8 August, to Kars by bus from Doğubayazit
Temel Hotel 80TL (breakfast included)
Two buses brought us to the north Anatolian
city of Kars, some of the journey passing through a strange moonscape of
rounded hills completely devoid of growth, some over high cultivated plains,
most on a narrow, ungraded road. Kars was once capital of an Armenian kingdom, and
later part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1878, Kars was captured by the Russians
and held until 1920 and the Turkish War of Independence. The ongoing battle for
land between the Russians and the Ottomans is one of the reasons the Ottomans
entered World War I on the side of the Germans rather than the British –
Britain and Russia were allies during that conflict. Many of the sturdier stone
buildings along the main streets of Kars date from the Russian
occupation. Today, Kars is known for its honey and cheese and for being a
modern, liberated city in conservative eastern Turkey. (Note: photos taken from
moving bus.)
Between Doğubayazit and Kars
Between Doğubayazit and Kars
Between Doğubayazit and Kars
Between Doğubayazit and Kars
Between Doğubayazit and Kars