Batman
Batman (pronounced baat-maan, not like the name of the superhero) is a city in .
Hitchhiking out
It’s somewhat harder to attract a ride here than the rest of Southeastern Anatolia, if you can call waiting beside the road up to 10 -yes, ten- minutes hard, that is.
Northeast towards Kozluk, Ziyaret, Bitlis, Tatvan
There is a roundabout at the northeastern exit of the city, with a big-box type store (named something like Osmar or Grosmar) at the side. About 100 mt down the road, you can start thumbing, but it would be easier for drivers (and on their vehicles) if you walk the slightly uphill section of the road starting immediately after the roundabout and hitch on the top of the hill. It’s not such a hard walk up.
You’ll possibly change cars town after town on this road, but it’s no problem to arrive at Tatvan on the shore of Lake Van (about 200 km away) before sunset (in summer) if you start hitching in Batman by 2PM.
In early August 2009, there was a military checkpoint about a few km north of Batman. You’ll also see lots of abandoned checkpoints on this route. They are generally unmaned according to locals.
There is also another road south of Batman heading to Bitlis/Tatvan via Kurtalan. However, according to locals, northern route through Kozluk has more traffic and thus better to hitchhike.
