Travel to Midyat Turkey from Silopi

Travel from Iraq to Midyat, Turkey

After crossing back into Turkey from Iraq, Chaya and I quickly sought out our next destination on a lightning bolt sort of whim. The car that we rode to Silopi in dropped us off at the bus terminal and there was a bus leaving immediately for the west of Turkey which stopped in Mardin.

We did not really talk amongst each other too much about where we were planning on going once getting back in Turkey, as we figured that we would probably have a few minutes of strategical time once we arrived back in Silopi. But we were granted no such luxury.

We had one intention, and that was to get out of the Silopi/ Iraq borderland as soon as possible.

There was a Mardin bus sitting right in front of us that was leaving as soon as possible.
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Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Midyat, Turkey- April 2, 2009
Travelogue —Travel Photos –Travel Guide
Click on map to view route of travel.

We talked the conductor down five Lira on the price and hopped aboard.

Once we were on the bus, we came to the realization that neither of us had eaten anything all day besides a few stale cookies and a little milk. It was now ripe in the middle of the afternoon, and the entire day had been spent walking around the Iraqi city of Duhok searching for international ATMs which did not exist and crossing the border back into Turkey. It was a rapid fire sort of traveling day – no time to stop, no time to think, no time to eat. Each link of the travel chain blended smoothly into the next, as we rode the wave from Duhok to Zakho to Silopi to Mardin to Midyat.

No stopping, no resting.

We were pooped.

After riding back through the wondrous Plains of Harran and pointing out every mound of unexcavated ancient city to Chaya, our bus pulled into Mardin.

This place is beautiful: a small beeswax color stone city spread out over a mountain top. It was only a pity that the cheapest hotel charged more than 40 Euro a night. Turkish hotels are expensive.

We could not stay there, and we knew it. After picking up a couple of toasted cheese sandwiches to curb our aching stomachs we hopped on a minibus to Midyat. Rumor had it that we could land a cheaper room there.

We pulled into Midyat, another ancient city on the eastern slope of Turkey, at nightfall, and automatically searched out a place to sleep along with dinner.

Map of route of travel from Duhok, Iraq to Midyat, Turkey. The total travel time was around seven or eight hours including the border crossing.

Photo of a mound that houses a modern village as well as an ancient city in the southeast of Turkey. These unexcavated archaeology sites are everywhere.

Crossing Border Iraq to Turkey
Crossing Border Turkey to Iraq

Travel from Iraq to Midyat, Turkey