Blogs from Kars, Eastern Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East

The main reason we visited Kars is because it is the best starting off point to visit Ani, the ruined city on the border with Armenia. Ani, is a windswept grassy site that contains a lot of Armenian architecture. The train trip from Erzurum to Kars was pleasant enough, we decided to order something from the restaurant car, I thought I had ordered a pasta dish each, but that got lost somewhere in translation and we ended up with one plate of french fries and a coffee, oh well it filled a hole and we were off to sleep soon. The guard came through and gave us a pillow and blanket and we rattled our way towards Kars for the next 5 hours. Celil a local taxi driver come tour operator was there to meet us ... read more

The bus ride to Kars wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but I didn't drink anything and didn't use the bathroom the entire 10 hours. I don't hate the bus ride nearly as much as I hate the bathroom stops. The woman next to me was quite large too, but I slept almost the whole time. I was feeling pretty sluggish by the time we got to the Kars Otogar (bus station). I got my bag and a taxi driver approached. I got a good vibe from him, so I agreed to let him take me to the hotel and come back two hours later to take me to Ani. Altogether he cost me 120TL and I wouldn't have saved much if I had waited to go with the service from the ... read more

Ráno jsme zašli ve Vanu do snídaňový ulice, kde všechny kavárny nabízej za pár šušní snídaně šampionl, kde najdete úplně všechno. Od vajec, přes uzeniny, ovoce, zeleninu, mléčný produkty, pomazánky, med, ořechy, prostě mazec. Bohatýrsky jsme posnídali a zbalili si věci na cestu. Před odjezdem autobusu jsem zjistil, že nám došel toaletní papír, tak jsem se ho vydal hledat po okolí. Naučil jsem se tak během pár minut víc turecky než doposavad, holt když člověk musí, tak to jde samo. V Turecku na autobusový nádraží svážej minibusy od cestovních agentur, kde si koupíte lístky. Protože nikdy nejedou na čas a většinou na kažýho počkaj, tak jsem hledal a hledal až jsem nakonec zakoupil nejmenší balení osmi papírů a pospíchal zpátky, kde už Mona nervózně vyhlížela jestli jsem se ještě do odjezdu stihnu vrátit nebo ne.... read more

When we leave Cappadocia for eastern Turkey there's a definite feel that you have left tourist Turkey. The roads suddenly deteriorate and the villages start to become more rustic. We are still in the land of men sitting around drinking chay or playing OK which is sort of like gin rummy with dominoes. They don't seem particularly bothered when we roll up and join them for tea, in fact they go out of their way to bring extra chairs and include us in their circle. The mayor of one village explains that they are all farmers and once they have tended to their beasts in the morning and set them free to graze theirs nothing left to do until evening which is why they sit drinking tea. There are several mountain ranges in eastern Turkey and ... read more

The weekend started as all weekends should, on a Wednesday. Çocuklar Bayramı (Children's Holiday) meant no classes - wooohoooo! I found a dirt cheap plane ticket and landed around noon in Kars, setting of Orhan Pamuk's novel, Kar (Snow), which I still haven't read (the English-translation of it that I found in İstanbul - in paperback! - cost more than the plane ticket to Kars!). Anyway, my guidebook was correct in noting that the city is full of Russian buildings, appropriately grey and run-down. Still, Kars did prove to have more to offer than I originally expected. I shared a cab into town with a young man who had flown in from Aydın to visit his girlfriend. We sat, talked, and drank tea - because this is what happens in Turkey. Despite my improving skills and ... read more