Children of Yukari Kavrun
View of Yukari Kavrun
The Kachkar Clouds chasing us!
Outside the cafe in Yukari Kavrun
Something written in Turkish (Cafe in Yukari Kavrun)
Welcome to the Kachkar!
Pre-Winter flowers
We made it! Karadeniz Guru (aka The Lakes)
Everything is green here- even the rocks!
Off center right is the peak of the Kachkar
Ominous clouds creeping in
The view from our room at the Sis Otel
The misty mosque in Ayder
One strong granny!So off we went, making our way to Ayder (the Kackar- pronounced 'Kachkar' Mountain region), taking a bus right along the coast of the Black Sea for about 2-2 1/2 hours until we arrived in Pazar where we had to change from bus to dolmus (18YTL). Pazar is a more religious city and by the looks I saw getting, I felt slightly uncomfortably. We waited around for a bit until the dolmus was filled with passengers- mostly locals with tons of groceries for the evenings' Ramazan meal. I tried to find a public restroom but something got lost in translation or they didn't want me using it (?). The dolmus driver, seeing my failed attempt told me, "Toilet, one kilometer", and after about 15 mintues we stopped in Camlihemsin, letting off other passengers, gaining some, and having my first experience with an 'eastern-style' toilet- aka a hole in the ground basically or as IB likes to say 'the bullseye'.
The dolmus bounced and swerved up, up, up into the green landscape leaving the paved road far behind. About an hour later we rolled into Ayder, a once small village with only wooden shack houses that now has tourist money coming in, so there are new 'otels' popping up everywhere (still all wooden, like a cute cottage). We had got a few recommendations on places to stay from some of IB's friends that have already traveled here (this area is really popular with Israelis). We hiked up the road, trying to feel out the prices at a few of the otels; if breakfast or dinner is included, is there hot water?, and checking out the rooms themselves. But we were weren't quite satisfied with what we found and right at the moment we ran into a couple (Israelis, of course!) playing the same game we were. We joined forces and after IB's name-dropping of a friend who worked in the area as a tour guide, we settled in at the Sis Otel- which was one of the places his friends recommended to us.
The Sis Otel is one of the newer otels in the area and the first one you see when you enter the village. Small but cozy rooms, equipped with TVs, nice bathrooms, wooden walls and floors, a Turkish floor rug, and with gorgeous views of the lush woods that surround Ayder. With dinner and breakfast included, we paid 40YTL per person and stayed for two nights.
Tourist season in the Kachkar runs from May until end of September, peaking between July and August. We could tell business had already slowed down as there were only one of three parties staying at the otel- us, the Israeli couple, and a group of about a dozen Evangelical Christians from the States, needless to say the conversations over dinner and cay (tea-pronounced 'chai') were quite interesting.
That afternoon we strolled along the road in hopes of finding a cup of Turkish coffee. IB and I are quite fond of Turkish coffee, wait scratch that, we are quite addicted to Turkish coffee and need it like a motor needs oil. We found an upstairs restaurant/gaming hall filled with old men playing cards. We sat on the balcony and sipped our tiny (waaaay too tiny) cups of coffee and peered out into the greenery. The old man sitting next to us motioned something at me, I thought it was a hand motion as to say "where's your head covering?" but I'm not really sure and IB doesn't think it was that either.
In the evening, after dinner (meat and potatoes, rice, beans and eggplant mush) we went on another walk. The clouds by this time had already set in and everything seemed as if you were looking through fogged glasses. It was really beautiful! We stopped by the bakery and lucky for us they were just taking out a fresh batch of special Ramazan bread. They wrapped it for us in newspaper and a plastic bag and before we got back to the otel, half of it was already gone- deeelicious!
Waking up the next morning, we got ourselves packed and ready for our first real adventure-a one-day hike up to Karadeniz Guru, also know as the 'lake area' in the Kachkar Mountains. We passed by the bakery again and picked up another Ramazan bread, some cheese, chocolate, and water for our lunch and hopped on another dolmus (15YTL) to take us to Yukari Kavrun. It's an even smaller and more remote village than Ayder, at the base of the Kachkar. Here is a place where old ladies collect firewood for the stove and knit wool socks with funky patterns, men chop wood and fix up houses, and kids play with baby chicks; tin roofs are weighed down with rocks, and drinking water comes directly from a waterfall. Very simple and very pure.
