April 24^th 2022

Zigana – Sumela Kloster, Turkey

Miles: 30 (50km)

Miles total: 8’700 (14’020km)

We take a little morning walk in the vicinity, accompanied by Wully, our stray dog. And we make a surprising discovery not far from where we stayed: bear tracks! No fresh ones, but we still feel a little queasy. We were not aware that there really are bears here. We walk on with increased attention, fortunately we still have watchdog Wully with us... 

It remains to be seen whether this would really be of any help in the event of a bear encounter... The first spring flowers are blooming along the beautiful forest path, crocuses are sprouting on the alpine meadows and some slopes are full of coltsfoot. At the end of the path we reach a cluster of buildings that serve as summer quarters for the farmers. After the beautiful walk, we set off and first roll 5’500 feet (1700m) down from the pass into the valley, at 1300 feet (400m), to the village of Maçka. Here we try our luck in a well-known restaurant, where we are the only guests but actually get something delicious to eat. Three bowls are served to us: green beans, cabbage stalks and corn porridge. The latter is a specialty of the eastern Black Sea region, a kind of polenta with lots of butter and cheese. 

Today's destination is the Altindere National Park, where the Greek Orthodox Sumela Monastery is located, one of the historical highlights of the Black Sea coast. For this we drive through a narrow-wooded valley, which in turn leads us to 3300 feet (1000m). But before it gets really steep, we have to park the Iveco and change to a shuttle bus that will take us to the monastery. Here, too, renovation work and rock stabilization work have been ongoing for years, so that unfortunately we can only view the monastery from the forecourt. The main attraction would be the church, partially carved into the rock, which is decorated with colorful frescoes on the inside and outside walls. Founded in the 4th century AD, the monastery was abandoned in 1923 after the establishment of the Turkish Republic and the "Population Exchange". We especially like the spectacular location of the monastery: High above the valley, evergreen forests and a rushing mountain stream, it clings to a steep rock face. We start the way back on foot, along the newly built road and the thundering stream, which carries an alarming amount of water due to the snowmelt. We don't continue to the national park for the night as planned; we spare ourselves the steep road. Instead, shortly after setting off, we discover the hidden national park mosque with a large parking lot, where we set up camp for the night.

April 25^th 2022

Zigana – Arsin, Turkey

Miles: 50 (80km)

Miles total: 8’750 (14’100km)

It's 2:30AM! Why does the report start in the middle of the night? The dear muezzin doesn't quite have it under control with the timing, tears us out of our sleep and calls out to us how good Allah is! We're not even 100 yards (100m) away from the loudspeakers. The automatic system was already going crazy last night when he started three times in two hours. That wasn't enough at 2:30AM. The call to prayer sounds again at full volume from the minaret in our direction at 3:40AM (usually the call to prayer sounds five times a day).

For the first time on this trip we see the Black Sea. We come to the big city of Trabzon, where with a bit of luck we find a great restaurant that doesn't just serve the usual.

Now something else: Typical for Turkey are the often older men who sit and chat, drink tea, play and smoke in the countless tea bars throughout the day. But at the moment it's Ramadan and we find it quite amusing, since the men are sitting outside in these bars right away. Simply without drinking, gambling or smoking anything.

On the completely overbuilt coast, where the main road is always close to the sea, we still find a place for us to sleep. About 12 miles (20km) east of Trabzon.

April 26^th 2022

Arsin – Ovit Pass, Turkey

Miles: 70 (100km)

Miles total: 8’820 (14’200)

We only linger briefly at the Black Sea and immediately go back into the valley and into the mountains. The buildings of the densely populated coastal region are quickly giving way to tea plantations.

A gigantic road project is being built on more than 120 miles (200km)! The main road from Trabzon to Erzurum will be transformed from a normal mountain main road into a four-lane giant road with countless tunnels and bridges! As is often the case in Turkey, we ask ourselves whether such constructions are needed, as we often drive on empty, multi-lane roads. Or are such projects needed to create jobs and boost the economy? The higher we get, the more it looks like Switzerland. The western Kaçkar Mountains are known for their verdant landscapes, while those to the east are known for their barren, arid appearance.

Arriving at the top, at a new tunnel, we realize that the old pass road is closed, so we decide to sleep near the tunnel portal. Traffic is limited to a few vehicles per hour (which makes one wonder whether such a road project is necessary!?) and the tunnel seems to be closed at night.

