Waking up in Kilis this morning, we knew today was going to be a busy one. We started off checking out of the Hotel Paris, throwing our gear in the car, and heading out on a walk around town. Kilis isn’t big, so we covered the town in just an hour or two.
Kirk and I then went to grab a cup of coffee while Steph went to the women’s session at the Hamami. After that we loaded into the car and headed for the Syrian border.
The border was a short 10 minute drive due south. While we didn’t make it into Syria because of visa restrictions, we did talk to some of the border guards in the booth on the edge of the Turkey/Syria buffer zone.
After the Syrian border, we took a back road to the small farming village of Yesemeck. On the way we met a shepard with his flock in the side of the road, who invited us over to his house down the road for tea.
In Yesemeck at sundown, we visited the ancient Hittite rock carving field, and were invited over for dinner and tea by the groundskeeper.
At his house, we were introduced to his whole family – wife, 5 kids, cousin. We had a great traditional meal with the family, then hung out with them for a while.
We got back in the car late, and drove a final few kilometers to Bierceck, where we spent the night.