2010.07.20-25 #7 TURKEY: FAR-NORTH-EAST

#7 TURKEY

2010.07.20 - 25

The FAR-NORTH-EAST: Near Armenia / Georgia
[Kars (Ani) - Yusufeli - Trabzon (Sumela Monastery)]

We left Dogubayazit for Igdir where we had to change busses in order to reach KARS.

This was our last view of Mt Ararat - hidden behind her typical veil of clouds.




In Igdir, a man walked us 500m from the point where the dolmus dropped us to the start of the route to Kars - the helpfulness of Turkish people never ceased to amaze us.

We had time to enjoy a glass of tea before setting out on the next leg of our journey to KARS.

Some of the mountain were astonishingly red and smooth.

Others were rougher (perhaps better camouflage terrain?) and sported watch towers facing the Armenian border.

And as always, daily life goes on - the grass harvest.

Piles of manure for winter fuel.

A brightly painted nursery school in a small village.

A typical green grocer on the street.

Men smoking as they wait for the bus to depart.

The bus waiting for the herd of cattle to get out of the way before it can go on its way.

Sheep grazing next to the road.

This must be a nomadic village?

And when one sees the number of cattle in the vicinity, one realises that these people live with their cattle on the pastures.

We reach KARS otogar and due to the grid lay-out of Kars (unique in Turkey) we found our hotel quite easily.

There are many of these shops: wonderful cheeses and thick, golden honey - Kars is famous for its cheeses and honey.

Our Hotel Gungoren (Kars) was off the main road - a hotel that knew better days when Kars was the capital of Russia's newly aquired territory.

A Kars super market - all goods are still in their transport packaging!

Aren't these cobbled streets beautiful? Russia occupied Kars from 1887 to 1920 - so it is possible that this is Russian handy work.

A typical "fast food" restaurant where workers come in, order their food, sit, eat and go - all in 10 minutes!

The next morning we leave for ANI - an ancient site of many past civilisations.

We pass cut grass, raked together into piles - do you see the horse-drawn harvesting machine in the background?

We arrived at Ani's Lions entrance. It has recently been rebuilt (see the pale sections) after serious neglect due to the old Turkey-Armenian disputes.

Inge chatting to Catherine - an ex-lawyer from Scotland who has been travelling far and wide for 8 months already.

Up top on the wall, is the lion which gives the gate its name.

This map of Ani might give you an idea of the size of the terrain - Ani was a city in which 200,000 people lived in its heyday.

As there are many sites to visit, we had to choose our sites to visit carefully. Which ruins does the guide book recommend?

One of the semi-ruined structures/temples in the city wall.

An archway that was a gate many years ago.

Many of the ruins were Christian churches. This is the Church of the Redeemer (built in 1034AD). The dome was halved from top to bottom when lightning struck it in 1957.

The interior of the half-dome still standing of the Church of the Redeemer.

We were on our way to the next ruin in the distance - Ani is a vast site.

This Church of St Grigor is built on the gorge which seperates Turkey and Armenia.

Looking towards the North/West

, th

e river is the border.

Left is Turkey, right is Armenia. 

The Church of St Grigor is known as the "Painted Church" because of its many frescoes.

Unfortunately, all the frescoes are in serious need of repair.

The outside of the church is well-preserved and the ornate stone carving is impressive.

The silk road passed through the city (Ani) during its heyday.

The Cathedral is supported (see the metal on the left hand side?) to prevent it collapsing.

The cathedral was built in 987 by Ani King Sembat, but in 1064 it was changed into a mosque when Seljukid Sultan Alp Arsian conquered Ani.

However, it still retains its Gothic feel.

As Armenia is still smarting about the loss of Ani toTurey, they decided to build a replica of the Cathedral on their side of the gorge - see the building site behind Mrad? However, there seemed to be no activity.

This mosque and minaret were built in 1072 and are linked to the Great Seljuks who controlled the Silk Road at that time.

The ceiling of the mosque has beautiful mosaic work (in need of maintenance).

And the mosque has a stunning view down the gorge of the Akhurian river into Armenia. In this photo towards the East, Armenia is on the left, and Turkey is on the right.