April 27^th 2022

Ovit Pass – Erzurum, Turkey

Miles: 120 (200km)

Miles total: 8’940 (14’400km)

After a very quiet night in the mountains, we go directly into the second longest (9 miles / 14km) tunnel in Turkey. At a good 45mph (70 km/h) we roll through the middle of the mountain. PANG, a loud bang, we're being pulled to the left and I have to grip the steering wheel tightly to pull the 4-ton car over to the edge on the right! What the hell? Another flat tire! The rear left tire was shredded. Exactly this tire that we had patched a month ago.

We decline with thanks and the tire changing goes on. Another five minutes later, the tunnel security is already on site and parks their pick-up equipped with running lights in the roadway. Now we feel more safe about changing tyres. The three very friendly men pitch in right away and our spare tire is mounted in no time.

Now we continue without a spare wheel and also without a possibility to have the punctured tire repaired! It was decided relatively quickly that we would take a 120 miles (200km) long detour and head for the large city of Erzurum.

Finding new tires isn't quite as easy as we thought. At the largest tire shop "Ersan" we only found limited finds. The only viable ones are BF Goodrich "Mud Terrain". Actually, we would have preferred the "All Terrain", but an order would apparently take over two weeks! We think about it all, move on and happen to see another large tire shop. Although the employees of "Ersan" told us that we will not find tires anywhere else, we try our luck. Various men gather around the Iveco and one immediately calls "Ersan" :-). After 30 minutes, we finally get away from the store and go to town for some food.

The dinner, a funny story:

So at 6:45 p.m. we see the small, hip-looking place called Spoil Sport. It's still Ramadan, so it's only allowed to eat after sunset. We see some people sitting and go inside. The only question we ask in Turkish is "Yemek?", which means something like "Food?". The boy nods and we get a table. He brings dates, a salad and a yoghurt dip. The other guests have the same thing on the table, but neither is eating or drinking anything; It's Lent after all! But until when? Should we wait too? We are undecided, we are the only ones in the bar to take a sip of water and a date and look around to seeing if anyone is watching us ;-). We check on the internet at 6:55 p.m. when the sunset is. 7:05 p.m.! And again we look at each other – shall we start? Or wait 10 minutes? We ask the waiter for bread and he gives us a longer answer in Turkish. The only thing we understand is "Ramadan" and "bread". So we better wait. At 7:05 p.m. sharp, we and the other guests start eating :-). Well, we didn't see a menu, didn't order anything, and nobody asked us anything. It is simply served.

April 28^th 2022

Erzurum – Yukarıçat, Turkey

Miles: 40 (60km)

Miles total: 8’980 (14’460km)

After a night's sleep on the tire history, we decide to buy and have it fitted today. After five failures within half a year (without any long off-road trips), we've finally had enough of bad tires and patched inner tubes. But first we have to take care of another unpleasant matter. And that's a trip to the pharmacy to buy a de-wormer medication! Well, unfortunately, somewhere we picked up these creepy things that are now populating our buttocks! with the help of Dr. Google we were able to determine the type of animals. And no, they didn't come from Wully, because this type of worm cannot be transmitted by animals! In any case, we get the right medication in the pharmacy and immediately swallow the recommended amount. Now we feel much better, but it's just a matter of the mind, the full effect of the drug only unfolds the next day! When we arrive at the tire shop, things get straight to the point. Four new tires and inner tubes are provided. The rear wheels are the first to be tackled. We quickly notice that the young guys in the workshop are not very used to dealing with the old spanner ring tire system. Even removing the old tires is a hassle for them, not to mention mounting the new ones! It's being screwed and hammered like crazy, we almost can't bear to watch. Stefan keeps trying to help and also expresses his concerns to the workshop manager. He only replies that this work is usually done by an experienced master, who is currently absent. Great, that's reassuring us... We have no choice but to monitor events as best we can and hope that everything works out. Incidentally, it is not unusual here in Turkey for all customers to be in the workshop and watch the people at work. Since there is most action in our corner, at times around five men gather around our fitter. After an hour, the first tire was fitted and after the second the fitter slowly got the hang of it. After a good three hours and sweating a little blood, all the tires were changed and remounted on the Iveco. The whole fun relieves us by a good 1000$, about the same as in Switzerland! Costly thing these off-road tires! However, budgeted for us to need new tires at some point during this trip.

In the afternoon, we visit two sights of the city of Erzurum. The twin minaret medrese is one of the most magnificent buildings in Erzurum. The two fluted brick minarets, decorated with striking small blue tiles, rise above a beautifully carved main portal. Inside, a long-arcaded courtyard leads to the rooms of the former Koran school, where there is a historical exhibition today. The second stop is the ruins of a castle where we climb a minaret and enjoy a beautiful panorama over Erzurum. Before we finally leave Erzurum, we want to test the new tires a bit. Therefore, we drive to a lake about 25 miles (40km) away, where we find an unexpectedly beautiful place to camp.