We began our hike and 2 1/2 hours and 5 or 6 small breaks later we reached our destination. The hike was about a 5.8 on a scale from 1 to 10, mostly because I'm out of shape :) The song that kept coming to my head during the way up was "The hills are alive with the sound of music", I think I even broke out into a song and twirl at one point! The ground was peppered with flowers that bloom when winter is on the way-white, orange, and pink underneath dense patches of moss and soft grass. Everything in this region is so green- rocks are covered with lichens and algae in shades of green, blue, yellow and gray. There's water running everywhere! And during the hike you are parallel to a lovely stream; at one point there's even a wooden spout, coming right out of the earth where we refilled our water bottle and cooled ourselves off. This water is untainted and safe to drink because the only thing above it is the actual source- it was delicious and freezing cold!
The amount of water in this region is staggering and IB just kept saying in awe, "They have so much- too much water here"; in Israel, as you know, water is a huge issue. And later during our travels we learned that the whole country is also facing a water crisis, most seriously in Ankara. The crisis is mainly due to poor maintenance of water supply lines and a HUGE dam building project that is still underway in the region (Ataturk Dam).
Once we reached the top (2750 meters above sea level), we were greeted by the lakes. We sat and had our lunch, enjoyed the breath-taking views, and even got chased by a cloud! We recommend that once you get to the first lake you continue up along the ridge towards the peaks and not go down the path on the left (which leads down to the rest of lakes), especially if you are doing only a one-day hiking trip like we did. In total, there are five lakes that our map showed us.
Side note: the best map you can get is sold with the book "The Kackar" by Kate Clow (March 2008), but it is rather pricey at 13.99 Euro. The second best map you can get, which was actually given to us by IB's tour guide friend before we went, is the map he bought at Yusufeli's Visitor/Tourist Information Center. So it might be a good idea to make a stop in Yusufeli before heading to the Kackar. We ended up buying a few more (2YTL each) on our way out of Yusufeli (we tried getting them before, but it was Sunday and the Center was closed).
The hike back down to Yukari Kavrun took us about an hour and a half, and we were ready to go! We were told earlier in the day by some in-charge-looking guy that the dolmus (another 15YTL) would be taking off back to Ayder around 4p, so we made sure to be there on time. We sat and had a coffee and waited. The in-charge guy came up to us and said that he wanted to go fishing with some friends and he'd be back in just a bit- so we said okay, who are we to argue, this guy has the keys. So we stayed put at the little 'cafe' and waited, ordered another tiny cup of coffee, waited, and waited some more. During this time, the sun had already set behind the mountains, and heavy clouds began to blanket the whole village, the cows even started coming home! So finally after 2 hours of waiting and a few games of shesh-besh (backgammon), the guy and his now rowdy friends come back with A fish (though I never even saw it). We were a bit peeved and very ready to get back to our cozy wooden room.
Waking up the next morning, we got ourselves packed and ready for our first real adventure-a one-day hike up to Karadeniz Guru, also know as the 'lake area' in the Kachkar Mountains. We passed by the bakery again and picked up another Ramazan bread, some cheese, chocolate, and water for our lunch and hopped on another dolmus (15YTL) to take us to Yukari Kavrun. It's an even smaller and more remote village than Ayder, at the base of the Kachkar. Here is a place where old ladies collect firewood for the stove and knit wool socks with funky patterns, men chop wood and fix up houses, and kids play with baby chicks; tin roofs are weighed down with rocks, and drinking water comes directly from a waterfall. Very simple and very pure.
We began our hike and 2 1/2 hours and 5 or 6 small breaks later we reached our destination. The hike was about a 5.8 on a scale from 1 to 10, mostly because I'm out of shape :) The song that kept coming to my head during the way up was "The hills are alive with the sound of music", I think I even broke out into a song and twirl at one point! The ground was peppered with flowers that bloom when winter is on the way-white, orange, and pink underneath dense patches of moss and soft grass. Everything in this region is so green- rocks are covered with lichens and algae in shades of green, blue, yellow and gray. There's water running everywhere! And during the hike you are parallel to a lovely stream; at one point there's even a wooden spout, coming right out of the earth where we refilled our water bottle and cooled ourselves off. This water is untainted and safe to drink because the only thing above it is the actual source- it was delicious and freezing cold!
