10th Century Georgian Church
Indiana Jones-ing
In Barhal, napping until Ramadan dinner...
Smashing walnuts!
Yusufeli
Room with a 'view'- Yusufeli
Marsis Pension, Barhal
Yusufeli Tourist Information Center (notice disconnected hand :) 
During our stroll in Barhal
The bus ride from Pazar to Yusufeli was about 4 hours (could have been longer, we took so many bus rides they are getting mixed up to us!) But it didn't reach Yusufeli at all, though we were told it would. The bus ended up dropping us off at a middle-of-nowhere gas station; this was the first time we got acquainted with the practice of stopping at 7:30p for 'iftar'- the breaking of the Ramazan fast. So we waited.
During this time, an older man and his Wrangler Jeep were stuck at the gas station, he kept trying to get it started with no luck. He finally popped the hood to have a look, but you could tell he had no idea what he was looking at. IB, a quite good amateur mechanic, started walking over to watch, but as soon as the guy saw him, quickly closed the hood and tried to start the engine again. It seemed obviously the jeep wasn't going anywhere fast; but then the owner of the jeep called a few friends from around the gas station to help push and they got the jeep far down the road until it faded into the darkness. To our surprise, 5 minutes later we hear the jeep put-putting down the road and it zips past us- the funny thing about this whole story was that the next day leaving Yusufeli we saw the jeep abandoned on the side of the road.
Once everyone had finished eating, we were told that only a dolmus can take us into Yusufeli, 15YTL for only 9 kilometers- it felt like the biggest rip off, and again there was no negotiating on the price. We consulted our Lonely Planet book (though a bit outdated, 2002) for a good place to stay and made our way to the Barhal Guesthouse. Up until this point, IB was doing all the negotiating for rooms, so I decided to try my hand. The owner first asked where we were from, IB said "Israel" and the owner seemed unfazed (they are pretty much sick of so many Israelis coming, hahaha) and then asked me, "America", I said, and his whole face lit up with excitement. Seeing this would be an opportune time to talk about the price, I asked if we could get the room for ten lira cheaper, and without hesitation the owner said, "Yes, okay! 30, okay, you are an American!" So for 30YTL we got a bare minimum room, private bathroom and shower, and a pretty nice view of the river that runs through the town.
Unfortunately, the 30YTL didn't come with breakfast. The next morning the owner
recommended a place for breakfast just around the corner, we were the only people in the place (again) and ordered the only thing on the menu- a Turkish breakfast and two Turkish coffees. The waitress couldn't have been older than 16 and was completely perplexed on how to make Turkish coffee so IB went into the kitchen and made it for us!
At this point we realized you cannot get Turkish coffee in Turkey. It was quite a realization- this was one of the main reasons we decided to come on the trip! :) So in light of this, we would like to take this opportunity to formally petition a name change of Turkish coffee to Israeli coffee- because Israeli's know how to make a mean cup of Turkish coffee- who's with us!?
Anyway, the breakfast was a rip-off at 15YTL and we were only served cucumbers, tomato, Bulgarian cheese, 20 black olives, and bread (no egg, no honey, no jam even!) We decided Yusufeli didn't have much more to offer, so we waited for the next dolmus to Barhal (20YTL).
Barhal is another common village to stay for people trekking the Kachkar. It's much less developed than Ayder with only pensions guesthouses. A pension is traditionally someone's house that you share with the owners; you get a private room but the bathroom is shared and everyone eats together. But nowadays, a pension is usually a private upstairs built on top of the owners house with private rooms, showers, and dining hall; basically an otel on top of a house.
We walked up to the Marsis Pension, which seemed abandoned expect for some clothes drying on the line and hiking boots outside the door (traveler's like us, of course). We explored a bit, looking for the owner, and he finally emerged. IB asked about prices and I was showed a room. He first said the room would be 30YTL, including breakfast and dinner, then he left. Palmah came back to me with the news, and I said I would try to haggle it down but when I went to look for him again, he was gone. So we sat on the stairs for a bit and out emerged the other traveler, an Israeli of course! We talked to him about the price he got, and he said his girlfriend actually handled it! (It seems that the men in Turkey have a soft spot for women who negotiate). I walked around and tried to find the owner again, but only found an old man who seemed happy I found him. He walked me up to the rooms and with mostly hand gestures, managed to tell him we wanted a double bed. I asked, "Kach lira?" (How much?), and right then the girlfriend walked out of her room; the old man grabbed her and motioned for us to speak. I asked how much she got for her room, including breakfast and dinner and it was settled that we would pay the same thing (25YTL per person). So with that the old man patted the girlfriend on the head and gave me a handshake and kiss on the cheek! It was pretty unexpected, the old man was flirting with us!
