Vocalchemy: Hatay, Antep Trip 土耳其南部哈泰, 安特普之旅

2012-03-20

Hatay, Antep Trip 土耳其南部哈泰, 安特普之旅

這周末去了兩個地方，一個是阿拉伯語普遍的哈泰省，位於土耳其最南與敘利亞交界處，曾經獨立為哈泰共和國，二戰時與土合併以抵禦。多元的宗教和平共存，從猶太, 天主, 東正, 伊斯蘭教各支派, 到亞美尼亞村落一應俱全。只有猶太教堂無法參觀。地中海的藍與壯觀的古代渠道也值得一看。

Gaiziantep則是個南部美食大城，到處是充滿新鮮開心果仁的千層餅。壓軸的是去年才開，世界最大的馬賽克博物館，西元二世紀的巨幅馬賽克，修復完整，包含維納斯的誕生，宙斯，及吉普賽女孩等驚世之作。

自由讓人意識自我存在價值，沉思讓人領會生命的薄與厚實，最真實的交換生生活，就是離開保護網，不斷面對來自世界的各種衝擊時，學會自處，進而獲得成長。旅途中遇到的人與簡單的小事務，時常帶給我們最深刻的體悟，例如人與人之間的信任。假如你問我土耳其南部之旅印象最深刻為何，我想，不是馬賽克，不是滿街的阿拉伯文，也不是地中海，而是在我們去山上看亞美尼亞村落趕不上公車，埋頭走完四十分鐘完全無燈的鄉間夜路後，如電影情節般出現，開車載我們狂追最後一班回城裡的車那位男子。

This weekend we went to two places:
1. Hatay Province, located in south of Turkey bordering Syria, where Arabic is commonly spoken. Republic of Hatay was once independent until World War II. Diverse religions peacefully coexist, the population included: Turks, Arabs of various religious denominations (Sunni Muslims, Alawites, Greek Orthodox); Greek Catholics, Syriac-Maronites; Jews; Syriacs; Kurds; and Armenians.Only the Jewish synagogue is not available for tourists. The vast blue Mediterranean and the spectacular ancient tunnel are also worth visiting.

2. Gaiziantep is a large city of cuisines and full of fresh pistachio pastry: baklava. The world's largest mosaic museum features huge mosaics mostly from 2-3 A.D. amazing works including The Birth of Venus, Zeus, and the Gypsy Girl. When we visited the Armenian villages in the mountains, we missed the last bus and had to walk 40 minutes down after sunset which was scary. Fortunately the villagers in Samadag helped us chase the last dolmus back to city center in the end. :)

Roman Mosaic in Antakya Archeology museum