Train station

Train station

Tigris River

Tigris River

Berk

Berk

Murat

Murat

Huseyin, Midyat

Huseyin, Midyat

Between Hasankeyf and Midyat

Between Hasankeyf and Midyat

Midyat

Midyat

Midyat

Midyat

Turkey

Hasankeyf

October 2007 • Batman was a bust, so onward to Hasankeyf with a bad mood and a head cold. Dragged myself to dinner in the town's only restaurant and ended up sharing a table with the only two customers: Berk and Murat, on break from university and traveling in the southeast by train. They couldn't speak English, and I couldn't speak Turkish, but somehow we spent the next few days bonding via photos, drawings, pantomime, music, telepathy, and beers at the town's not-so-secret speakeasy. On our last day, in nearby Midyat, they snuck away to a jewelry shop and bought three identical friendship rings. Very sentimental and, as I came to understand, very Turkish.

Train station

Tigris River

Berk

Murat

Huseyin, Midyat

Between Hasankeyf and Midyat

Midyat

Midyat