Diyarbakir

Oh dear, Diyarbakir.

If we've had an epic fail anywhere it's definitely been here. Should have seen it coming - lonely planet warned us that "black are the dogs, black the walls, black the hearts of black Diyarbakir", and it was Halloween.

Booked into a place that seemed to meet the brief for the three of us (lots of space, two bedrooms) and arrived to find a pair of dirty pants in the bathroom, a squat toilet, painted over windows and filthy floors covered in hair.

They moved us upstairs which had the small advantage of a western toilet. Went for an afternoon walk to see some of the walls and the mosque, and then Chris started to feel unwell and headed home. We thought it was food poisoning at first and he had an unhappy night of it; next day Elli and Tamar went out for another preposterous breakfast and did a bit more exploring of Diyarbakir, and a relatively low key end to our time with Tamar as Chris was still suffering. The day Tamar left, Elli came down with it too. We variously hobbled around feeling very grateful for at least having a toilet and waiting for the worst to pass. Somehow we still both made it onto the sleeper train on the 3rd in a state of semi delirium, very very glad that we booked first class and had our own compartment.Read more