Мардин (Турция). Орёл и Решка. Девчата
So, firstly, by the end of the season, I have lost 1 kg of weight and this is a great toast. Because from the beginning of the season I have grown fat on 4 kg, that is why for me it is good news... Hi everyone, this is Heads and Tails, girl-l-l seaso-o-on! Hi everyone, guys, hello dear viewers. This is the final episode of this season. That is why we don't want to dance. Yes, extreme, last, final, closing. We decided to sum up this season with a beautiful non-tourist and unknown city. Mardin.
Anyway, the city is absolutely unknown. This is our first time here. And I am madly interested in wandering around or driving around, I don't know. Let's see what fate shows. How tail will fall. Heads. Tails. Come on who will be rich, and who will be poor try to define it by clothes. Come on, let's go. Is it all? Let’s do bids - bids - bids. And, see, who is going to be rich...
Julia Koval wins this battle. Although I think that you look like a person who is going to guard the horizon. No one can tell. I'm Phileas Fox, look, I am doing like this. Like this. Where is my card, and here like I go. Guys, we are going to have a good trip right now. Kisses, hugs, bye. What can I say? I have nothing to say, guys. Actually, I am in a great mood. Because... It will be sad at the finale. Now it is great because it is a new city, inexperienced feelings and I have lost 1 kg, don't forget. And of course, taxi, buses or whatever else we also have.
Mardin looks like a magic box from an eastern fairy tale. Opening it, you can do time-travel. To experience incredible secrets. And make earth-shattering discoveries. Significantly, guys, that Mardin is also not explored by the Turks, they know not much about it. Let alone tourists. That is why I am even more eager to break in its center and get to know it as soon as possible. How to get there from the airport? Let's try a taxi. Excuse me, how much is a taxi? - Six lire. - Six lire? How many dollars is that? Six is so little. Six-zero? Nine dollars or so. Okay, thanks. I can't afford it. Let's try to find a bus to Mardin.
I need a bus to Mardin. In about ten minutes. The bus to Mardin will arrive in 10-15 minutes. I'm waiting. The best car for Mardin is a crossover. Basically, people don't show off here. What I need here is a beautiful brand new Peugeot. Rent costs only $150 for 2 days. All right, let's go. That's a little bit weird because I've just seen a bus that runs to Mardin passing by. Everyone's stood up, walked up to the curb to get on the bus, but it has just passed by. Is this some kind of a joke or what? And it's been ten minutes. We keep on waiting.
As you may see... I've been standing here for about twenty minutes. During this time, not a single bus has pulled up at this stop. No matter where I am now. Neither bus nor minibus has stopped here. I haven't waited so long for buses since I went to school. Really. God, I hope this one runs to Mardin. It displays "Mardin". NOOOOOO! What's going on here? Why?! Why doesn't it stop? Is this acceptable?! Only 10 people on the bus.
It turned out that because of the pandemic, local buses take no more than ten people. If it is already crowded, the driver does not stop. Analyzing the situation: you can see that all those people who are waiting with me from the start, are still waiting. That is, we have been standing here for an hour and no bus has stopped here. There is a long-distance walk. 10 km. If I walk 10 kilometers on foot, I will waste my day. Taking a taxi that costs 10 dollars to drive 10 kilometers to the city center is not the best choice, so I've decided to rent a cheap car. I'm about to do this right now. Here it goes.
I get a beautiful, white Skoda having paid only 22 dollars, that's incredible. It brings me joy, dear friends. I am happy that I didn't get on the bus. I've driven to the city in half an hour. I am sure that many of you, just like me, haven't heard of Mardin until this day. Now it's time to get acquainted. The first thing that distinguishes Mardin from a thousand other cities is its geography. It was founded as a fortress on the very top of the mountain and to this day most of the city stretches across the mountain. The view here is mind-blowing. People pass by this place every day. I think they got used to this beauty. However... I am quite an experienced traveler and I'm impressed to see such a city on the mountain, it's just a miracle. There are boundless mountains, plains, hills. The second thing that Mardin can make a boast of its age. It's unknown who and when established the city. People believe that it is more than 5 thousand years old.
A two-story, medieval eastern fairy tale. I'm mesmerized. Finally, the third feature: from the smallest stone to the rusty keyhole, the city itself is considered a world heritage site, so it is forbidden to build modern buildings or change anything here. Basically, the city hasn't changed. It looked exactly the same earlier. If some signs could be removed, it would look the same as two-three-five-six hundred years ago. Just imagine it hasn't changed at all. What beauty lies ahead. That's like a city made of sand. The sand city. It reminds me of the motives of the Arabian night, the Oriental fairy tale, Aladdin, all that stuff. The most interesting thing is that along with the city, the life of its residents has not changed much.
