organized by Alison Tanik’s Nomad Tours. How else to experience the Kurdish way of living than living with them under one roof?
A month before my schedule arrival in Yuvacali homestay, I had corresponded with Alison via email. We had agreed on the price, itinerary and rules and regulations. The price agreed on covered the following:-
ACCOMMODATION: €35 (1 night’s full board accommodation). All of your meals during the whole of your stay will therefore be included. Turkish tea is complimentary. Bottled water, cold drinks, and Nescafe are available at the home stay to purchase (2.5TL, 2.0TL, 2.5TL respectively). There are no other drinks available and the consumption of alcohol is not encouraged. A laundry service is available at 10TL per load including washing powder and fabric conditioner.
TRANSFER: From Hilvan to Yuvacali costs €5 per person each way. Total €10 per person
WALK: €20 (Abraham Path’s Half day walk)
Extra lunch: €5
TOTAL = €70
I took the bus kart to the otogar and then another bus to Hilvan. Alison had given an email instruction which I had to show to the bus driver who would call Mr. Orhan Tanik, a man who was entrusted to fetch me from Hilvan.
This is Hilvan! At first look, I was rather confused on which part of the earth I just landed.
From Hilvan to Yuvacali Homestay
While Orhan’s family would be my host, the man who fetched me from Hilvan was Fetih. I was driven through fertile plains and fields of wheat, barleys, lentil, cotton and peppers. The picturesque horizons reminded me of Windows wallpaper of green field. The photographer in me could not wait to shoot the scenery, much to the laughter of Fetih who had at times stopped the car from time to time.
The Home I stayed
I was welcomed by Orhan and his wife, Ghazal into their yellow and orange painted house. They have 3 children named Sirvan, Bisyar and Shawan. Orhan spoke decent English meanwhile Ghazal spoke little English. However, Ghazal showed huge interest in learning and speaking English. She was fully equipped with a conversational English card which she referred from time to time to communicate with me. It was a fun way to communicate as I got the chance to improve my Turkish language.
The house was modern. Something which I did not expect when I signed up for the homestay. The house was divided into two areas which were haremlik and selamlik. Selamlik is the portion of the household which is reserved for the guests.
Ghazal asked his brother in law to take me for a walk around the village. In terms of dress code, I had to wear ankle length skirt in Yuvacali. No women are allowed to wear pants!
3 Comments
Salam Aidilfitri Farah,
Silent reader ur blog since gugel pasal Turki. Menariknya dapat travel sampai area sini.
Salam Lebaran Hidayah. Terima kasih sudi jadi silent reader. 😉 Post pasal Turki ni dah terbantut setahun lebih saya ke sana. Memang masa pergi area Sanliurfa ni tak terbayang sangat apa yang akan experience sebab tak ramai orang ke sana. Tambahan pula saya travel seorang diri masa tu. Keep on reading, ok? Banyak lagi nak share pasal travel di sekitar Southeastern Anatolia terutamanya random trip dgn backpackers saya jumpa di guesthouse to Syrian border, nampak pelarian Syria yang baru sampai, pendakian ke Nemrut Mountain, dan lost di Nabi Syuaib’s ancient city.
harus lah terus membaca =)