April 29^th 2022

Yukarıçat, Turkey

A day at the lake.

April 30^th 2022

Yukarıçat – Uzundere, Turkey

Miles: 90 (150km)

Miles total: 9’070 (14’610km)

During his early morning tour near the camper, Stefan discovers bear tracks again on the nearby road! Luckily these aren't fresh either! According to our research, the brown bear in Turkey is mainly represented in the Pontic Mountains near the Black Sea coast and in the north-eastern regions. However, only sparse information can be found. Before we set off, we take a short hike along the lake, admire the meadows covered with yellow and blue flowers and enjoy the tranquility around the sparsely populated reservoir. Around noon we arrive in Erzurum, lunch and shopping, then straight on. The area around Erzurum must be a stronghold of cattle breeding, we see huge herds roaming the fields.

The further journey takes us again through impressive brown-reddish and barren rocky landscapes that lie above green valleys. We are located in the far northeast of Turkey, which includes the so-called Georgian Valleys. In the Middle Ages part of this region belonged to Georgia, some remnants of which have survived to this day in the form of churches and castle ruins. In a side valley, we visit the Haho Church, one of the larger and better preserved Georgian churches in the region. Built in the 10th century, it was once part of a large monastery and center for arts and learning that remained active into the 16th century. Today it is used as a mosque and is therefore in a reasonable condition. Unfortunately, we could only visit the former church from the outside, the entrance gate was locked. In search of a place to stay, we discover a signpost to a ruined castle perched high on a rock. But we can't get up, the road was partially washed away by a storm. We therefore settle down in the narrow valley, surrounded by steep rock faces, next to a rushing river.

May 1^st 2022

Uzundere, Turkey

Because of the beautiful surroundings and the quiet place, we decide to stay one more day. We take a short hike to the castle ruins, we can easily master the buried parts of the road on foot. However, the brittle-looking rock walls scare us a bit, so we quickly reach the castle ruins high on a cliff.

The view from up here is sensational, the reddish high rock faces are impressive. Over a newer bridge we reach the old walls, which were built in a crazy way up to the outermost edge of the vertically sloping rock. The castle is believed to date back to the Middle Ages. However, there is no clear information about the history of the castle. During the hike, we observe a large bird that has just landed on a rock face. Luckily, we have our binoculars with us. We recognize the remarkable size of the bird and the white head and suspect that it must be a vulture.

May 2^nd 2022

Uzundere – Tortum Lake, Turkey

Miles: 40 (70km)

Miles total: 9’110 (14’680km)

As so often lately, we are enthusiastic about the phenomenal landscape from the first yards. A brown signpost along the main road tells us another sight and we pierce a few miles into a valley, see another mountain ruin on the slope and drive back on the main road.

A few miles further up a side valley. This time to the impressive Georgian Öşvank Church, which is nestled in a village.

Dating back to the 10th century, this is one of the largest churches in the Georgian valleys. From the outside, with its cracks in all the walls, it gives the impression that it is about to collapse. The interior is closed and the church is prevented from falling apart with a monstrous steel structure inside. Moving on, we realize once again that the east of Turkey is more conservative than the west. And this time we realise this at the dogs. Dogs are generally considered unclean in Islam.

At a crossroads, we see a pack of emaciated, large dogs. Here in the east, the stray dogs are fed less by the population and they are less neutered and vaccinated (you can tell by the chip in their ears) by the communities. We get out of the camper and take out some bread and our dog food and distribute everything. The reason there are about 15 dogs right here is the illegal "landfill" nearby - a tragic and not uncommon fact here in Turkey!

We choose the old road above the lake instead of the brand-new tunnel and are rewarded with fantastic views. We get some adrenaline on a glass platform of a restaurant, where it goes down 300 feet (100m) directly below us. At the end of the lake we pay a visit to the Tortum waterfall.

Masses of water thunder down. Apparently, there hasn't been that much water in 20 years. In the restaurant near the fall, we are immediately invited for tea by a nice man whose family owns the place. Both he and his 11-year-old son speak English, so we can chat about all sorts of things. He tells us that he spent two years in Sudan as a peacekeeper for the UN. With his drone, he shoots some wonderful pictures of the waterfall for us :-).