Do you see those guys riding donkeys at speed? I've arrived at this party in a car wearing a red dress. I see the donkey competing with a horse and the guys here are so handsome. What good entertainment, that's what I like. Unlike other boys, they don't surf the net. That kind of thing. Boys should ride donkeys. Hahaha. Really. Think about it. Do we live in 2020, really? A donkey with boxes is walking down the street.
To get better acquainted with the life of the city, I decided to give up the car and take a walk around Mardin. And, as you can see, life here is in full swing. Here we can see how two lovers get married. Oh, the bride, see the bride! Gosh, I want to get married. I mean a traditional wedding, I didn't wear a white dress. Alexey, damn it! Here the students want to find out who will be flirting with the girl. A fight, that's hot Turkish blood! Tough! I used to see it in TV shows, you know, these fights, showdowns, hot blood. I've come to Turkey, and men are fighting literally behind my back. Here you can see the local utilities working.
Oh, by the way, you can watch the garbage being collected. With donkeys. Awesome! When I was walking, I saw donkeys taking luggage to the hotel, think about it. That is, donkeys perform completely different functions. From collecting garbage to carrying luggage. Horses and donkeys are Mardin's main transport. The fact is that the city was built when cars were still out of the question. Most of the streets are endless narrow stone stairs, where you can only walk.
So I'm riding to the hotel on this beautiful stallion. Or a filly. Hi! I'm holding. Despite the fact that the layout of the streets in Mardin looks chaotic, it is not that. This maze of narrow streets was built by ancient craftsmen and the local wind rose, which works as a natural air conditioner in summer. Friends, look, we seem to be traveling in time. We're like... Wow. The sun is breaking through these old walls. Oh, my God! The main attraction of Mardin is the main/central street. The Great Silk Road ran along with it. The ancient trade route that connected the Eastern and Western parts of our continent. And the purpose of this street has not changed since then.
Here people sell gold as many years ago. Silver products. Copper dishes. Camping bags. Nuts and dried fruits. It is very racy, I like it. I didn't expect it, though. I'm thrilled. The main feature of this place is almonds in blue syrup. You can buy it only here. Let's go try it. Friends, look, this is the blue almond. A sweet natural dye obtained from the bark of the lahore tree provides such an unusual color.
I found the most beautiful place to try this famous, popular blue almond. We are used to the fact that almonds are covered with sugar and there's so much sugar that you don't feel the taste of the almond. It adds weight. Here I have a completely natural thin dye layer and huge tasty almonds. Let's try it. Mmmmm! Mmm, very tasty fried. Oh, very well-fried almonds. And this dye here, you know, it's like... What can I compare the taste with? It tastes like sugar. But. But it's not cloying, like a sprinkle.
Powdered sugar, that's it! Such a taste sensation. It is finger-licking with Turkish tea. Welcome to my hotel, friends. In the movies, actors jump off the horses, but I... oh... but I've jumped off successfully as well. Tell them. Oh, that's it, thank you very much. Come on. Mardius Tarihi Konak Hotel is one of the oldest buildings in the city, it's about seven hundred years old. The descendants of the sultans once lived here. They left the country and made a hotel out of it and, so that the house did not turn into an abandoned one. Listen, friends, well… There was no renovation at all. It's just a medieval palace. An oriental one. Wow. Hahaha. No parget, no wallpaper, look at that. This room is small, but... it doesn't have to be big. I don't want any chambers here.
There's such an atmosphere in the hotel. It's like you came to a museum and were allowed to live here. Fantastic. In ancient times, in Mardin, the rich were proud not of the size of their homes, but the quality of the interior decoration. So, the bedroom was necessarily equipped with carved furniture made of the best wood... unique lamps made by the best craftsmen... and a wide bed decorated with expensive fabrics…
Oh, the mattress is gorgeous, so soft. It's very enveloping. Like a cloud. So delicate. Lying here wearing clothes does not correspond to the quality of the mattress, so in the evening I will do this as needed. I'll throw everything off and go to bed. The softest oriental bed. And the lavatory of the rich man had to be spacious and must have a four-poster bath.
Well, I think I have plans for the evening… The main thing that should have been in the house of any noble family in Mardin is a luxurious panoramic terrace! Since the Middle Ages and even now, the Turks have always had lunch and dinner on the terraces in the summer. On the roof. Why? Because of the sun and vitamin D. They gather as a family on these trestles. Drink Turkish tea or coffee and enjoy the most gorgeous view one can imagine. My palace has a view of the whole city and the surrounding area. A perfect view! You can rent a room in the center of Mardin for little money. Well, let's see the room.
The first feature of my hotel is its long corridors. We are already in the hotel, and it seems as if we are walking along the street. It's decorated in the style and concept of the city. Feels like you're in a city, making your way through narrow streets. Very impressing. Oh, my God, here's the city, here you are, you can see it from here. Here you go, the streets are the same as in this hotel. Well, let's see... a pretty big bed. Absolutely clean, beautiful. Snow-white sheets. Very soft mattress.
Here is a table, two soft chairs, I even have these charming miniatures with all sorts of hair conditioners, shampoos, shower gel, coffee, tea, kettle, slippers! Oh my God! This is lovely! What a huge TV! I didn't have such a TV when I was a child, I got the TV like that when I was 17. Next, there's the toilet. It's small, but I don't need a big one. There is a shower with no partitions. And this is... for washing up? That's pretty much all right. We'll draw water from here. Maybe I need to pour water and wash my head here. Oh, right, yes or no? Well, sit on the chair, sit down like this, and wash your hair with a ladle. Unless you want to take a shower. It is possible to do that as I told you. Awesome!
Finally, the third feature of the hotel. My hotel has an incredible view! I didn't even expect it to be so incredible! Wow! Here are a temple, rocky mountains, ancient buildings, a city. It's stunning, beautiful as if made of sand. There are fields, plains, hills, trees, roofs. Everything is here. I can't see the ocean or the sea, that's it. Everything else is there. Friends, be sure to come here. Let’s explore the other parts of Turkey, see how different it is, there's something else apart of Istanbul and Antalya. Here you are.
Look at the splendor. Wow! It's just amazing! Oooh what a pleasant, eastern yard. Leyli Muse Mutfak restaurant is located near my hotel. The best place to experience traditional Mardin cuisine. Friends, look how racy it is. They've lit a fire for me, sorry. A moment. And now, you will watch an ancient Mardin rite, they wash guests' of honor hands before the meal. It feels nice, and I won't catch an infection while eating with my hands. A good tradition. For lunch, I ordered a dish called kaburga dolması. These are lamb ribs. They are first stuffed with two types of rice, meat, herbs and, pine seeds… then are fried... and cooked. That's why the cooking process of kaburga dolması takes about five hours.
But I have booked it in advance, so I don't have to wait. Woah! Oh, my God! What did I order? It turned out that the dish is festive and usually the companies of friends order it. Served with various sauces, pickles, and vegetables. And now I'm going to tell you how it tastes. I'm sorry, I've been speechless for a while. Tender meat, a little smoked, or something. Perfect, not sticky, not crumbly, good prepared rice, the perfect one. It's amazing how these nuts, fried in caramel, taste. Delicious, but there is one disadvantage in Mardin cuisine. It's impossible to stop. I'll have a belly like this, you know, like this. The surprises do not end there, some musicians who sing only for this restaurant in five languages at once. Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic, Armenian, and Aramaic. That's the culture.
These musicians perform folk songs playing traditional musical instruments. They have a purpose to preserve the cultural heritage of the region. That's how from the first notes you immediately plunge into such an oriental fairy tale. This voice and music are a delight to the ears. The song turned out to be something like a Turkish serenade. A guy used to sing it to a girl confessing his sympathy. I am so affected. Excuse me. I'm embarrassed. He sang to me, looking into my eyes. That's what these black-eyed Turks are like. Oh, I feel like eating again… Oh, Sasha, listen, help me, please. I'm trying to wash my hair. You can water it, and I'll rinse it. Well, cause... cause.
I'm done, I'll take a shower right now It's a dead duck. Dear friends, good night. Being in Turkey and not watching a Turkish TV series before going to bed is a waste of time. So good night to you. One more episode, Oleh, please. Sweet dreams, I'm going to bed.
Good morning. Oh, I slept so well here. And while Julia is waking up, I have already left the city. Mardin is full of ancient antiquities. One of which is Dara city, where we are now heading. They say that the place is very, very interesting. And, of course, there is something to see. Dara is an ancient Roman city that flourished fifteen hundred years ago. Over time, it was abandoned and forgotten. It was found completely by accident. So there was a house, and there was an embankment. That is, what you see now, used to be nothing. And a piece of the house began washing out, they started digging. What you now see here is what they found at the bottom, this is what people found absolutely randomly. Look at this, it was nothing here.
This is excavated. Imagine, guys lived here, made good money, fed chickens, and they had a real history right under the house. Let's go take a closer look. Friends, this place was excavated quite recently. So recently that they did not even have time to put a cash register for tourists. Look how deep it goes, what is it? I can't believe it. You can imagine, people lived and lived. *****. Happily ever after was all set. What's this? You know, you stay at home drinking tea with cookies, play chess… And you have a real history under the house, wow! We can only imagine who lived here and walked along. Just look at these columns.
