Blogs from Kars, Eastern Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East - page 2

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Middle East » Turkey » Eastern Anatolia » Kars September 1st 2011

Traveling by train still remains my favorite form of transportation, even after the longest train trip I have ever done. Here is a gps log of the trip (lost the gps link for a while in the middle there): click here. In all, it took 38 hours and 45 minutes to get from Istanbul to Kars. All in all the trip was well worth it, particularly the landscapes which on day two were stunning. Day 1 was nice, but the views were not too special. I had decided to go to Kars from reading Snow by Orhan Pamuk which is one of my best favorite books. Also, I figured I had 5 weeks worth of time in Turkey, so there was some time for slow methods of transportation. Also figured it would be interesting to see ... read more
The board on the car ahead of mine
View along the ride
View along the ride

Middle East » Turkey » Eastern Anatolia » Kars » Ani July 13th 2011

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
Another church
Such detail
Beautiful

Middle East » Turkey » Eastern Anatolia » Kars June 30th 2011

At first glance, Kars seems like a hard place to love. It is located in the northeastern corner of Turkey in land that was once controlled by the Russians. Kars still has the feel of a depressing Russian city, with many large concrete buildings that are in various states of demise. There's also trash everywhere. However, there are at least three foreigners who have some affection for Kars: Dan, myself, and Steven, the crazy Scottish guy. We met Steven on our trip to Ani, the ancient Armenian capital located 45 km west of the present day Turkish-Armenian boarder. "You're late. You have to ride in the trunk," our driver joked as a middle aged, unshaven Scottsman who emerged from the hotel. On our ride to Ani it became apparant that Steven had spent a great deal ... read more

Middle East » Turkey » Eastern Anatolia » Kars » Ani June 19th 2011

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. Ale ... read more
Photo 2
Photo 3
Photo 4

Middle East » Turkey » Eastern Anatolia » Kars » Ani September 5th 2010

The taxi driver in the Georgian town of Akhaltsikhe laughed at me as I put on my seat belt - he demonstrated the cause of his mirth - his frame and stomach were so big that the seat belt wouldn’t reach across him. I assumed his sheer corpulence would make all head on collisions a non-issue. So off we went along the road to the border with nice mountain scenery but atrocious roads; despite this being one of the main highways between Turkey and Georgia, we spent most of the time slowing down suddenly and veering from right to left in order to avoid the giant pot holes. Borders are such weird places and Vale was no exception. The taxi driver dropped me off at the Georgian border gate, or rather the farm yard - because ... read more
1 Georgia to Turkey - 6 Aug 2010
5 Georgia to Turkey - 6 Aug 2010
6 Georgia to Turkey - 6 Aug 2010

Middle East » Turkey » Eastern Anatolia » Kars April 29th 2010

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
nice sweeping bends
green valleys and snowy mountains
taking chay with the locals

Middle East » Turkey » Eastern Anatolia » Kars April 28th 2008

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
Kars Castle
Kars Castle
Church of St. Gregory




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