Our last attraction in Turkey was the armenian medieval capital of Ani. This former city on the silk route had its strategic location secured by canyons on three sides and a mighty wall at the front.
It nevertheless got captured and sacked multiple times. The Arabs, Mongols and last the Russians all where once master of this spot.
It nevertheless got captured and sacked multiple times. The Arabs, Mongols and last the Russians all where once master of this spot.
Because of these changing rulers there are now ruins of mosques and Armenian churches next to each other. Besides some key buildings and the wall most of it is in ruins and heaps of stone.
We climbed the fortress and had a good view over the border river to the modern Armenia.
On the parking a little girl approached us to sell some handicraft. We declined but Genti gave her the Barbie make-up set he had bought back home :D Worth mentioning is that this is one of the more conservative spots in Turkey. We hope she didn't get into too much trouble ;)
We then returned to the city of Kars for the night. Here we ate the local delicacy, another form of kebab ;)
The next day we crossed the mountains once more to the Caspian Sea. The woods and and wooden chalets reminded us of back home. Once at the sea we followed the highway to the border to Batumi in Georgia. Exit procedure took almost an hour. We weren't billed for speeding despite the many speeding cameras, nor for use of the motorway even dough we hadn't bought a sticker... ;)
We climbed the fortress and had a good view over the border river to the modern Armenia.
On the parking a little girl approached us to sell some handicraft. We declined but Genti gave her the Barbie make-up set he had bought back home :D Worth mentioning is that this is one of the more conservative spots in Turkey. We hope she didn't get into too much trouble ;)
We then returned to the city of Kars for the night. Here we ate the local delicacy, another form of kebab ;)
The next day we crossed the mountains once more to the Caspian Sea. The woods and and wooden chalets reminded us of back home. Once at the sea we followed the highway to the border to Batumi in Georgia. Exit procedure took almost an hour. We weren't billed for speeding despite the many speeding cameras, nor for use of the motorway even dough we hadn't bought a sticker... ;)
