"Amed Diyabakir the Kurdish City" Diyarbakir Ili by Robin020

Diyarbakir (Amed ) Turkey

Amed Diyarbakir (Turkey) A Kurdish city with more than one million population, in Kurdish it’s called Amed means ready and in Turkish called Diyarbakir. How to get there: You can reach the city by railway, bus or flight if you want to travel from major cities such as Istanbul or Ankara is advisable to take the plane since is a long hours of drive by train or bus it could up to 20 to 24 hours, while flying will take less than 2 hours about 1:40 min from Istanbul Sabiha airport. I flow with my bosom polish friend to the city to suss this Kurdish city since we are both inquisitive and pretty curious about different cultures. Since Kurdish culture is not known for, many people. We took a flight from Sabina airport at 12;40 ON 10/05/2012.the airline company we flow with was Pegasus airlines we paid about 60 Turkish liras is about 30 Euros. Airport description: Is ex military airport no tourist infor.We arrived at Amed Diyarbakir airport at 14:20 it was a pleasant flight. The airport is very small. At once we arrived it started to rain very heavly.There is not tourist office at the airport. We were advised to take a bus to the city centre but we could not see anything. Worth to mention that the airport is just 3 klm from the city centre. BUT you can walk to the city. From the airport. We were overwhelmed by some taxi drivers who asked an expensive rate for a short ride to the city centre, where the place I was suppose to go to look for a hotel. So we decided to walk to the city after 10 min walk we saw some people and I could show some friendly young Kurdish about the location we would like to go he offered us help and showed us which bus to take et ( worth to mention about 71% of Amed city residence are analphabetic).and told us the price of the ticket is ONLY 1.5 TL per person a friend of him was listening to our conversation and then asked us to give us a ride if we want we agreed on 5 TL for that ride It took us like 10 to 13 min to the wanted address Kibris Cadesi that is full of budget hotels. After arriving I let my friend wait for me out and

(otogar): Is located outside the city you can reach it by bus number A1,A2,A3 it will take between 20 to 35 depends on traffic. You can pick it up at the Kibris cadecci will cost 1.4 TL pp.single ride Stay Safe Diyarbakir is not totally safe city. At first glance, it seems not a very welcoming city, actually it is the contrary. Life in this city I is rough and the city is neglected by the Turkish gov. and poverty overall. It is not advisable at all to walk alone after 10 pm during the night time, especially in the old quarter. Taking some precautions during the visit is advisable. Don't hang around in dark areas; try not to look or act like the typical tourist. Police is present at main streets. Stroll around the tiny narrow streets is pretty enjoyable during the day light. Worth to mention people are extremely friendly and NOT pushy at all as in Istanbul they spill and drag you to buy something. but because of high unemployment some people are pushed to steal in some areas but the area I Mentioned above is pretty safe during the day. Cheap airlines to Amed are: http://www.sunexpress.com/xq-tr/tr/index.jsp www.flypgs.com The virging Mirian church : One of the oldest church in the world the Syrian Church. Opening hours are from 09:00 Am daily till 12 am then it opens again from 14:00 till 17:00 there is no Entrance fee the door is closed you NEED to beat the door hard then the priest wil open the door. Food The food is pretty cheap in the city you can have a decent meal with drink,salad and grilled meat for about 5 TL.cub of tea cost about 1 TL.Worth to mention you can have a pint at places that have outside the sign of Efes (Typical Turkish beer).Locals are very friendly andhelpfull,The city its self is pretty old and had tiny streets alleys ,is nice to stroll around and bask the culture and get an image of how people live and streets are not clean.The city is neglected by the gov as well. Drinks Try Hasan pasa Hani is 5 min walk from Kibris Cd and ULu Cami. Cup of tea cost 1 TL. 0.50 € pence Or if you want beer try a small pub at Yogurt bazaar. 1 bottle of Efes cost 3.50 TL Less than 1.80 € European help: The European Union, Spain and Germany offered more than once money to the Turkish to improve the condition of living of people of Amed and to make some projects for the local but it was always refused or invested in other Turkish city since Diyarbakir is inhabited by Kurds and They use Kurdish as main lingo in Their daily life. City bus garage in Turkish (otogar): Is located outside the city you can reach it by bus number A1,A2,A3 it will take between 20 to 35 depends on traffic. You can pick it up at the Kibris cadecci will cost 1.4 TL pp.single ride Stay Safe Diyarbakir is not totally safe city. At first glance, it seems not a very welcoming city, actually it is the contrary. Life in this city is rough and the city is neglected by the Turkish gov. and poverty overall. It is not advisable at to walk alone after 10 pm during the night time, especially in the old quarter. Taking some precautions during the visit is advisable. Don't hang around in dark areas; try not to look or act like the typical tourist. Police is present at main streets. Stroll around the tiny narrow streets is pretty enjoyable during the day light. Worth to mention people are extremely friendly and NOT pushy at all as in Istanbul they spill and drag you to buy something. but because of high unemployment some people are pushed to steal in some areas but the area I Mentioned above is pretty safe during the day. Cheap airlines to Amed are: http://www.sunexpress.com/xq-tr/tr/index.jsp www.flypgs.com