Lunch is served after a short drive. The only thing on the menu: meat skewers with bread and onions. The owner explains to us that the poor sheep on the spit is very fresh and was alive yesterday.

Now some tea. We get up, go outside and ask for a cup of tea. We are immediately sent to the kitchen ourselves, since everyone makes their tea by themselves here :-). Fortunately, we are experienced tea drinkers and know that you first pour the strong black tea halfway into the bulbous glass and then fill up the rest with hot water. In Turkey, there are specially designed tea machines for their black tea. We drive back a few miles and spend the night with a great view above the lake.

May 3^rd 2022

Tortum Lake, Turkey

Write a diary, sort photos, manage the website, drink tea in the bistro and enjoy the view.

May 4^th 2022

Tortum Lake – Yusufeli, Turkey

Miles: 50 (80km)

Miles total: 9’160 (14’760km)

We are just about to pack up when an elegantly dressed young fella comes along and greets us happily. He has a little boy in tow. He speaks a few single words of English, but communication quickly becomes difficult. Anyway, we understand that he really wants to have tea with us at the nearby restaurant. We are happy about the invitation, but try to explain to him that we want to pack up first and then come to the restaurant in about 20 minutes. He doesn't quite understand why we're taking so long, but he rushes off with the little boy and comes back alone about 5 minutes later. He jumps into the Iveco and would like to drive straight away :-). The young fellow named Emen is quite jittery and very talkative. We realize that we have to abandon our cozy plan, hurry to pack up and drive to the restaurant with the guy :-).

But we don't want to keep him busy any longer, thank Emen and the owner for the invitation and take off. Today we drive again through the fantastic and varied mountain valleys of the north-east.

In the early afternoon, we arrive in Yusufeli, a village or valley with a tragic fate. A gigantic dam (890 feet / 270m high) has been under construction here since 2013 and the entire valley, including many side valleys, will soon be flooded.

Also not to be overlooked is the huge bridge currently under construction, whose monumental, approx. 460 feet (140m) high, concrete pillars stand at the edge of the village! An absurd picture...

Some buildings had to be demolished for this; in the village itself, however, there is still a lot of activity and as a tourist you don't feel anything about the upcoming resettlement. In the last 10 years, a number of new connecting roads with around 39 tunnels and a number of bridges have been built high above the valley. A gigantic project! Incidentally, the generators for the mammoth power plant were supplied by the Swiss company Alstom. The Federal Council's commitment to export-risk-insurance was sharply criticized by Swiss human rights organizations. In addition to the inadequate and opaque resettlement plans of the Turkish government, the disregard of ecological standards was also criticized. As in many other places in the world, valuable living space for people and animals is falling victim to economic growth and prosperity.

After a delicious lunch in the village, we drive up an improvised road from where we have an impressive view of the bridge construction site and the old and new village. A place next to the road is occupied by countless beehives, a common craft in this area by the way. A man stops us there, we get out, chat with him, he opens some of the hives and shows us the combs densely occupied by working bees. We are impressed, since neither of us have ever seen anything like it up close. In the near future, he wants to move on with the bees, he has different locations where he lets the bees work :-). We ask him what he thinks of the dam. He says that moving to "New Yusufeli" is not a problem for him, the new apartments are nice and he then has a view of the lake, the compensation for the expropriations was good for most of them. A big problem is all the dirt and noise that the many construction sites have caused over the years. And there are already some, especially young people, who have moved to a bigger city. We would have liked to know more, but Google Translate is definitely not suitable for more serious discussions... Rain clouds are approaching and we will soon be on our way. Our destination is the eastern Kaçkar Mountains, where we have planned a hike. However, today we do not drive all the way into the remote valley. The road is getting narrower and worse. We stay at a hotel with a restaurant and a small campsite and enjoy two fresh trout from the places own fish farm for dinner. 

May 5^th – 6^th 2022

Yusufeli, Turkey

Here, too, the muezzin is present early in the morning, but the funny thing is that the dogs nearby start howling as soon as the call to prayer comes :-). By the way, that was also the case during our last house-sit with the three dogs in Fethiye. We use the bad weather to keep on writing our diary. In addition to practicing juggling, we go on a short hike in the valley under gray skies.

May 7^th 2022

Yusufeli – Amenesket (Altiparmak), Turkey

Miles: 10 (20km)

Miles total: 9’170 (14’780km)

We drive deeper and deeper into the valley. In the first village on the route we stock up on bread. And further to the village of Altiparmak, which is at 4000 feet (1300m). 

