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Georgian Valleys

Monday, 13 September

Our route

We get up early to enjoy the breakfast buffet for the last time, and with a taxi (5€) we are at the bus station by seven. Like we feared, there are no early buses to Erzurum. After looking at the map and asking around a bit we take the bus to Agri, a hicks town about halfway and we will see from there. By midday we arrive in Agri where we can book a two o’clock bus to Erzurum. We are pleased we were able to solve the logistical problem and have a few cheese toasts and tea for lunch. The two o’clock bus turns out to be a dolmus on which we are given the back seats. O the agony of backseat travel! We are happy to see the city limits of Erzurum by 5.30 and by six in the evening we are at Sun rent ( voucher )where we have reserved a car (via www.economycarrentals.com). The car they want to gives us is a wreck with 170.000 km on the counter. I am not even able to get the car started; the cigarette plug does not work (for my navigation) and the whole outside shows bad body repair, which makes me wonder about the suspension. I tell them that the car is a danger on the roads and that I need another, safer car. They are surprised that I care about such things, but after some more discussion they give in, and we are able to leave to Kars. With all this going on it is already 11 at night by the time we reach the Güngören Hotel (35€) in Kars. Kars and the hotel building make me think we are in Russia, the buildings architecture is very much like in Russia and the whole atmosphere is more Russian than Turkish.

Day 1 The Georgian Valleys from Erzurum to Saşvat

Tuesday 14 September

After breakfast we immediately leave for Ani, a 45 km further east. The road to Ani is a nice asphalted road, with a very bleak and desolate scenery. The ruins of the once grand city are now nothing more than crumbling stones on a windswept plateau. The ravine of the Akhurian River is the border with Armenia. There are very few people, but we love the site very much and can only recommend it.

It is already afternoon when we finish our visit and take the road back to Kars, but we turn off just before Kars on the road to Ardahan to visit the Georgian valleys. The village Ardahan (1780m) lies on the right bank of the Kuhra Nehri. The small hamlet stands in the shadow of a huge citadel. The Russians held the town occupied from 1873 till 1921. We have a late lunch at a local restaurant. It is a typical Kurdish village with lots of character faces to photograph, but I do not bother as I already know the answer.

View on Ardahan

The first part of the road from Ardahan to Saşvat is very desolate. We see a lot of abandoned villages (Armenian?), the villages that still have people living in are very poor and a horse and carriage is still the mode of transport around here. When we reach the çam Gedeçi (Cam Pass) with its 2640 meter one of the highest passes of Turkey, it is covered in fog.The whole area looks like we are somewhere in the highlands. So this must be a good place to make Whisky! After the pass we drive through the Karaköl National park and the views become spectacular. We get a Heidi feeling, all the houses are in wood, brown cows are grazing on the Alps and the sharp curves on the road reveal new scenery each time.

Small village near the cam Pass, covered in fog

We stop just before the mountain village Saşvat at a nice hotel “Laset tesisleri” . They also have chalets for rent. The bar is well stocked with beer and Raki, so we have a nice evening with the lot. The dinner feast sets us back for 25 euro, and the room costs 50 euro. Not a bad deal as the spacious room is very clean and the food really good.

Day 2 The Georgian Valleys from Saşvat to yusufeli

Wednesday, 15 September

After breakfast our first visit is the castle ruins of Saşvat. The castle was built by the Chavchetien kings, a kingdom that was created whit the split of Georgia in the 9th century.

A view on Sasvat

Directly behind the ruins is the, badly marked, road to Church of Tbeti.  A 10th. Century church in the middle of nowhere. It is our first experience with driving through the back roads of the Georgian valleys. If you think the main roads are bad, the gravel roads are a shock. They are single lanes dirt roads with sharp curves, potholes, steep slopes and trucks are coming towards you from unexpected places. You do not want to do this with your own car!

The church of Tbeti

We continue our way to Ardanuç, which we reach by driving through a beautiful canyon. Ardanuç was where the Georgians retreated after being threatened by the invading Arabs. We stop in the valley as I want to walk up to the top to photograph the canyon from there, but it is to warm and more important it is looks rather risky to climb up the rocks in the hope to make 1 photo.

We also give up on our next planned visit. The Ferhalti castle is located on a really bad road and we decide not to risk the drive there and we already turn round to the main road after a couple of kilometres on the torture road.

This promises to be a bad day. Our next item on the list is the Church of Yeni Rabat, which is located 17 km from Ardanuç, near the village of Bulanik. This is really the worst road I have ever seen, keeping in mind I drove in the Spiti valley in Ladakh, India. At the last 6 km, where the turnoff is to the church is, the gravel road is so steep I cannot even make it in first gear and we decide to turn back before we meet a truck coming down the hill. Even with a rental this is not a safe road.

The church of Dolishane

So we turn back to Ardanuç where we have some Durum, Ayran and tea before we drive on to Artvin. On the way we stop at the Church of Dolişhane, a 10th century church, again on top of a steep hill, only to be reached by braving the law of physics. We persevere and are awarded with the view of a lovely church that still has a few nice reliefs. The kids near the church are friendly, and unlike the kids in Kurdistan do not beg. We also notice a lot of blue eyed, blond people. I guess that is the Russian presence.

