Spring Break

After Ankara, I arrived back in Istanbul at 10 or so.  It took me around 2.5 hours to get back to the Superdorm from the airport, but it felt great to get in bed for the first legitimate attempt at sleep in a few days.  A short 3.5 hours later, I was up and walking out the door to get on a bus with the Duke program to go back to the airport.  A sleepy hour-long flight later, I was in Trabizon, a city on the Black Sea coast.  Trabizon has a rich history which dates back to the Classical Era, and was once heavily Greek.  After the population exchange, it became incredibly nationalist.  I didn't really spend enough time there to notice though.  We had breakfast, saw the Hagia Sophia (right- not to be confused with the one in Istanbul) and then drove south, through some mountains, to Machka.  In Machka, we visited the Sumela monastery (below), a beautiful complex perched on the side of a cliff.

The next few days were spent in the Georgian Valleys, which are related to the Georgian Valleys actually in Georgia.  The scenery was beautiful- similar to the Sierra Nevada mountains, and although we spent a significant amount of time in the bus, the trip was enjoyable and relaxing.  We learned about a dam project which would put most of the area underwater, and discussed the environmental and political repercussions of the construction.  It seems most of the residents of the Valleys are happy to take the government money for their property and move somewhere more economically active, however as with most Turkish government projects, corruption is rampant and progress is slow.  No one knows when the final dam will open and complete the project.

We spent a night in Yusufeli, which is soon to be underwater.  From there, we explored several Georgian churches (right), which mostly dated from the 12-14th centuries.  They all had fantastic relief work and the towns they were in were beautiful.  It rained almost every day and it added an ethereal atmosphere to exploring the Valleys.  We spent a night in Kars, near the Georgian and Armenian borders, which was at times occupied by the Russians and Armenians.  It snowed while we were there.  The city was not love at first sight for most people, but I got a good vibe and would have liked to have had time to explore.   There were plenty of beautiful Russian-era houses, which are much more pleasant to look at than anything built during the Republican era.  We also got views of something that was to become more common as the trip progressed- extensive Turkish military presence (Tanks, Jandarma, Barracks, Bunkers, etc). 

We explored Ani (left), the medieval Armenian capital, and that experience was fantastic.  It was raining, of course, and the lush green plateaus of Armenia spread out before us, dotted with medieval ruins of churches.  The site was almost completely empty the whole time- we were escorted around by the kids of some local cowherds.  We were also told by the Jandarma to not take pictures of the Armenian border, and large portions of the site were off limits.  It seemed ridiculous to me, as an outsider, to have such precautions around the Armenian border.  As far as I can tell, there is no real danger of the two countries actually fighting anytime soon, and the conflict seems largely constructed by both governments to divert attention away from more important domestic problems.  A side effect of the conflict is that most of the site of Ani remains excavated.  Whenever anyone tries to excavate, either the Turkish government makes a fuss, or the Armenians make an uproar.  No one wants the other to have any claim to the site, so neither let the other do any work there.  It seemed pretty childish to me, but I didn't experience the conflicts of the early 20th century.

After Ani and Kars, we headed south.  in Dogubeyazit, we saw Ararat (well, it was covered by clouds the entire time), and we also didn't really see "Noah's Ark", a rock formations where Noah's Ark supposedly landed.  We also saw Ishak Pasha Palace (see pic in the next paragraph), an Ottoman cliff-top complex with beautiful reliefs and fantastically restored.  We also got a view of Iran (sweet!).    Then, we drove south to Lake Van, Turkey's largest lake.  We visited a medieval Seljuk/Turkish cemetery where I saw lots of tortoises.  It was raining (again) and we made our way to Tatvan, a city along the lake, for a night.  The next day, our last, we visited Akhtamar Island, which had a fantastic Armenian church (above).  It was finally sunny (well at least for the few hours we were on the Island) and I enjoyed the sun, spring flowers, and fresh air accordingly. The Island and Church were breathtaking, and the Lake, with mountains in the distance, offered a stunning backdrop.  Possibly the most beautiful place I have seen on this trip (better than Pergamon).  Pictures don't do it justice.  Later that day, it started to rain; we saw an Urartian fortress/palace complex, visited to Van Kale, and saw the wiped out remains of old Van city.  The Turks completely razed the city in the early 20th century in the conflict with the Armenians.

We spent the final night in a hotel with real showers and hot water (HECK YEAH).  It was great.  The next morning, I woke up with some program mates at 5:30 and we went for a dip in the Lake.  It is a soda lake, which translates to mineral-rich and salty.  It was also freezing.  Afterward, I went back to bed, ate a quick Van breakfast (they're famous), and then caught our flight back to the city.  Now the parentals are here visiting, and I am enjoying their company.

In other news, my core class was supposed to have an important meeting today.  We were told to make sure we'd be there, and were told that class would run late because we'd cover a lot of material.  Accordingly, I told my parents I couldn't miss class on Friday, so we decided not to take a trip during their visit.  This morning, I wake up at 8 to go to class,and luckily I checked my email, because I was told by our Program Assistant that class is pushed back to 12:30.  Karanfil couldn't even email us 12 hours before class to let us know it was delayed.  More importantly, class will not be extra long and important; it will be shorter than usual and now I could have traveled, or at least had breakfast with my parents.  I feel like we are not respected as students and that the value of our effort and time dedicated to this class is completely disregarded.  But whatever.  It gave me time to write this blog entry.