20 August, Aşkale to Bayburt, 75km
Bayburt Hotel 80TL
It poured with rain in the night and we
awoke to a cool, clean morning with intermittent cloud cover that lasted until
we reached Bayburt. I am not a fan of crows, not liking their aggressive look,
but in flight, of course, they are lovely. This morning I startled 100 or more
off the telephone wires on my right, that took fright and flight, winging across
the road at eye-level in front of me – a special treat. We are often invited to
drink tea by people we pass on the road: home-owners, shepherds, truck drivers,
road-workers, shop-keepers. We seldom accept these invites as conversation is
inevitably laboured and the delay longer than we can afford. This morning,
however, I stopped to photograph a pretty house – a rarity – and was invited by
the couple on the balcony to join them for a cup of tea. Having accepted, we
found they were in fact eating breakfast, which they insisted we share. Olives
and strong, stringy cheese and country bread. Lovely. And then we had a pass to
climb. A 700m increase in elevation over around 15km. A monster climb that
required some walking, but that rewarded us with a 40km drop into pretty
Bayburt on its wide, shallow river.
Between Aşkale and Bayburt
Between Aşkale and Bayburt
Between Aşkale and Bayburt
Between Aşkale and Bayburt
Between Aşkale and Bayburt
Between Aşkale and Bayburt
Between Aşkale and Bayburt