Day 4, 5, & 6: Yusufeli & Barhal

   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  We consulted our Lonely Planet book (though a bit outdated, 2002) for a good place to stay and made our way to the Barhal Guesthouse.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

Day 2 & 3: Heading to Ayder & The Kachkar Moutains

                                   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. 

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 

Day 1: Arrival to Istanbul and Trabzon

We arrived in Istanbul, Ataturk Airport got our visas (U.S. citizens have to pay $20.00US to enter the country, Israeli's enter for free), and made it just in time to catch our connecting flight to Trabzon. The flight was about an hour and half, which was almost as long as the flight from Tel-Aviv to Istanbul. Turkey is a big, I mean REALLY BIG country. We actually decided to take the domestic flight after hearing the bus ride to Trabzon is about 17 hours!

So we arrived in Trabzon and made our way out of airport to find a dolmus. A dolmus, pronounced 'dulmush' is basically a taxi, but bigger and seats about 12-15 people. They are privately owned and sometimes (especially in larger cities) pimped out with awfully tacky fabrics, neon lights, rims, inside paintings, fringe, and curtains.

We arrived in town after our first dolmus ride and started searching for a place to stay for the evening. We ended up choosing Otel Emperyal for 30YTL, and it was definitely the one of shittiest places we stayed. A bare minimum double size cot (though clean) and a bathroom with toliet, shower, and sink. The shower and sink shared the same drain in the middle of bathroom floor. The sink just had a thin plasitc tube that lead straight to the floor (this was a new design concept for me, but for IB he's already seen such). But we were just happy to have dropped our bags some place and start exploring the town.

One of the first things we noticed about Trabzon was that we were the only tourists around. This was a feeling repeated many times throughout our travels in the East Anatolia region (Trabzon, Pazar, Ayder, Sivas). We walked up and down the main street a few times looking for a place to eat and finally settled on a small restaurant with a few customers having tea and finishing their dinners. Little did we know that the meal we were about to eat was also to be repeated many times throughout out travels. We had stewed meat and potatoes, green beans in a tomato sauce, and bread, lots of bread. For dessert- baklava and tea. (21YTL with tip). We woke up the next morning, packed our bags, and scoured the town for some breakfast. We found a cute diner looking place, completely empty but it advertised 'breakfast!' and so we had our first Turkish breakfast, and yes, little did we know that our breakfast would be repeated many times throughout our travels. A Turkish breakfast consists of cucumber, tomato, yellow cheese, about 30 black olives, hard boiled egg, cherry jelly, honey, and bread- lots of bread (20YTL).

So to recap:
Flights: $450 (USD): Turkish Airlines & Onur Airlines for our domestic flight
Hotel: 30 YTL: Otel Emperyal, Tel: (0462) 326.30.20
Food: 41 YTL