Northeastern Turkey

     We took this trip in June as Dennis was finishing up his last final paper, although the finals period would not end for a few more weeks due to the protests.  We flew into Erzurum, where we rented a car and stayed one night before driving on to Kars, Ardahan, and Artvin.

     Erzurum is a more conservative town and the major urban center of the northeast.  Most notable are several examples of Selçuk religious architecture, as well as the exhibit of the “Armenian massacre of Turks” in the archaeology museum.  Kars is the last outpost before the Armenian border, and decidedly more Republican than Erzurum—the residents we met with were strong supporters of the demonstrations in Istanbul.  It was also a good departure point for visiting the ruins of Armenian city of Ani, an impressive collection of churches and Selçuk buildings from the Armenian capital that once rivaled Istanbul and Baghdad around the 1000s.  Notably, the official Turkish history does not mention anywhere that Ani was an Armenian city; it only makes vague reference to Christians that lived there.

     After Kars, we passed through Ardahan to visit our housekeeper’s sister and her family in a nearby village.  On the way, we found out that Abdullah Gül, the Turkish President, was visiting the town.  We tried to stick around to hear him speak, but he was late and we could not wait long enough since it was hot, Paul was getting fussy, and we didn’t want to be too late for our hosts.  We met them in the village of Sulakyurt, where they raise livestock and live by modest means.  After eating the best mantı (sort of like ravioli) we have ever tasted, we drove on to the mountain province of Artvin.  We stayed in the main town of Yusufeli one night, and in a pension in the more remote village of Barhal for three nights, visiting some old Georgian churches and hiking some of the numerous trails in the Kaçkar mountain range.  The pension was peaceful, and the family that owned it fed us quite well, with food straight from their garden.  It was a great opportunity to spend a few days away from city life.

The Yakutiye Medrese in Erzurum--an Islamic school built in the 1300s by the Selcuks.

The Çifte Minareli (twin minarets) Medrese, also built by the Selcuks, in the 1200s.  It is the most famous Selcuk building in Erzurum, and its image is on the city seal.  Unfortunately it was under repair and we couldn't go in.

One of the many monuments dotting the area around Sarıkamış, where Enver Paşa led the Ottoman Army in one of the biggest blunders of World War I.  Enver commanded what started as a poorly supplied force of 118,000 soldiers to attack the Russians in northeast Anatolia, in the middle of the harsh winter.  37,000 Turks were killed in battle, while 60,000 more died of exposure and disease.

The Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, one of the several churches still standing in the ruins of Ani, a medieval Armenian city. Armenia is on the opposite side of the river.

The cathedral at Ani.  Pretty well-preserved, considering it was built around the year 1000.

Horsemen riding down the main street in Ardahan, before the Turkish President's visit.

Waiting for Abdullah Gül.  Paul doesn't get what all the excitement is about.

Chasing our hosts' geese in Sulakyurt.

Cows are plentiful in northeastern Turkey, and so is cow poop.  Almost every rural home in the area has a pile of poop outside it, or a wall of poop bricks, like this one.  People here burn the cowpies in the winter for warmth, since trees and wood are scarce.

One of the Georgian churches in mountainous Artvin province.  This was part of a monastery built around 1031.

After a short hike up a hill close to the pension where we stayed in the Kaçkar Mountains.

A ruined chapel on top of the hill by our pension.  Some of the views were pretty excellent.

On a longer hike up one of the mountains in the Kaçkar range.  The Deuter (baby backpack) does come in handy!

Proof that we were all there at the same time!

Nature!

Tortum Waterfall, on our way back to the airport in Erzurum.  Allegedly these falls were formed only a few hundred years ago after a landslide blocked the flow of a river.