These urchins earn their livelyhood by selling water at double the usual price. Once they'd accepted that my 3rd "No, thank you!" was final,  they begged me to take their photo!

Near the Seljuk House Nr2 (built 11-12th century) we found this wonderfully carved stone lying on the ground.

This is what is left of the houses of Ani.

Mrad went to investigate the Ani Castle.

And this warning stems from the years of intense hostility between Armenia and Turkey.

Another Church of St Gregory (built 994AD) - now only a shell with a spectacular eight sided roof structure.

The desolated interior of the Church of St Gregory is only good enough for the birds.

Inge in typical pose - clicking away!

This is the surrounding view from Ani that Inge captured on photo.

The Church of the Apostles (right) was built in 1031. It was extended and ended its life as a caravanserai (camel stable) (on the left of the picture).

The magnificent interior of the Church of the Apostles - just look at the use of black and rust coloured stones to create a chequered effect.

The portal which was added to the church reflects the Seljuk tradition.

Just look at the intricate stone filigree work on exterior of the Church of the Apostles. Each stone has a different colour.

The last ruin which we visited was the Church of St Grigory (yes - the 3rd one with the same name!!!) planned to have the largest dome in the known world - unfortunately it collapsed soon after it was completed.

This is all that is left of Turkey's largest domed structure!

Amongst the fallen pillars, we particularly liked this capital.

The ruins of the fortified walls of Ani (when it was a great city with 200,000 inhabitants).

This sign dates back to the Seljuks (11th century AD). It reminded us of Hitler's emblem, but archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates from the Neolithic period (9500 BC).

Obviously, there's nothing new in this world!

We rushed back to the Lion Gate after three hours of (hot) walking and debating the folly of mankind to be great.

Lion Gate in sight.

Our dolmus waited for us.

Back to the survival stategies of the local people: Soil on roof with grass growing ontop = coolness in the house.

A close-up view of the horse drawn grass raking "machine" still very much in use in the Far East of Turkey.

One of the everpresent mosque on the outskirts of Kars.

A family getting onto our dolmus.

Dung fuel for winter fires.

T

he next day we were off to Trabzon (via Yusufeli). 

Mrad had his boots polished. Having your  boots polished is the second "national sport" - the first being drinking tea!! 

A more experienced shoe polisher watched the young ones at work. After  all, he's been polishing shoes al his life!

Our bus travelled through the Kaçkar Mountains to get to Trabzon on the Black Sea.

The extent of the road works in the Kaçkar Mountains is impressive.

The road follows the Çoruh River system in the gorge through the mountains.

All possible agricultural land is used.

We disembarked 7km away from YUSUFELI because we had been told that it was a good place to go. Why?

Not the town as such, but the surrounding area was said to be beautiful.

We were not disappointed.

Have a slice of mountain?

Still driving next to the river.

All the way from Kars we had been treated to the most beautiful mountain scenery imaginable. After the four hour trip, we were glad to disembark at the petrol station +-9km from Yusufeli. 

This fowel had jumped "box" in the baggage compartment.

Another fowl had either fainted or was dead. Here she's (hopefully) being resuscitated with hosepipe water. The audience waited in suspense ...

Yusufeli itself was not a beautiful town.

Lumber trucks made traffic slow.

But the hanging bridge across a tributary of the Coruh River gave Yusufeli a spirit of adventure.

And our lodgings, Green Peace Pansiyon, was right on the river.

To add to the spirit of adventure, Turkey's National Kayak Championship was being held there over the next two days.

On the day of our arrival several practise sessions were held - very exciting! 

The banner stated that Yusufeli and I had the same date of birth! No wonder we liked the place.

And the Turkish flag proudly oversaw the proceedings.

Yusufeli has an efficient municipality. They even wash/dampen the streets.

A group of young Muslims sat in front of the local medresse/mosque school. "Photo? Photo?"

This wedding car and all the cars following went hooting past us - NO - when hooters blow in Turkish cities, it's NOT a traffic jam -

it's a wedding!!

Mrad managed to get a glimpse of the bride.

When we arrived home, we drank tea (yes, women also do!) on the Green Peace verandah next to the river.