The road is rather narrow and we are glad that our Iveco is not that wide and that we can easily cross the few oncoming vehicles. Here in Altiparmak, in addition to the residential buildings, there are also a few small restaurants, accommodations and shops and it serves as a base for hiking in the Kaçkar Mountains. In addition to agriculture, the people here also live from tourism, which has been idle for the past two years due to the pandemic. Tourism was also somewhat affected because of the construction of the dam. Since we are traveling in a van and often do not need any accommodation, it is important for us to still support local businesses. That's why we treat ourselves to something delicious to eat in the cozy place. We are invited to a tea at the neighbor's, go shopping for some more food again and leave the friendly little mountain village. Since none of the locals didn’t advise us to continue on the small road, we get started. Steeper and narrower than before the village of Altiparmak, the path continues. From time to time we see a residential building. Power lines are in the way and we have to make sure that we can get through and under with our vehicle. 

It is no longer asphalted and pesky stones have to be avoided. We hope in vain for a flat place to sleep. The road goes higher and higher into the mountains and soon we have the snow next to us. The hairpin bends are so tight that not only do we have to maneuver back and forth, but we also have to get a few stones out of the way. By chance we still find a wonderful place to sleep, in a small settlement with a few summer alpine huts. 

Luckily, because we can't drive any further because of the snow! We are completely alone and secluded in the beautiful Kaçkar Mountains.

May 8^th 2022

Amenesket (Altiparmak), Turkey

The old snow is next to our Iveco, but we still try to hike up the path.

May 9^th 2022

Amenesket (Altiparmak) – Yusufeli, Turkey

Miles: 20 (30km)

Miles total: 9’190 (14’810km)

We tackle the nasty route back to Altiparmak (6 miles / 10km). The first half of this rough terrain we are mostly only in first gear! 

After lunch in Altiparmak we end up back at the same campsite as two days ago.

May 10^th 2022

Yusufeli – Kalburlu (Artvin), Turkey

Miles: 70 (120km)

Miles total: 9’180 (14’930km)

During the drive back to Yusufeli we again enjoy the scenery of the beautiful Altiparmak valley. Based on the bridges and tunnels, some of which have already been built, we can roughly imagine how far the reservoir will penetrate into this valley. A strange feeling to know that this will all be under water soon. Also in Yusufeli we make another stop including lunch, shopping and drinking tea by the river.

As we continue our journey, we soon notice that Google Maps is not up to date and some of the marked streets no longer exist. Well, maybe the detour now to be driven could have been avoided by more serious planning... ;-). In any case, we soon reach the new road, which leads us over huge bridges and countless tunnels. The few views into the deep valley are moving, as it is still known, that this will soon all be under water. And what this will look like, we will find out during the further journey. The Çoruh River, which is also being blocked in Yusufeli, already has two working dams!

Towards evening we look for a place to stay and turn before a tunnel into a small, bumpy side road, probably an old construction road, directly on the lake. After a short drive, an animal suddenly moves on the road about 50 yards (50 meters) in front of us. Both see immediately that this is something out of the ordinary, but we can't believe our eyes! Anxious, we let the engine run for a moment, the animal runs slowly up the stony slope. We immediately pull out the binoculars and sure enough, it's a lynx! He doesn't let us bother him much, calmly walks up the slope and disappears behind a pile of stones.

In addition to the binoculars, we arm ourselves with a camera, get out of the car and creep cautiously along the small road. However, the lynx is no longer behind the pile of stones. We search the slope and discover him in the rock face, crouching on a ledge. It can hardly be seen with the naked eye, with its well-camouflaged fur it almost disappears into the rock face. He watches us for a while and then climbs nimbly up a short rock passage until he finally disappears into the tall bushes at the top. Wow what an experience! We can't believe our luck! We never expected to see a lynx here! What beautiful animal! And one of the relaxed kind! What we noticed, however, is that he is quite skinny and we wonder what drove him so close to the road and the reservoir in the first place. Well, we hope the poor chap finds something decent to bite on soon! We spend the night very close to the lynx sighting with a beautiful view of the lake.

May 11^th 2022

Kalburlu (Artvin) – Şavşat, Turkey

Miles: 50 (80km)

Miles total: 9’230 (15’010km)

A breakfast outside, that was hardly available this year :-). Spring is slowly making its appearance.

The region around the town of Artvin, where we will have our lunch, is surrounded by several large reservoir lakes. More and more we wonder if power generation is the only reason for these enormous water reservoirs! Or could they ultimately serve as gigantic water reservoirs in a distant future when water scarcity will be the norm across much of the world.

