Blogs from Eastern Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East

Erzerum ist türkisches Skigebiet, dafür eignet sich die Gegend prächtig , weit und breit kein Baum. Und jede Menge Berge. Und Erzerum liegt schon 1900 m hoch, Schneesicherheit ist gegeben. Sogar jetzt noch, in der Früh hatten wir ausgiebig Gelegenheit, die Schönheit der temporären Schneegrenze zu bewundern, sie lag nur wenig höher, als das Hotel. Bei der Abfahrt 6 Grad, immerhin UEBER Null. Als dann die Sonne höher stand und mehr Kraft hatte, stieg die Temperatur doch in den zweistelligen Bereich. Die Strecke Erzerum - Kars ist meine Lieblingsstrecke in der Tuerkei. Zuerst ein weites, baumloses Tal, beidseitig schneebedeckte Berge. Dann eine Schlucht mit reissendem Fluss, Nadelbäumen - ich freue mich jedes Mal über diesen Anblick. Nach vielen Kilometern ohne Baum und Strauch, geniesse ich diese richtig. Dann kam wieder ein weites, baumloses Tal - bis ... read more

KARS. REST DAY 2. 19 September,2016 Kars has many cheese shops and fresh honey stores. Cheesemaking, using cows' milk, was introduced during the Russian era 1875-1925. Bee keeping and honey production has been an industry here for a Millenia. The cheeses are large wheels of a tasty cheddar style. A cheese is also made using honey, I am still on the hunt! Like elsewhere along the Silk Road, there are many sweet cake stores. In Kars, the specialities are varieties of Baklava, (honey). Decided that I like Kars, it has attractive parks and buildings, a fantastic coffee house and some tasty food, and bustling city centre with promenading families in the evenings. Travel plans for the week ahead have been posted, 850 kms+, 7 kms of climbing and 9 kms of descent in 7 days, with ... read more

DOGUBAZIT to KARS. 17 September, 2016 The time difference on crossing the Iran-Turkey border is 90 minutes backwards. Unfortunately it takes a few days to adjust. We were to meet at 7am for breakfast, however most participants were up and wandering around at 5.30 am ready to leave. Our usual departure time on the bike is between 6-7 am! We departed at 9 am, when the bus to transport us the 180 kms to Kars arrived. It was a good morning weather wise, coolish, but relatively clear sky. About 2 km from the hotel was our first army roadblock, concrete barriers, tank and personnel carrier and machine-gun toting soldiers. After a brief look in the bus we were on our way. No other holdups on route. We traveled along the Turkish- Armenian border for about 30 ... read more

KARS. REST DAY 1. 18 September, 2016. 4c at breakfast warming to a beautiful blue sky day. After breakfast drove east with 7 others to the town of Ani, on the Armenian border. An interesting few hours. Ani was first settled in 5000 BC. Its recent history has been turbulent. Its city walls were built in 961-977. It was an Armenian city and its gates open the Silk Road from the west. Its first Cathedral was built in 987 as Eastern Orthodox, the faith of the Armenians, however when the Moslem Seljucks raided in 1064, the captured Cathedral was turned into a Mosque, Fethiya (Victory) Mosque. However the Armenians were prolific builders and another church was constructed to honour St. Gregor, an important Orthodox Saint and priest. This church contains the first murals in Turkey. Built ... read more

The first thing you see when entering Turkey from Iran is a duty free shop stocked with whisky, vodka, gin etc. This is a bit surprising as much of eastern Turkey seems to be as dry as Iran. Not one of the restaurants we've been in has served any alcohol, and no supermarkets or convenience store type shops sell any, not even beer. We knew we were travelling again as soon as we got out of the immigration gates. Having found the dolmuş (mini bus) we then had to wait for it to fill up with passengers before the driver would leave. It must have been a slow afternoon as he struggled to find enough people, so after about 30 minutes he made an offer – if everybody paid one more lira each he'd leave, we ... read more