Joey - jy en jou klim-maters sal die k-h-kos herken!?!

The next morning, Green Piece (the spelling on the side of their van) Camping and Rafting, kindly took us to the otogar. We were pleased not to have to walk the 2km.

But we could not help enjoying the relevance of the alternative spelling! Just look at the van which gave us the lift!

Inge "talking" to a local while waiting for the bus.

Our journey from Yusufeli to TRABZON continued for four hours along the gorges and the river of the Kaçkar Mountains.

Next to the river, villages hung on to the mountain side for dear life.

And the new roads clung to the newly leveled surfaces.

Hanging bridges made it possible for people to get from one side of the river to the other, while rickety pulley systems brought the produce to the road side.

Obviously some super structure was being bult here too - could this be a pilon for a highspeed road through the valley? Then why are the low roads being built?

And up above the fast flowing river, cement walls  clung to the mountain side.

And the river rushed on (to the sea?) between the high mountains.

ARTVIN (+- 40km from Georgia!) in the distance - its mountains covered by clouds. Just look at the road works on the right of the photo!

Here we saw the road works up close.

Down below a truck has just exited the tunnel - this gives you an idea of the size of te road works.

The bridge near Artvin that we crossed to continue our journey to Trabzon.

An enormous dam wall near Artvin.

Artvin is a big city.

Between Artvin to Trabzon, tea is grown in the humid atmosphere of the Black Sea region.

At last we're on the Black Sea Coast. The mosque in Hopa. (Sorry - the bus did not stop for us to take a better photo!).

Then our road took us south. We travelled directly next to the Black Sea.

A view north to Hopa, the city where we exited the mountains and connected to road south.

Yes! People actually swim in the Black Sea.

At Findikli we stopped for a "body break" - T & P!

Findikli's mosque - two minarets. So it had to stem from the Ottoman times.

Our bus took the fly-over to the left. The sign confirmed our choice - Trabzon here we come!

One of many artificial harbours which either host 

small fishing boats

or large fishing fleets (depending on the size and location of the harbour).

We saw more tea plantations - each house seemed to grow a patch of tea!

Trabzon across the bay. At the front/lower part of the picture, you can see the outlines of exercise equipment which was positioned next to the sea for the locals to use. A splendid idea!

The rather uninspiring square buildings of modern Trabzon.

Our Hotel Benli was a good example of drab architecture as much as the interior worn and dull.

But the friendliness of the staff compensated for the starkness of the city's buildings.

This impressive modern building is near the city "meydan"/centre.

However, traditional garb (the full burkha) is also worn. Mrad sneaked this photo of the ladies in black. Inge was just the decoy!

Would we eat fish tonight? Of course - we were right next to the Black Sea.

On our first day in Trabzon, we took a dolmus to Sumela Monastery.

Only to find that 1000s of other tourists had the same idea.

Sumela Monastery is located at an altitude of 1,200 metres, it is a magnificent structure. It clings to sheer basalt wall, high above green forests and a mountain stream.The rainy, cloudy day contributed to the feeling of seclusion which (we thought) a monastary should have.

Here we looked down on the roofs of the site.

To our disappointment, most of Sumela Monastery was closed to the public due to extensive restoration (many such efforts have been made since its building in 386 AD). Museum guards jealously guarded the existing frescoes to prevent further damage.

Art historians must love these frescoes.

Is this Jesus or one of His disciples? 

This is the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus. Sumela monastery.

The original icon (created by St Luke who was not only physician but iconographer too!) was rediscovered in the 4th century in the Pontus/Kaçkar mountain range where it had been hidden by Greek monk Barnabas, and his acolyte Sophronios. It was relocated to Greece in 1931 - an amazing story! But there are other versions (if you'd prefer?).

This is the extent of the damage to the frescoes - deliberate chips!

If the date is to be believed, then grafitti has been with us for a long time.

In spite of all the negative factors, Sumela Monastery is worth while a visit.

The painted exterior of the mountain hugging buildings at Sumela.

Slightly blurred, but we could not resist the temptation of publishing this photo of contemporary burkha wearers - brightly coloured jeans and takkies are exposed because the black clothes are lifted to prevent them from getting wet in the puddles of rain. 