The amount of water in this region is staggering and IB just kept saying in awe, "They have so much- too much water here"; in Israel, as you know, water is a huge issue. And later during our travels we learned that the whole country is also facing a water crisis, most seriously in Ankara. The crisis is mainly due to poor maintenance of water supply lines and a HUGE dam building project that is still underway in the region (Ataturk Dam).
Once we reached the top (2750 meters above sea level), we were greeted by the lakes. We sat and had our lunch, enjoyed the breath-taking views, and even got chased by a cloud! We recommend that once you get to the first lake you continue up along the ridge towards the peaks and not go down the path on the left (which leads down to the rest of lakes), especially if you are doing only a one-day hiking trip like we did. In total, there are five lakes that our map showed us.
Side note: the best map you can get is sold with the book "The Kackar" by Kate Clow (March 2008), but it is rather pricey at 13.99 Euro. The second best map you can get, which was actually given to us by IB's tour guide friend before we went, is the map he bought at Yusufeli's Visitor/Tourist Information Center. So it might be a good idea to make a stop in Yusufeli before heading to the Kackar. We ended up buying a few more (2YTL each) on our way out of Yusufeli (we tried getting them before, but it was Sunday and the Center was closed).
The hike back down to Yukari Kavrun took us about an hour and a half, and we were ready to go! We were told earlier in the day by some in-charge-looking guy that the dolmus (another 15YTL) would be taking off back to Ayder around 4p, so we made sure to be there on time. We sat and had a coffee and waited. The in-charge guy came up to us and said that he wanted to go fishing with some friends and he'd be back in just a bit- so we said okay, who are we to argue, this guy has the keys. So we stayed put at the little 'cafe' and waited, ordered another tiny cup of coffee, waited, and waited some more. During this time, the sun had already set behind the mountains, and heavy clouds began to blanket the whole village, the cows even started coming home! So finally after 2 hours of waiting and a few games of shesh-besh (backgammon), the guy and his now rowdy friends come back with A fish (though I never even saw it). We were a bit peeved and very ready to get back to our cozy wooden room.
We (guy and rowdy friends) pile into the dolmush and begin, but before we even leave the village- BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Guns are firing loudly into the sky- first it was from where we had been having coffee and playing shesh-besh, and then BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! again, this time coming from the front seats. All these rowdy guys started pulling out their hand guns and firing them outside the windows for no apparent reason at all. We covered our ears and waited for this display of testosterone to be over. It was unsettling and uncalled for; is this really how you act in front of the tourists? The ride down (about 50 mintues) was dark and foggy and everyone besides us was chain smoking the whole time (cough cough). At one point they even stopped the dolmush at a small roadside campsite/convenient tent (cause it's not really a store) to have a cup of cay. By the time we got back to Ayder we were pissed and tried to demand a cheaper fare for our troubles- but as we learned there is no negotiating with a dolmus.
The next morning we decided to visit the hamam (14 YTL) and thirty minutes later we left cleaner but a bit disappointed with the facility. I naively thought it was going to be more like a spa, not quite like the ones I'm used to back in Miami, but something similar in vibe, but it was more of a public washroom than anything. And of course men and women are separated. You're better off taking a nice long shower in your otel and saving your money for the greatest hamam in Istanbul (we'll get to that later).
We hopped on another dolmush (18YTL) with our destination being Yusufeli, and like before we had to stop in Pazar to change onto a bus (50YTL).
Recap:
Trabzon to Ayder: 18YTL
Ayder to Yukari Kavron: 15YTL
Yukari Kavron to Ayder: 15YTL
Sis Otel: 160YTL (Tel: 0464 657.20.30/ 657.20.86/ www.sisotel.com)
Hamam: 14YTL
Ayder to Pazar: 18YTL
Pazar to Yusufeli: 50YTL
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