To Kars we go (not stages 101 and 102)

By the time we went to bed last night we felt like we were taking part in a murder mystery television programme. I mentioned yesterday that the hotel had been re-opened just to accommodate us, and obviously it had been done in something of a hurry. When one of the staff walked through the lobby at around 2030 carrying a shotgun, a rifle and a large torch we really began to wonder…!

I’m also somewhat confused by the mural in the hotel stairwell and I think it may solve the mystery of where Noah’s Ark ended up. The popular view is that it landed on Ararat, but this mural would suggest otherwise

If you’re looking for the ark, try the lower mountains near Ararat!

There was no hurry to get moving but we’re all so habituated to getting up before sunrise that most of us were sitting round in the lobby much earlier than we needed to be. A leisurely breakfast and some more sitting round followed while we waited for vehicles to arrive and be loaded.

Less than 1km down the road from the hotel and it became acutely apparent why we were in a bus and not on our bikes as we were stopped at a hastily put together roadblock – the first of several on our 150km journey.

Sneaky photo of the roadblock – several truck-loads of rock from the nearby quarry and an APC to reinforce the message!

The soldiers at all of the roadblocks were perfectly friendly towards us, welcoming us to Turkey, but they were none-the-less heavily armed and looked serious about their job (even if they mostly look to be about 12 years old).

As we continued heading northwards we came very close to the Armenian border, passing a (currently closed) border crossing less than 1km down the road – along much of the way we travelled a river forms the border

Armenia across the river – much like the Tajik/Afgan border – nothing but a river but definitely no crossing!

We stopped at the restaurant campsite we were supposed to stay tonight for a pee-break and some morning tea, including delicious Turkish tomatoes – it’s my view that the best tomatoes in the world grow in Turkey, which is pretty handy given that they turn up in every meal 😉

Turkish Turkeys also getting morning tea

So that was stage 101 done, now for stage 102, which began with what would have been a pretty awesome climb up out of the river valley onto the plateau above. It was really odd being in the bus and unable to stop when I wanted to to take photos – on my bike I either slow down, or stop, whenever I want to take a photo – in the bus it was a matter of trying to snap something at 100 km/h as we went whizzing by.

Top of the climb – Armenia to the left, Turkey to the right, and the campground in the trees alongside the river in the centre.

Once up out of the river valley it was very like being in a hugely over-sized Central Otago, with rocky grass and tussock all around. Based on the way our driver approached things I’m glad in a way that we didn’t cycle across here – he drives like a complete maniac, too fast, overtaking when there isn’t room, taking corners too quickly, braking sharply whilst in corners etc – and all with no shoulder on the road which would have made things pretty fraught had any of that happened next to us when cycling.

Getting a bit bored in the bus, Ron and Erwin behind me.

Down into Kars and initial impressions weren’t that favourable, winding our way through pretty run-down streets to make our way around the city centre to our hotel. The hotel itself is in the same chain as the one we were in last night and also looks much like it’s been re-opened just for us! The political situation in Turkey, the issues with PKK, and the Syrian conflict are all very clearly having a significant impact on tourism here and the industry is on the point of collapse by the looks of things.

Roger and I have asked to room together and are splitting the cost of an additional room so that we each have our own room for the three nights here – after over four months of the company of the same people, and though we’re ‘almost there’, it’s time for some space of my own and at less than £40 (total) for me to have my own room for the three nights it’s not exactly going to blow my budget!

While it’s a nice room, with a nice view of the city, there’s sadly no hot water which reinforces the perception that the hotel’s re-opened just for us! Maybe there will be by this evening.

After a TDA lunch in the carpark (more bread and tomatoes) Michael, Ruth and I took a wander into town to see what’s what. Thankfully our first impressions were wrong – this is actually a very nice wee town with plenty of hustle and bustle without being completely manic.

We each had a ‘job’ to do – Michael needed and ATM, Ruth needed to find the currency exchange, and I wanted a SIM card for mobile access. In a very obvious display of sexism Ruth asked a man on the street corner where the currency exchange was (by showing him a slip of paper on which Ozgur had written ‘Eray Döviz’), at which point he turned to me and provided directions!

We found an ATM, and then the Turkcell shop and while I was in there Ruth found the currency exchange and changed some money.

I had a typically amusing time in the Turkcell store but in relatively short order had things sorted out with equal measures of a little bit of Turkish on my part, a little bit of English between the shop staff (at one point there were three of them ‘helping’), a little bit of Google translate, and a lot of good humour and laughter!

We continued wandering and were amazed at the number of cheese shops in town – turns out that cheese and honey are the two major products of this region.

Further on we came to the bottom of the castle where there’s a mosque, the former Church of the Holy Apostles (now also a mosque) and a tower which used to form part of the the ramparts for the castle.

We stopped in at the Migros (supermarket) on the way home and picked up a couple of beers, a bottle of wine and some toasted pistachio nuts for cocktail hour back at the hotel – very enjoyable it was too.

Because today was officially a riding day (even though we didn’t ride anywhere) we all headed out as a group for dinner which was a typical Turkish affair with mixed meze and bread to start, kebabs, rice and onions with bread for main, and then a really interesting desert comprising pumpkin which had been poached in honey and cinnamon and was then topped with tahini and chopped peanuts – slightly odd in texture, but it tasted good!

Back to the hotel and Ruth brought the bottle of Raki which she’d bought duty free as we crossed into Turkey down and we proceeded over the course of the next hour to drink our way through that – just as well there’s no riding tomorrow!