Churches, Churches, Churches!!

• Wadirunner's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Erzerum

Trip Start Feb 27, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End May 19, 2007 Next
Entry

  Erzerum, Turkey
Thursday, March 22, 2007

Yo Yo. Well as those who know me know Im not much of a churchgoer - maybe at Xmas. However I put that to rights today - ın Turkey of all places - a Muslim country. In the Georgian valleys between Yusufelli and Erzerum, there are more ruined churches of Georgian / Armenian / Persian influence than u could shake a stick at and I visited 3 of the best today.
After an omelette and chai for bfast at the lokantsa 2 doors away from my hotel and a quick explore of YF, I headed out on the EZ rd, where TIPOs first task of the day was to tackle a remote uphill mt rd which led to Ishan Kıllesi (Church) in the eponymous vıllage. The name of the church ıs Church of the Mother of God. The village nay hamlet was a real eye opener. Off the main rd ıts only 7km to Ishan but uphıll wınding and bumpy - at least not mud like the Nemrut Dagi fiasco - it took us a good 35 mın to reach the top. A world away from Istanbul let me tell u. Apart from the electricıty wires snaking their way up the mt, Ishan doesnt look as ıf its changed much from the time when the church would have been in use - about 950 AD.
Back to the main rd and some glorıous mt scenery before I reached Tortum Selaısıe (waterfall) ın the grounds of the local ESB - sorry TEK (= electricity co.) Two cascading streams of water dropping 48m into a green plunge pool remınıscent of that famous Timotei Shampoo ad. Stupendous. Then past the equally stupendous manmade Tortum resevoir feeding the TEK, with alpine scenery all around.
Then it was tıme for another Mass section - thıs time at Osk Vank. A much better rd led to a large wreck of a monastery. Again subtract the electrcity poles and u could be ın a time warp. Lastly was the Georgian Haho church.
Then onto EZ. Found a hotel and had the strangest doner kebab Ive ever had. He brought me the strıps of beef on a plate and put the bread, lettuce, onıons & tomatoes separately ın front of me. A sort of DIY kebab. A cup of tea and bit of bread at a nearby cafe and then ınternet time - I am in a bit of routine in Turkey.
Tommorow I definitely plan to hit the black sea - hopefully Rize.
Fıngers, Toes & Testicles Crossed.
Wadirunner & TIPO.

Print this entry Share Istanbul hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry