2019 Nov 7 Şanlıurfa · Travel Notes

Nov 7, 2019 Şanlıurfa · Travel Notes, 鳗说鳗聊
My room sat beside an indoor restaurant in an old Turkish house; waking depended entirely on a healthy body clock, with no sunlight for reference. After a big hotel breakfast, one accidental roasted chili blew away the lingering haze—every sense snapped awake, taste buds the most “magical.”
A massive castle ruin crowns a rock hill in the old town, sealed tight with barbed wire for repairs. I circled it like a scout seeking a breach—none. A kindly policeman actually invited me in “for tea.” He studied this rare visitor from the East with curiosity, asked about my impressions of the city via a phone translator, took a photo together, and sent me off—regaining freedom felt wonderful.
East of the citadel lies a traditional cemetery; I happened to witness a burial, a ritual that brings calm and inner peace. Beneath the castle, at a mosque by the traditional birthplace of the Prophet (as local tradition holds), fat carp glide in a holy spring; legend says anyone who catches them will go blind, so no one knows their age. Worshippers come without pause; local kids sometimes offer to guide you for small tips—though apart from me, there seemed to be no other foreign visitors.
The courtyard teemed with tabby cats; a litter of white-pawed, white-bellied kittens made me think of my two cats back home, “Zhaofu” and “Zhaoshou.”
About 30 km east sits a prehistoric site of T-shaped standing stones. No study fully explains their purpose. Leaning on the fence to look closely, I formed my own guesses—no worse, I felt, than scholarly theories. If only I spoke Turkish; I’d love to debate with them.
At the shuttle stop a student and the driver got off just to pull me into a group photo—proof again of how rare an East-Asian face is here. The student greeted me in broken Korean; I replied with “你好,” and with the local word “Chen” for China. The warmth really is universal; I was surrounded all day by greetings and smiles.
Later I passed a temple-like museum that reset my sense of masonry and decoration. The entire place is paved with ancient mosaic floors—masterpieces rescued from nearby fortresses discovered during reservoir construction; most of those sites are now submerged. They say the mosaics were moved here within the last 24 hours before the flood—almost miraculous, and truly admirable as an act of protecting history. Geometric patterns, sacred figures, lifelike animals and plants, rich colors—breathtaking; the “Gypsy Girl” stares straight through time.
At sunset I set off again. From a mountaintop I saw smoke soar skyward south of the Syrian border. Armored vehicles and refugee camps along the road made me cherish peace and sigh at life’s fragility. For this land, the erosion of time has both witnessed history and preserved what deserves to endure.

2019年11月7日 尚勒乌尔法 鳗游随笔，鳗说鳗聊
卧室在一个室内餐厅的旁边，在土耳其老房子里，醒来全靠自己健康的生物钟，阳光被阻隔，没有什么参考的意义，吃过酒店的丰盛早餐，一根误食的烤辣椒驱赶了还有点昏昏沉沉的潜意识，一切感官迅速清醒，只有味觉很是魔幻。一座硕大的城堡建筑遗迹屹立在老城中心的石头山上，被铁丝网围了个严实，里面在进行必要的修缮，这一圈走的我像是在找一个防御缺口的探子，但他就是那么的无懈可击，直到被守护的警察叔叔请去“喝茶”，这真是去喝茶，小哥就像看珍稀动物一样围着我打量着这个来自东方的稀有物种，用他手机里的翻译软件询问者我对这个城市的印象，在合影留念后告别了盛情的款待，重获自由的喜悦真是舒坦。古堡的东面是一片传统的麻扎，正赶上下埋体，这种仪式总会给人带来平静和内心的安宁。古堡下的清真寺，先知的诞生地，圣泉里鲤鱼很是肥硕，相传捕捞她们的人，眼睛就会瞎掉，所以不知道她们活了多少个年头。来做礼拜的人络绎不绝，也有主动给你当向导的小孩子来赚取小费，虽然除了我好像并没有什么外国游客。满院子的狸花猫，一窝四蹄踏雪的白肚皮，让我想起了招福招寿（两只家乡的小猫）。城东30公里，史前T形石阵遗迹，各种已知的研究都不能解释它们出现在这里的用意，趴在围栏上细赏也有属于自己的合理猜想，自觉也不亚于学者的推论，我要是会土耳其语真想和他们交流交流，反正大家都是发散性的脑洞大开。在摆渡车站被一个学校的学生和司机特意下车拉来合影，再次证明亚洲面孔在这里的稀有，同学一上来招呼的还是蹩脚韩语，我晕，就我这脸的颜色，我只能用中文的“你好”回应，用土国的中国“chen”来回应。这种热情还真是全民的，我就被各种打招呼和微笑围绕着。路过一座刷新泥瓦匠装修新认知的神殿，整个博物馆铺满了千年前的马赛克地板画臻迹，来自于周边修建水库时发现的几座古堡，现在大部分以被完全淹没，在被淹没的前24小时被抢救性的搬到了这里，真是奇迹一般，才使得今日得见，任何保护和尊重历史的民族都是值得敬佩的。在这些作品里呈现出的各种几何图案，宗教人物，动植物写实，丰富的色彩，美轮美奂。其中吉卜赛女孩的眼睛更是穿透时间与空间的对眸，就那么的直抵人心。夕阳把我送上了远方的路，在山顶上遥望叙边境以南的烟雾直冲云霄，路上出现的装甲车和难民营地让人不由得珍视和平、唏嘘生命的脆弱。但对这片土地来说，时间的侵蚀见证历史的同时也保留下来了值得保留文明。