We continue the drive to Artvin, which is 24 km further, but when we get to Artvin we realize we have to drive the whole road back if we want to continue our trip to Yusufeli. On the way to Yusufeli I get a burst tyre! Luckily it is on an asphalted part of the road and not on one of those hairpin curves going down a steep gravel road we have been doing so far! I am not sure it is our fault; my guess is that the tyres are old and they reuse them by engraving new lines in the tyre. Luckily the car does have a spare tyre in the back and so we are able to continue our trip.

However we decide to alter our planning and stop for the evening on the road from Yusufeli to Barhal at the Hotel River rather than continuing further to stay in Barhal. The Hotel River has nice rooms and at 45 euro including dinner and breakfast a bargain. But first we have to drive the car over a hanging bridge to get to the other side of the river where the hotel is located. After the driving I have done today this is no sweat.

Scheduled work on a nearby dam will one day flood the whole valley around Yusufeli

Day 3 The Georgian Valleys from yusufeli to Erzurum

Between the ninth and 14th centuries the area north of Erzurum was part of the Kingdom of Georgia and with kings named David and a queen called Tamara. The view north to Yusufeli is very beautiful, with soaring mountains on either side of the road and orchards full of apples, mulberries and walnuts surrounding villages of wooden houses. East and west of the highway a string of magnificent old churches serve as a reminder of the Georgians. Most stand in ruins, abandoned after the troubles in the early 20th century we are not allowed to call genocide.

The castle near Yusufeli

Thursday, 16 September

We skip our planned vist to Dörtkilisse as we are told that it is again steep gravel roads to get there, and with no spare tyre I do not want to risk another tyre puncture.

Ishan church

So we continue to Işhan, a village with a particularly beautiful setting high up on a plateau. In Işhan are the ruins of the vast Church of the Mother of God built between the ninth and 11th centuries. Twenty-five years ago the paintings on the walls were still well-preserved. Now they are fading fast although one can still admire the hardier horseshoe-shaped arches that form a blind arcade around the apse. A surviving dedication stone in the Georgian language credits King Bagrat III (1000-1014) as the church’s founding father. Today its dome balances precariously above a void. Again the roads are bad and dangerous but the Church is really worth the trouble of getting there. It is located on top of the hill near a quiet little village, far from the main road.

This way of driving is very time consuming and we therefor skip a visit to the Tortum waterfalls and continue directly to the Öşkvank.  Öşkvank, 8 km from the main road has a 10th century Cathedral dedicated to St John the Baptists l. It is the grandest of the Georgian Cathedrals in the region with a three-aisled basilica topped off by a dome. Built in 958 -61 by Duke Bagrat and David Curapalates. It has intricate carvings with geometrical designs which are typical for Georgian church decorations.

Oskvank Cathedral

There is some sort of wedding going on and we spend more time filming the dancers than wandering around the Cathedral. A nice village and the people are rather friendly.

Oskvank party

We are in a good mood and decide to risk driving to Bağbaşi (Haho) to visit the monastery complex. The road to the monastery is excellent and as the monastery is turned into a mosque it is still in a good shape.

Bağbasi (the old Haho) where the 10th century Church of St. Mary stands, topped by a drum-like structure with a tile-clad dome. It looks very similar to an Armenian structure like the Akdamar church on the island of Lake Van, but this is a Georgian Church. The Georgian Bagratids, who ruled this area from the ninth century, were related to the rulers of medieval Armenia and thus both groups favoured a very similar architectural style. Unfortunately it is closed by the time we arrive but still worth the visit.

We have now finished our Georgian valley tour and head back to Erzurum, a city of 376.000 people and a chaotic traffic which is rather different from the valleys. We stay at the hotel Esedas on the cumhuryet Cad. Which is conveniently located in the centre of town, and for 50 euros we get a nice room. Next door is the bus ticketing office of Esedas and so we immediately by a ticket for tomorrow morning, thus saving us a trip out to the bus station.

Bagbasi monastery

Now we can return the car and here it gets a bit heated! They want me to pay for the burst tyre! Via somebody speaking through the mobile phone I understand that a new tyre costs a 100 euro and a second hand tyre goes for 50 euro. They are willing to accept the 50 euro tyre. In other words, what I already suspected, they use second hand tyres, play with the drivers security and when the tyre blows, the driver has to pay for it! Not only is that irresponsible behaviour on their behalf; it is just that I am not willing to pay for things that break down, just for the things that I have broken myself. They insist that tyres are not included in the insurance and that I should pay for them. In the end we settle it by plusses and minuses. I still have petrol in the car, which was empty when I got it and when I throw 25 euro on the table they agree. To conclude it costed me more by going on the cheap with a petrol car that via Avis with a diesel. Caveat emptor!

Total price for 3 days: petrol 140 euro, rent 100 euro and 25 euro for the tyre makes 265 euro, experience is the result of a stupidity.

A little treat at the end of our trip - Kiliçoglu pastry

We are glad to be back at the hotel where we have a couple of Carlsbergs and a shower before we are off to the “supposedly” best restaurant in town, the “Gûtzelyurt restoran”. Indeed we have an excellent dinner (45€) with wine and raki at this faded glory restaurant which is empty except for us and another couple. We end the evening at this ice cream parlour for coffee, cake and ice cream at the superb place “Kiliçoglu”.

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