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After a moderately early breakfast we go on to visit Nemrut crater Lakes. After a picnic lunch around the lakes we proceed to Bitlis and then down the awesome Bitlis river gorge and on to Batman where we will have a sumptuous dinner and our overnight stop a Thermal Spa hotel. (B, L, D)
Early start to visit the soon to be sunken cave dwellings at Hasankeyf on the River Tigris while the temperatures are nice and
cool. After a light lunch we travel on through the Gurduc valley on to
Midyat with its silver bazaars and on to Mardin in the late afternoon
where we will stay in a superbly renovated caravanserai. There will be time to wander through old Mardin before dinner. (B, L, D)
After a short visit to Mardin’s great Mosque we will carry on to the Saffron Monastery, once seat of the Syriac Christian Patriarch and a site of religious worship as far back as 1000BC which is the age of the oldest religious structure on the site!
After the Saffron monastery we carry on to Sanliurfa (or Urfa) to check into hour hotel and then visit the pools of Abraham in the late afternoon and early evening. Dinner will be in a wonderfully renovated Turkish Han. (B, L, D)
After a moderately early breakfast we travel just outside Urfa to visit the ongoing archaeological dig at Gobekli Tepe which at about 11,000BC is the site of the earliest religious structure yet discovered. From Gobekli Tepe we carry on to Kahta in Adiyaman via a ferry ride on the River Euphrates to check into our hotel, relax for while and proceed to the magnificent funerary monument on the peak of Mt. Nemrut. (NB. There are 2 Mt Nemruts- one at Adiyaman and one on the edge of Lake Van) After sunset, back to the hotel for drinks and dinner. (B, L, D)
After a leisurely breakfast we depart for Gaziantep where we will visit the museum that houses the exciting and beautiful Zeugma mosaics. After lunch and a tasting of baklava, for which the city is renown, we proceed to the airport for your return flight to Istanbul in the late afternoon. Overnight in Istanbul. (B, L, D)
These two days in Istanbul will be at your own leisure. Our staff will be available at all times to assist and guide you in any way you wish- we don’t want to drag you around the city following someone with an umbrella hoisted in the air. We want you to enjoy this fabulous and incomparable city so we will ensure that while you can’t see and do everything here, as well as in eastern Turkey, our boast as company remains true; we don’t want you to arrive home only to find out that you missed something wonderful. (B)
Leisure time and depart for Istanbul. Breakfast included.
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