Where to buy alcohol in Şanlıurfa - Turkey
November 27 2020 | Tagged: Turkey
Looking for alcohol in a dry-town has its challenges
28 years ago, on November 23, 1992, I set off for Australia on my first trip as a backpacker.
This warranted a little celebration, don't you think?
Şanlıurfa is a dry town. But it is always possible to find someone selling beer or something a little stronger, whether openly or not. It just requires a bit of leg work.
I needed to raise a glass to the Travel Gods for looking out for me. I needed to raise a glass to all the other backpackers I have met over the years, most of whom I have lost contact with, but never forgotten and to the locals who invited me, helped me in times of desperation and to those who just wanted to know my story. Cheers to all of you!
I needed to find something to put in my glass so I could raise it.
I spent 2 hours walking around looking for a bottle shop, a kiosk, anything. I even went to Şanlıurfa's biggest and newest mall. I had imagined it would be like in Uzbekistan were alcohol was stored under the counter. But not in Šanliurfa.
It was a fruitless excursion until not more than 100m from 'home', actually right next to the hotel I think I stayed in back in 2010.
In a small hole-in-the-wall kiosk, I spied a bottle of JD and then I spotted the vodka and the fridge full of cold ones. I couldn't believe my luck.
This warranted a little celebration, don't you think?
Şanlıurfa is a dry town. But it is always possible to find someone selling beer or something a little stronger, whether openly or not. It just requires a bit of leg work.
I needed to raise a glass to the Travel Gods for looking out for me. I needed to raise a glass to all the other backpackers I have met over the years, most of whom I have lost contact with, but never forgotten and to the locals who invited me, helped me in times of desperation and to those who just wanted to know my story. Cheers to all of you!
I needed to find something to put in my glass so I could raise it.
I spent 2 hours walking around looking for a bottle shop, a kiosk, anything. I even went to Şanlıurfa's biggest and newest mall. I had imagined it would be like in Uzbekistan were alcohol was stored under the counter. But not in Šanliurfa.
It was a fruitless excursion until not more than 100m from 'home', actually right next to the hotel I think I stayed in back in 2010.
In a small hole-in-the-wall kiosk, I spied a bottle of JD and then I spotted the vodka and the fridge full of cold ones. I couldn't believe my luck.
I bought a 50cl bottle of Yeni Raki and a can of Efes. Just the job for my 'party for one'.
It's next to the place marked, on the side street, Melik Cabbar
