Auto-touring Artvin: Şavşat and Ardanuç

Posted on November 10, 2023 by Bryan Keith

Artvin is Turkey’s most beautiful province (il). For Ferda’s parents’ first time in eastern Turkey we decided to take them to some places we had been before, places we knew we liked and were excited to visit again. Previously we’d traveled here by bicycle. This time we rented a car which of course made the trip very different.

The drive through Kars and Ardahan is rather flat, perhaps rolling hills. We had barely crossed the provincial border when we were treated to a view like this:

Ferda and I have bicycled in the valleys in the back half of this photo. by bryandkeith on flickr

Those valleys behind Ferda and her parents in that photo is where you find Tamara Kilisesi, Pona Alabalık, Arsiyan, and other places I described in this post.

About an hour later we took a nice break at Laşet above the village of Kocabey.

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Kars and Ani again

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Bryan Keith

If you read my blog about Kars and Ani from the start of our bicycle tour two years ago, you can skip this one. We’re in the same places. I will, however, try to avoid describing stuff we’ve done before (eating goose, enjoying the architecture) and see if I can find something new.

This mosque complex in the center of the city is new.

a new mosque complex since the last time I was in Kars (two years earlier) by bryandkeith on flickr

The young Kurdish guy working at our hotel said a new mosque is the last thing Kars needs. All the (Turkish sunni) worshipers in Kars can’t fill a single small mosque, he joked.

As I wrote before, one of the things I like about Kars is its ethnic diversity. Some of the various groups include terekeme, Azeri, Alevi, yerli (which I think means Sunni Turkish (Turkey’s majority group) in this context), Kurdish, and malakan.

One day when Ferda’s father and I were checking out the Russian (with Armenian stonework) Aleksandr Nevski Kilisesi (now a mosque),

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From Greece to Armenia: a quick (motorized) journey across Turkey

Posted on October 21, 2023 by Bryan Keith

Be warned, however, that we didn’t go to either Greece or Armenia. We could see the Greek island of Samos from Özdere, where we spent the kurban bayramı holiday with Ferda’s parents. Does that count?

IMG_20230703_105702 by bryandkeith on flickr

Defne and I had a short 5:30am self-guided tour of Selçuk when we switched buses between Antalya and Özdere.

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Bicycle touring: Yeşildağ (Beyşehir) to Manavgat

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Bryan Keith

My notes from this section keep saying “another great day of bicycle touring!” Even though we had a 200m climb through Kayabaşı, the day that Ahmet and I rode through Yeşildağ was the flattest of our 10-day trip.

IMG_20230617_112556 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Yet another loop NE of Antalya

Posted on October 1, 2023 by Bryan Keith

My first bicycle tour of 2023. It has been 10 months since Ferda and I finished our long (four-month) spring/summer tour in Munich last year. For this 10-day tour Ahmet and I headed into the mountains to the NE of Antalya, at least my fourth bicycle tour into this fantastic area.

I’ll start with a map. This year’s route is in purple. Ahmet and I rode the red route together two years earlier. This year Ahmet had the idea to take the tram from Antalya east passed Aksu, avoiding about 25km of city and highway riding. That worked well.

s%C3%BCt%C3%A7%C3%BCler_derebucak_ibrad%C4%B1_done_130dpi by bryandkeith on flickr

We were quickly off the highway and into a fairly flat agricultural area — veggies, olives, and pomegranate mostly — before the climbing started.

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