July 16 Haircut, not the type Greece is Taking

Bitlis. We woke up paying for the prior late night so we were not moving early or too fast. We took a short trip to Bitlis. The city lies at the bottom of a narrow canyon and is stretched out along a river.  It, too, is dominated by a castle, but after hiking up to the entrance, we found it to be padlocked.

This is not a tourist city. We walked through bustling markets along narrow pedestrian streets. Lots of families were out shopping and lots of girls wanted our pictures.  There were lots of teahouses with groups of men congregated in and outside them on small stools.  A group of young men invited us to sit with them. No common language but liberal use of their Google Translate led to a discussion of the Ramadan holiday and its upcoming Eid holiday party. They did not seem to have jobs or be in school. They were eager to bring over to us an Armenian friend whom they punched affectionately, as if to show that there was no animosity between the groups. However, these were Kurds, not Turks.

This city, like others we have visited in Turkey, seems to have lots of barber shops. Today there were lines in all of them, perhaps in anticipation of the evening festivities. We went into one and they immediately invited us to jump the line. We declined and waited our turn while talking with the customers, barbers and two kids who seemed to be apprentices while they swept the floors and retrieved tools for the barbers.

When my turn came I got a very short haircut to combat the heat. There was lots of attention to detail by the barber and he spent more time cutting than I have typically experienced in the US. 

We drove back and were squeezed into a parking space next to the hotel. We took a walk down to and on the strand along the lake. The lakefront is not well developed. I saw no beaches or swimming areas and commercial development was limited to a few waterfront type restaurants with beach furniture. A few were gearing up for the Ramadan break-fast dinner.

We noticed that there were many balloons tethered to the water in one area. Turns out it was a shooting gallery. We were pressed into taking shots at the balloons as well as given tea. Neither of us could hit the balloons, but I did not see any of the others hit the balloons either.

As we walked back to the hotel at dusk, we noticed that in most of the retail establishments the staff was eating dinner together, either inside or on tables set up on the sidewalk. This was the stores’ means of feeding the staff at the end of the Ramadan fast to keep them around for the nighttime shopping after the fast.

We got back to the hotel too late for dinner with the Manager and his staff, but they set up a table for us and served us what was left over. We also got some very good milkshakes.