To our surprise, Artvin itself is very modern. Probably also because of the large university there. So modern, that we can even buy dog food at the shopping centre :-). The small town is extremely built on a slope, so it happens that we climb 1000 feet (300 meters) in the Iveco from the bottom, where we have our lunch, to the top, where we go shopping for food!

We continue to the east and we are now only 12 miles (20 km) as the crow flies from Georgia. The reservoir finally gives way to the actual river again, but we often see signs warning us of falling rocks. Based on the many stones at the roadside, these signs are not set up in vain! 

May 12^th 2022

(Just before) Şavşat – (Just after) Şavşat, Turkey

Miles: 10 (20km)

Miles total: 9’330 (15’030km)

In small places like Şavşat, where we have our lunch, we are regularly contacted. Although our Turkish is very small (about 100 words), people are always very happy when we can say a few words. It's a bit shocking that here in eastern Turkey, hardly anyone speaks even a little bit of English!

May 13^th 2022

Şavşat – Karagöl-Sahara National Park, Turkey

Miles: 10 (10km)

Miles total: 9’340 (15’040km)

On the short route to the Karagöl-Sahara National Park (which by the way doesn't have much to do with the Sahara, it looks like Switzerland here) we once again encounter skinny dogs on the side of the road.

And there we have arrived, in the Karagol-Sahara National Park.

May 14^th 2022

Karagöl-Sahara National Park – Çil Gölü, Turkey

Miles: 10 (20km)

Miles total: 9’350 (15’060km)

A sunny, warm spring day begins and our feet are itching! The region around the town of Şavşat already exudes a touch of the nearby Caucasus: mountain streams, gorges, forests, alpine areas and mountains characterize the landscape. We buckle on our hiking boots and head up into the steep forest. We climb for a good two hours through the lonely, quiet and clean fir forest, past beautiful clearings with large forest meadows and small lakes. According to the staff of the lake bistro, there are also bears here, so we are always a bit on the alert... But apart from a nimble squirrel and various birds, we unfortunately don't encounter any animals. Finally, the forest clears and we come to an alpine area where some cows are already nibbling the short grass.

In these alpine areas, there are no individual isolated alpine huts like at home, but rather entire alpine villages, so-called "yaylalars". Another big difference to our agriculture is that there are practically no fences in this country. The herds of cattle (cows, sheep, goats) are always watched over by a shepherd, not only in the alpine regions, but also in the valleys, actually throughout the country. Oh how often we have already envied the shepherds for their job ;-).

Since we want to head for another place to stay today, we soon have to think about the way back. We make a short stop and soon see a man coming towards us. The nice gentleman comes from the nearby fish farm, saw us from afar and ran over to us because he was curious about what we're doing here, where we're from and where we're going :-). We would also like to learn more about him, but as so often we fail because of the lack of a common language :-(. So we set off, unfortunately we have to walk back the same route. Our planned overnight stay for today is only approx. 15 minutes away, again at a lake. The closer we get to the water, the more muddy the path gets. Exactly the right terrain to finally test our new Mud Terrain tires :-). We feel a little uncomfortable driving through the muddy passages, but the Iveco with its new shoes is doing brilliantly :-).

The lake, which turns out to be a moor, is in a fantastic location, surrounded by meadows and forest, it is totally idyllic and far away from the next village. You could say absolute calm. But appearances are deceptive, because hundreds if not thousands of frogs live in this marsh, which are currently in the mating season and are therefore making themselves heard loudly! Of course, we are absolutely thrilled with this frog concert! We are happy that we can celebrate our 1-year travel anniversary in such an extraordinary place. The weather and temperature also play their part and we enjoy the evening with wine and croaking frogs :-). By the way, the noise level got louder and louder as dusk fell and the frogs croaked us peacefully to sleep at 11 p.m. :-).

May 15^th 2022

Çil Gölü – Mountain pass road Ardahan, Turkey

Miles: 10 (20km)

Miles total: 9’360 (15’080km)

Already last night we watched the happy frog happenings. Today is still the photo session with the funny guys who blow up their cheeks like chewing gum while croaking.

As we walk along the moor, dragonflies keep buzzing in the air, frolicking in large numbers in the grass along the bank. Back at the camper we get a visit from a nice cowherd and the usual bumpy conversation takes its course.

We take a small winding road back to the main road, where we turned three days ago in the direction of the national park. There is also a restaurant here, where we get a late but very tasty lunch. And we are surprised by a fondue-like dish, a plate full of melted cheese!