A view to the surrounding Kaçkar Mountains.

The rest of Sumela Monastery which was closed to the public.

Perhaps the beams supported a balcony once upon a time? 

Did the monks watch their flocks from these windows?

The impressive facade of Sumela Monastery.

We walked (+-20 minutes) down the very steep hill to find our dolmus back to Trabzon.

The dark green of the conifers, the rugged cliffs and the winding downhill road made our trip back to Trabzon a pleasure.

We were hungry by the the time we reached Trabzon - but a serving of "kofta"/meat balls stilled our hunger pains. Just look at what can be done with cucumber and tomato.

And the fried mini-fish were delicious too.

The next morning we visited the Ayasofya / Holy Wisdom Museum (built 13th century). This is the bell tower next to the church.

It is one of the best examples of Byzantine churches in the area, but was converted to a mosque in 1461. The northern side of the Ayasofya, Trabzon.

The narthex has beautiful frescoes portraying Biblical scenes such as the "Marriage at Cana" .

Christ feeding the 5000 people.

The dome of the church is the centre of the cross shaped design of the church. Between each window an apostle is depicted.

Frescoes on the dome depict "the Pantacreator Jesus Christ reflecting his heavenly aspect" (Museum pamphlet, 2010). Can you see the row of angels just above the windows?

The Byzantine mosaic floor is the pride of the museum.

On the southern side of the church the base relief frieze depicts the creation of Adam and Eve. 

Fortunately we had the museum pamphlet to tell us this, because the years have taken their toll on the frieze!

Mrad "captured" a capital.

Ancient grave stones. What stories they could tell!?

These Iznik tiles were waiting to resume their rightful place after the restoration has been completed.

Pillars of solid marble! 

Look at the various colours!

After the "musezi" we caught a dolmus to Boztepe high above the bustle of the city. This is the view down to Trabzon.

We enjoyed the tea in this elegant urn. Mrad took to the national "sport" in Turkey like a duck to water!

This was a popular place for many Trabzonites.

Do you have some crumbs for me? We thought this bird was beautiful.

Another wedding car is  loudly paraded through the streets.

Fish for supper (again?). Of course ...

Absolutely delicious! Straight from the sea.

That evening we got onto the overnight bus to Ankara. Mrad organising the tickets.

Rouan - kyk net ons bus se "gre^nd tyres"!!! 

Goodbye, Trabzon!

Tomorrow morning when we wake up we'll be in Anakara (many kilometres to the south).

____________________

As ons so deur ons fotos werk om die mooistes vir die blog uit te  kies (ons het ve^^^^r oor 15,000 fotos!), dan se^ ons vir mekaar: "Dis nog mooier as wat ons onthou!"

Elke dag is 'n avontuur - en tog gee ons vir onsself genoeg tyd om als te verteer - die blog is eintlik vir ons! Veral noudat ons 'n huisinbraak in SA gehad het (helder oordag!), is ons nog meer daarvan bewus dat alles wat mens doen en besit maar 'n tydelike "welstand" is.

Ons dink ook aan Louis en Pietie wat 'n tyd van beproewing ervaar agv siekte. 

Liesel! Ons din ook aan Ella wat al 'n maandlank hoes - as mens werk en ma-is is dit maar erg.

Inge! Ons hoop jou enkel en gesondheid is al baie beter - hoop ook dat jy balans by die werk vind en dat hulle jou nie te veel moor nie.

Dankie aan Erika, Olivia en Joy wat saam met Renate en Brett troure"elings maak - ons sien uit na die GROOTdag. 

Janine! Goed om te lees dat jou gesondheid "glad" verloop en glo ook dat jy nie by die werk jouself verby rede laat benut nie.

Marnette! We hope you had a super birthday!

Ag - ek dink ons verlang nou al baie na julle almal. Ons "sien" mense wat ons ken (?!) en herken eienskappe van ons geliefdes in ander se gelaatstrekke - glo dis werklik 'n geval van "home sickness".

Julle gebede is met ons soos ons s'n met julle is -
Ons is gesond en vrolik op ons reis. 

Maar dis nog net 11 slapies - dan is ons tuis.

Baie lief vir julle

M&I