The height of the building is 25 meters! And at the bottom, it looks even more impressive... It looks like a temple or a castle from some fantasy movie. Look again at the size of these stones. It's just a mystery, like in those days... I've been traveling with this show for 4 years and every time I come across such monuments of architecture, I have only one question: how did they build such giants, columns, reservoirs, temples, and anything else in those days. How? And then it was covered with ground. Yes, that's how it was demolished. And then, on the site of this reservoir, some small house was built, in which people started to live, breed chickens, eat potatoes, and drink tea. They must have been stunned.
Awesome. It boggles the mind. I just can't believe it. According to scientists, all of this is an underground reservoir, which the Romans filled with water so that during the many months of sieges of the city they would not languish with thirst. I will briefly tell you about how everything happened here with water collection. There was an aqueduct at the top and water came down from various mountain rivers. And that's how it got here. And as you can see, the room is completely closed.
That is, there is no sunlight to prevent fungus, and the water is clean and drinkable. Water was collected with buckets from some holes and people used to drink it. That's the story. Do you know what's unique? That is, this place is not yet open to tourists. So we are the first here. That's just 1 percent that archaeologists have excavated. 1 percent. Can you imagine what will happen further? I've decided not to sit idle, so go to the countryside. Mardin and its surroundings are an open-air museum. Here, wherever you look are history and buildings that are many, many centuries old. I've come to a ghost village. It is called Dereiçi. And it is about 14 centuries old. It was once a thriving, densely populated village. It had three churches, lush gardens, and a private winery.
Wow. Listen, well ... it's charming here. Some houses are completely intact, preserved, looking like new-built. And some of them are almost destroyed. No one. No one at all. Imagine how much has happened here in all this time. How many feet have passed here? How many... I don't know ... love stories happened here, twists and turns. Generations were born, appeared, died here, and now there is no one here. People have abandoned this rural romance, mountains, nature for the comfort of urban life. It's even sad... a little…
In Europe, such a place would be turned into a museum. They would restore and advertise it, make a paid entrance, and crowds of tourists would stand here. In the vicinity of Mardin, there are dozens of such villages, many of them no longer have names and are not even indicated on modern maps. This is the charm of such places. I'm a little uneasy, to be honest. Meanwhile, I arrived at another part of the ancient city of Dara that scientists dug up. At first glance, these buildings look like primitive dwellings or cells of monks. This is far from the case.
Now we are not passing by cozy caves. It's all crypts and it's a big cemetery. Commoners were usually buried in the ground, and for the nobility, there were tombs hollowed out in the rocks. It's an amazing place, you know. Here are these steep cliffs, something resembling some Grand Canyon. It is very difficult to believe that all these are really tombs, and people are buried in all these recesses. I see such a cemetery for the first time in my life.
But the most interesting thing is inside these crypts. Here in these side holes, so to speak, some notable people used to be buried. There was a belief. That is when the body decayed and only the bones remained, the locals threw them down the pit. Here you can see these bones. There are a lot of them here. Because it was believed that the soul flew away through this hole, it can also be seen. That's all.
The bones are no longer needed, and they have no value, so they were thrown down into the pit. And in these side holes, more and more bodies were buried. Here, by the way, you can see the whole skeleton. This is the first time I've ever seen this. Well, that is, this is not a museum, where everything is linked by wires and nails. This is a man who once lived here. If you look down, you're likely to go crazy, it all covered with bones. It's full of bones. It's hard to believe in it. I mean, it is impossible. There are thousands of them, thousands. A unique place.
I continue to explore the surroundings of Mardin. They say on one of the local peaks there is a sacred place where you can see the remains of ancient gods. However, you need to get there somehow. What's wrong? Why are you starting off? Damn, guys, I have a car with summer tires. And we are here in the winter. There's snow here, I didn't take that into account when I rented the car. Holly crap. Mm. It doesn't drive. Well, now I'll accelerate. Okay, let's go. Nope.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. That's it, I'm not driving. I'll go on foot. Well ... my hair color will explain everything to me. We put it on the parking lot and go on foot. Phew, this summer raincoat it's beautiful, but it's cold. Oleh, give me your fur coat. Come on, take it off, come on, here you go. Oh, you thought I gave it to you? I lend it to you. The height, by the way, is 2 thousand meters. A little more.