The journey continues up a pass road, where we slowly look around for a place to stay. Since freezing temperatures are to be expected again during the night, we decide not to drive all the way to the top of the pass. We stop at a picnic area where many locals celebrate their Sunday barbecue. There is a spring here, we fill up with water and find a nice place to spend the night along a side road with a view.

May 16^th 2022

Mountain pass road Ardahan – Aygır Gölü, Turkey

Miles: 80 (120km)

Miles total: 9’440 (15’200km)

I crawl out of bed, open the blinds in the kitchen and can't believe my eyes! Snow! man, there is no such thing! Mid-May at 6’200 feet (1900m) and it's white! Well, we can heat up for breakfast, but still!

Now it's another 1’900 feet (570m) up to the 8100 feet (2470m) high pass. Luckily, the road remains normally open to traffic! At some point on the other side of the pass comes the town of Ardahan where we will have lunch. From Ardahan in the direction of Kars it becomes flatter and larger herds of cows, green areas and farming villages characterize the picture.

May 17^th 2022

Aygır Gölü – Kars, Turkey

Miles: 30 (50km)

Miles total: 9’470 (15’250km)

We are woken up at 6 a.m. by the feathered guests walking on our roof :-). A fisherman also takes a boat out onto the lake early in the morning and comes back a short time later with fresh fish.

Another reason why Kars seems different to us is the history. Because of the Russian occupation in the 19th century, it looks like a Russian town with its pastel-colored stone buildings and orderly street grid plan. Some of the old "Belle époque" mansions even make it in front of our lens. 

We continue to visit the Kümbet Mosque, where the man responsible for cleaning shows us around for a tip and gives the necessary information with Google Translate :-). The place of worship was built as a church 1100 years ago, converted into a mosque 130 years later, transformed back into a church by the Russians in the 19th century and is now a mosque again! However, the carved reliefs of the 12 apostles are still visible on the dome.

At the end of our tourist program there is still the castle from 1153, from where we can enjoy a great view of the city.

May 18^th 2022

Kars – Ani, Turkey (World heritage sight, Ruin city Ani)

Miles: 80 (120km)

Miles total: 9’550 (15’370km)

Today's program includes a visit to the ruined city of Ani, a historical highlight of eastern Anatolia. This is around 25 miles (40km) from Kars, right on the Armenian border. We arrive there around noon and are greeted in the parking lot for the first time on this trip by begging children. They sell small bouquets of flowers or ask for sweets. We allow ourselves to be persuaded and give them some cookies… After lunch we explore the historical site, whose remaining buildings are scattered over a large area. Almost more than the old walls, we are fascinated by their location and the surrounding landscape.

The ruined city lies on a large plateau, which is bordered on all sides by a canyon and high rock faces. Already the Armenian King Ashot III promised these natural defenses and he therefore chose the city of Ani as his new capital in 961. Located on the Silk Road, it grew into a powerful and glorious city, home to nearly 100,000 people in its heyday. This remained so until the mid-11th century, when the Byzantines briefly took over, followed by the Seljuk, Georgians and Kurds before finally the Mongols raged the city. However, due to their nomadic lifestyle, they were of little use to the city and so they did not care much when it was destroyed by a strong earthquake in 1319. All these peoples left their traces, the ruins that still exist today are mainly from the times of the Armenians, Seljuk and Georgians.

After the five-hour exploration tour (including a thunderstorm break!) we come back to the camper and want to settle down for the night in the basically quiet parking lot. We can already see the crowd of children standing in front of the Iveco from afar.

At some point, it gets too bothersome for us and we decide to leave the "not so quiet" parking lot and look for another place to sleep. As we drive away, a fearless boy runs after us and hangs on the tire attached to the back of the car... A not entirely safe game! We watch the whole thing in the rear-view camera, stop and try to stop him several times. However, he stubbornly stays behind us until we can finally drive faster and he can no longer keep up with us. Finding another place to sleep is harder than you think. After almost an hour we are annoyed back to the same parking lot. The children are at home now, only the barking of the village dogs in the middle of the night disturbs our sleep.

May 19^th 2022

Ani – Kars, Turkey

Miles: 30 (60km)

Miles total: 9’580 (15’430km)

The landscape around Ani is so beautiful that we decide to hike in the surrounding small valleys (gorges). Almost like in Cappadocia we see several man-made rock caves. At the beginning of our hike we meet some construction workers building a long fence around the Ani World Heritage Site. They explain to us that we shouldn't go to the other rock caves on the right side because of the shepherd dogs; so we go left :-).