After dropping off our bags, we walked in search of a little lunch- though we didn't have high hopes and I was already resigned to having bread and cheese again. We found an empty cafe which opened just for us and we had delicious shakshuka (similar to an omelet with lots of tomato and spices). The cook was actually the first guy we talked to at the Marsis, and later we learned that he also runs the convenient store and plays a mean game of Remi.
Barhal was the first place where we felt 'at home', people were friendly, smiling and accommodating and the vibe of the town was slow and relaxed. The sun was shining and the breeze was blowing- it was picturesque. We went for an afternoon walk up the road, not knowing where it would take us. The road was filled with apple trees and we picked from them as we walked and butterflies flew from flower to flower. Ahhhh. After about 30 minutes we found an otel, set high into the hill. We walked up and had a cup of cay on the balcony. Looking out you only see a wall of green!
Next to the otel is an old Georgeian Church dating back from the 10th century. Unfortunately it was locked, but IB found an entrance in the back that we could have easily snuck into if we moved some big rocks out of the way, but instead of doing all that I just peaked my head in. Inside was a bunch of pigeons and signs that the church was turned into a mosque (carpets on the floors); actually, a mosque is built right next to this church. We walked around the front of the church again and noticed the enormous amount of walnuts on the ground. So IB gathered a bunch and I smashed them open with rocks, but they were all still to ripe to eat.
We followed a small path that led into the hills, this way and that, we passed an old cemetery, countless flowers, itchy plants (thought it was poison ivy, but it wasn't), apple, cherry, and walnut trees, and grasses that were thigh-high! We were actually walking along an old aqueduct. We also discovered a whole new village right above us, with what seemed like new houses and lots of construction happening. It was so strange because we thought we were in the middle of nowhere! Then we had to make our way down, slipping and sliding the whole time. (P.S. We weren't planning on going on a long trek, but it turned into one which was fine with me except I was wearing fancy Italian leather sandals, not the off-roading type of footwear that was needed for this muddy adventure!) So after complaining about my sandals getting muddy, IB promised he would clean them off for me back at the pansion :)
We sat around the next morning for a few hours after breakfast, playing Remi and poker and watching the clouds roll over the hills. It even drizzled slightly and the air smelled like delicious rain. The thought of taking another ride for 50YTL up to Neznera for a hike into the Kachkar again seemed too steep for us, so instead we put on our boots and decided to explore the charming area we were in.
We took the dirt road in the opposite direction from the prior days' excursion, and after some time found an old wooden bridge that lead from the dirt road over the river to a small path on the otherside. With slight reservations about the bridges' integrity we crossed, finding ourselves once again surrounded by flowers and forest. We continued along with the river and spotted a huge boulder- the perfect place for snack time (chocolate, nuts, and pretzels).
It seemed we were walking forever on this little path, with no other bridge in site to take us back over to the roadside and the river was too high and too fast to just walk over. At one point we found a newly fallen tree, directly over the river like in an Indian Jones movie. We used it as a photo op, but unfortunately it wouldn't take us to the road. So our journey continued....
The sun was starting to set and the thought of crossing the river on foot looked better and better, we just had to find a place where the water was shallow and calm enough. We took off our boots, I gave my camera to IB (who was carrying our bag), hiked up my jeans as far as the could go, and found us two sticks to help with balance. The water was freezing! IB went first as I watched where he placed his feet, he made it to the other side with no problems. "Like a piece a cake", I thought and started making my way through too. The rocks were very slippery and with each step the water crept closer and closer to my jeans (which were up past my knees!) IB reaches out with his stick and hands it to me for extra balance- I'm almost there, just two more steps- and WHOOPS!- down I go. I was sooooooo close too! Laughing hysterically the whole time, I make my way out, soaked up to my stomach. Meanwhile, IB is capturing all this on his camera- it was classic.
After a much needed hot shower and dinner (same as all the other meals) we decided where our next destination would be- the Cappadocia region, which was very south and very east from where we were. We agreed that it would be best to stop half-way somewhere, as the bus ride straight would have been around 12 hours. So from Barhal we caught a dolmus back to Yusefli (20 YTL) to catch another bus to Erzurum that would then take us to our half-way destination, Sivas, which for a few days I thought it was actually called 'Seabass' (50YTL).
Recap:
Gas station to Yusufeli: 15YTL
Barhal Guesthouse: 30YTL
Breakfast in Yusufeli: 15YTL
Yusufeli to Barhal: 20YTL
Marsis Guesthouse: 100YTL (25 per person, per night)
Barhal to Yusufeli: 20YTL
Erzurum to Sivas: 50YTL
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