Tuesday, September 15 Kars

Second day here and not a bad one.  Partly cloudy, cooler, breezy.  Light rain shower for about five minutes.  Omer was cold afterward.

First on the agenda this morning was a 45 km drive (on good roads thank heaven) visit to the ancient city of Ani on the Armenian border.  Ani lies mostly in ruins. Impressive, fortified walls still encircle the ruins of numerous churches, mosques and caravansaries (it was on the Silk Road). Beautiful view to the Armenian border.  This city has experienced the cultures of Urartians, Armenians, Georgians, Mongols, Russians and finally, the Turks.

Back to Kars and a visit to an outdoor bazaar (finally heard me).  It was a great bazaar from the perspective of the available produce.  Prices, colour and freshness to die for.  Unfortunately there was a lot of vehicle traffic but not many people.  A fair number of men (as is the case everywhere) wandering about or sitting in small groups.  Of course the kids wanting to shine shoes were in abundance as were a couple offering to weigh us on a bathroom scale that had obviously seen much better days.

Following the bazaar we began a slow walk, with many rest stops, toward the cheese shops.  More kids, some simply begging.  We only visited one cheese shop where I tasted two local cheeses one of which I liked and bought a small piece.  At one place we stopped a woman stopped to ask something of Omer.  I figured she wasn't Turkish because that never happens.  Turns out she was Italian and I was so shocked when I heard her that I couldn't think of one Italian word.

Off to lunch where Omer and Mehet had lamb kebaps (tasty but tough).  I had lentil soup again, it was watery and not nearly as good as the one yesterday but was acceptable.

The final stop for the day was a book store where Omer believed they had some English language books.  They did but there were only a couple and they were children's books.  I am so accustomed to reading before going to sleep I hope I don't have a problem getting to sleep.  We will look in the next city tomorrow.

Back