Set off this morning minus Sue, who wasn't feeling well, to explore a river diversion canal and tunnel built by the Romans in the ancient coastal city of Seleucia Pieria close to Antakya. The river diversion was to protect the outer harbour in times of flood by diverting the extra rainwater away from the harbour. This was another extraordinary feat of Roman engineering and the walk to the tunnel passed through cuttings not unlike modern day railway cuttings and finished up near the upper city and a series of rock tombs. We purchased some honey, soap and other produce from some enterprising locals near the rock tombs and headed on our way. Next stop was an Armenian village where the entire population was Armenian (well almost) and apparently is the only village of it's type in all of Turkey. Here we stopped for tea with the mayor of the village in a local outdoor restaurant. After rejoining Sue and another of our party, Len, who also was ill we continued on in our bus to our next stop for the night, Gaziantep. Our lodgings for the evening was at a school dormitory belonging to another Gulen inspired school and proved to be as comfortable and well appointed as any hotel room. After checking in we headed off to a university that had been established outside Gaziantep, again under the auspices of the Gulen movement. Zirve University as it is known is an extraordinary place and boasts the latest and best of everything a university could want. We were introduced to the equivalent of a University Vice Chancellor I believe and watched a short presentation on how the University came to be. After leaving here we headed back into town to have dinner at a local restaurant with a couple of local businessmen who were associated with the funding of the University and who kindly picked up the tab for the meal. Then off to our dorm for a good nights sleep.
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