Young and promising presenter Julia Koval turns into granny Julia. The wind blows into my ears, I want warm weather. 25 minutes uphill and I'm there. It is a two-thousand-year-old sanctuary of the ancient Kingdom of Commagene. I can't believe it's true that it existed. This is the history. That happened for real. This is so old, but it has survived! Its ruler, Antiochus, was a madman who suffered from megalomania. He created a new religion in which he declared himself a God along with Zeus and Apollo. This is Antiochus, and Apollo is very similar to him. Antiochus photoshopped himself a little bit to look like Apollo. See. There's Apollo, and there's Antiochus. Oh, my gosh.
Obsessed with the idea of divine glory, he believed in his tale of immortality, fearlessly went into battle, and was killed. So I guess the lesson here... Love yourself, but not too much. There should be a balance everywhere. His body was buried here-under that hill. Which, by the way, is considered the highest burial mound in the world. Its height is almost fifty meters! The place is so strong energetically, even with a narcissistic Antiochus. It's 2200 meters high. These structures are incredible. People did their job perfectly. There is another interesting place in the vicinity of Mardin. I came to Deyrulzafaran Monastery. To be more romantic - the Saffron monastery.
It is one of the oldest monasteries in the world. It is called so because of the saffron plant that used to grow abundantly around the monastery. According to legend, it was founded by the disciple of Jesus Christ - the Apostle Peter, but officially the monastery was built later - in the fifth century. What a beauty! Friends, it is simply impossible to put in words.
Look how beautiful it is. Just imagine how old this monastery is. If I'm not mistaken, fifteen hundred. Fifteen hundred! One of the most unique places of the monastery is the so-called "house of saints". Friends, now is the most interesting thing… The relics of the holy patriarchs and metropolitans of the monastery rest within the walls.
And if we come closer, we will see these dents - these are the marks of a person's hands, fingers... Let's say this is a wall, a prayer wall of desires. People have been drinking and asking for something... and they say that everything you ask for here, everything you want, will definitely come true. I will also make a wish here. I don't know whether it is autosuggestion or not, but when you are immersed in your thoughts, you really feel some kind of energy that fills you from the inside. Some kind of burden, but not in a bad sense. I mean good. It's like something's filling you up with every second. You understand that you need to be even more attentive to your desire. That is, to be as attentive as possible and to be as sure as possible of what you are asking. I hope it works.
On the way back to Mardin I stopped to see the main attraction of the entire region. The usual river… Well, yeah, the school lessons tell us that this is the Euphrates River. But it had a fateful significance for the states of the ancient world. The Euphrates is also called the ancestral home of mankind. After all, Mesopotamia, the first known civilization on Earth, emerged on its shores.
According to legends, it takes its waters in the Garden of Eden, countless treasures lie at its bottom, and if the river dries up, there will be the end of the world. Yes... power and silence. Just... nature in its pure essence, in its purest form. So... I can stand for hours here. Thinking things over. Very nice place. This season we have already hidden fifteen hundred dollars in different parts of the world. The last hundred bucks from the girls! The desired treasure of Heads and Tails will be waiting for you at the foot of the Nissibi Bridge, behind the Zınar Cafe, in a pile of stones.
Under the bridge! Romantic! Done. Mardin is not a usual Turkey. The city is unknown even by the Turks. No way! It is not suitable for fans of all-inclusive and the sea. The medieval oriental fairy tale. Mardin is good for sophisticated travelers. Guys just ride donkeys at speed. Who wants to touch something ancient... Great... And incomprehensible… It's just amazing!
It's just like we're traveling back in time. It's impossible. There are thousands of them. It's charming here. You are sitting in the house drinking tea with cookies, and you have such a story under the house. The view here is mind-blowing.
Friends, be sure to come here. It's a real Turkey. How different it is. Apart from Istanbul and Antalya. Here you are. Look what a great place I found. Run here. Look how beautiful it is, Jesus. Great. How romantic and cool for summing up this season, dear friend. I won't ask how your weekend was going. The audience saw it. There's no time for that. Let's talk about our season. The most hilarious thing. What do you remember from our beautiful 15-episode adventure? The best thing is you, babe. The most hilarious thing.
You made me laugh every day, made me smile, sometimes made me angry, and then happy. Anyway, as much as we laughed during this season, I've never laughed so much in my life. Do you know what I want to say? Friends, I highly recommend you to travel, take your best friends with you, get the most sincere and real emotions. I hope that our season has given you the greatest pleasure, the best impressions. If someone did not believe in friendship between women, I hope now you do.
Did you prepare the speech? This is professionalism, my girl. I've been working for 4 years. We love you, friends. I hope we will meet you next season. Bye. Thank you for watching us.
2021-02-03 02:23