Hardly any tourist goes hiking in this area, everyone just looks at Ani. It's really a pity, because we are really enthusiastic about the landscape and the surroundings. Soon we meet two cowherds, one of whom, to our great astonishment, can speak a few words of English. They tell us not to go too far as there is a military station further ahead. Of course, we follow the advice, we are still only a few 100 yards (100m) away from Armenia. By the way, all border crossings between Turkey and Armenia are still closed for political reasons.

Along wonderful grassy areas with flowers and herbs, which are happily eaten by a number of cows, we soon reach the border river to Armenia. In addition to the ruins we are already familiar with, we also see a few other ruins of Ani that cannot be seen from the official visitor area.

We drive back the same route we came.

The center of Kars as well as the several picnic areas are teeming with young people and we soon find out that today is the annual "Youth and Sports" holiday and everyone is off.

May 20^th – 23^rd 2022

Kars, Turkey

Miles: 20 (30km)

Miles total: 9’600 (15’460km)

We have to go back to Kars as we have another visit to Vodafone ahead of us. A few weeks ago, we were able to cancel our actually unwanted mobile phone subscription. However, the last bill could not be paid immediately, but only when it is due date, which means for us on May 21^st. Since, according to Google Maps, there is no longer a Vodafone shop on our planned route to the Georgian border, we absolutely have to make the payment in Kars. Every day (except Sunday) we try our luck in the Vodafone store, but it just doesn't work. The employees cannot help us and some are already hiding when we enter the store ;-). On the 23^rd, we call English speaking customer service and are promised that the bill can be paid tomorrow. We don't really believe in it yet! We spend the three days further exploring the city, visiting countless restaurants, drinking tea (1x over half a gallon (2L) in two hours :-)), visiting the hairdresser, doing laundry, etc.

In the afternoons, especially at the weekend, there is quite a lot going on in the castle park. Two musicians (vocals, accordion, drums) play Turkish folk songs and the audience often dances enthusiastically.

Also striking in Turkey is the picnic and barbecue culture. In many cities or in nature there are large or small parks full of picnic houses, many with their own barbecue areas. On Sundays, when the weather is nice, these parks are packed and people grill like crazy. What should not be missing besides the meat is the small oven for making tea, which actually every family or group has with them. Of course, people often have picnics and barbecues in the great outdoors, which unfortunately can also be seen from the amount of rubbish lying around...

The Kars region is known for its delicious cheese. In addition to many other traditional cheeses, the "Gravyer" variety is produced, a kind of Gruyere based on the Swiss model! This is very tasty for Turkish cheese, but to be honest it can't quite hold a candle to our Gruyere cheese ;-). And he also has holes like an Emmental :-). However, it was not the Swiss who brought Gruyere to Turkey, but the Russians, with the start of the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877. Until the end of the First World War, the city of Kars was under Russian administration.

We pay a visit to the relatively new and modern cheese museum, where you can learn interesting facts about the history of cheese production, the everyday life of farmers and their animals, and the botany of the region. The process of cheese production is explained very clearly using lifelike wax figures and replica plants as well as short videos from a cheese dairy. Also very well made and, above all, incredibly detailed, are the scenes from the traditional life of the peasants, which are reproduced in miniature.

It doesn't really bother us that we have to stay in Kars for so long, because we like the city very much and we found some great places to spend the nights in the area.

May 24^th 2022

Kars – Çanaksu (Çıldır Lake), Turkey

Miles: 50 (80km)

Miles total: 9’650 (15’540km)

Unbelievable but true, without any discussions we can pay our Vodafone bill of no less than 2.50$ within a minute in the morning :-). We actually expected quite a bit more since we left the contract prematurely. Out of Kars and to the beautiful Çıldır Lake. We land right on the lake at a small restaurant, which is also supposed to be a campsite.

The "campsite" consists only of a small space where you can park your vehicle. We ask the owner if he has food? He nods and we sit down in the empty bistro. But first the old man takes out his mobile phone, opens the Park4Night app and tells us that he would be happy if we opened his place as a "camping site" :-). For lunch there is fish with salad, the only menu available today. To support the local community, we stay at his place for 3$ per night and watch the pelicans and seagulls nearby.

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May 25^th 2022

Çanaksu (Çıldır Lake), Turkey

Watching pelicans, enjoying the lake and walking with the dogs :-). 

By the way, this lake is at 6300 feet (1950m) and is frozen 4 months a year. Although the ice layer is up to 3 feet thick (1m) in winter, many locals go ice fishing. Sleigh rides on horses are also popular with winter tourists.

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