Day 3 of our Eastern Turkey Road Trip dawned in Tortum, a small town we had not heard of prior to our arrival the evening before. We had stayed late in the day hunting Georgian Churches and assumed it would be easy to find a place to stay. It was not.
We asked around.
Pansiyon? Otel?
Everyone agreed there weren’t any, but confusingly they all still pointed in the same general direction.
Snow dusted the rolling hills and there was a chill in the late afternoon air. We were relieved when yet another local confirmed we had found the mysterious accommodation.
But had we?
The building had an institutional air about it and the sign hidden behind the pine trees read Tortum Ogretmen Evi.
Seeing our hesitation, and in the helpful fashion of people throughout Turkey, our latest guide motioned us to follow him through the gate. Once inside he led us up a wide double staircase, depositing us in a large Office with a Manager sitting with authority behind the desk. Our guide was so at home that it occurred to me later that he was probably a resident.
It seemed we could stay the night for a total of 60tl including breakfast. The Warden Manager, led the way down a long silent corridor to our room and afterward to the top floor to share a welcoming glass of Cay. It was clear then why the corridors below had been so silent – the community room was full of men – drinking Cay, talking, eating and watching television.
It wasn’t until the next morning that the pieces fell into place. After breakfast we met a young couple who surprisingly spoke perfect English, albeit with an American accent. It seemed it was true that there was no accommodation for travelers in Tortum, so this place, the local Teachers Hostel filled the gap. They themselves were straight from Teacher’s Training College in the West of Turkey and would be living in the hostel for the duration of their four year posting in Tortum. We gladly handed over the remains of our Koala and Kangaroo stickers and pencils for their students and waved goodbye to them and Tortum. They attributed their American accent to watching American T.V. shows!
I include the following collage as I myself have an insatiable desire to see images from foreign lands and you might too 🙂
Ten minutes down the road toward Erzurum and the hills looked like they had been sprinkled with Icing Sugar.
After spending Day 2 church hunting but not covering much distance, Day 3 would of necessity be taken up driving to Dogubayazit. We decided not to visit Erzurum as at 50 km away it was way too close to our starting point.
Only 5km south of Erzurum is Palandoken, Turkey’s Premier Ski Resort and although we were to become used to the presence of snow in the days to come, nowhere was it more impressive than in the mountains around Erzurum.
Enroute to Horasan the road lead through Pasinler with Hasankale Castle built in 1339, perched atop the hill.
This castle was the birthplace of the Ottoman Turkish Satirical Poet Ömer (pen name Nefí). His story is quite intriguing.
In 1635 Nefí presented his book of satirical verses to Sultan Murad IV at the Tokapi Palace in Istanbul just as lightning struck the Palace Dome. He was ordered to be disposed of in order to rid the Palace of the arrows of misfortune. Nef’i asked the Palace Master, a man of African Origin to appeal on his behalf. While the Master was writing the appeal a drop of black ink fell on the paper and Nef’i, unable to resist the Satire of the occasion, commented that it must have been a drop of the Master’s blood.
The appeal was torn up on the spot and Nefi’ was strangled by the Executioner, who Nef’i taunted to the end with Go Man you slacker!
And there, right in the middle of town we saw Pasinler’s very own fairy chimneys!
Twenty minutes out of Pasinler we pulled over when we saw an unusual (to us) Ottoman Bridge.
As we approached Horasan, our first Tea Stop for the day, the snow let us know it would be cold. When I discovered it was 4 degrees C, I congratulated myself on having packed my red down puffer jacket.
We were a bit of a novelty in Horasan, with girls taking the opportunity to practice English and and men posing for photos. They grow big cabbages in Turkey and Horasan had some beauties. Cars that stood in shadows still had the ice from the night on them.
At Horasan we were not even half way to Dogubayazit but as we turned onto the D100 our excitement was building.
The landscape was the usual study of brown earth, white snow and blue sky, but this patch of green near Güneykaya caught my eye.
About ten minutes later we passed a busy harvest. All the trucks we passed were carrying the same thing. A white/grey root crop – but what was it?
We were once again driving through the smooth brown countryside that I shall always associate with Eastern Turkey.
And we arrived in Dogubayazit on the back of an Eagle.
This post is linked to Travel Photo Thursday at Budget Travelers Sandbox.
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What an unusual place to stay! It looks like some of the institutional buildings I visited in Russia. 🙂 So glad you found some lovely people to make sure you were in the right place. 🙂
I am not sure we would have been game to enter by ourselves Krista, especially as we would have had to go upstairs to find anyone!
Your overnight accommodation looked ok for one night but for four years…oh my! The countryside certainly looks beautiful with the snow capped mountains in the background!
I know Jenny, but fortunately when the couple came to our room they assured us that theirs was much nicer! 🙂
Lovely images, I too have an unsatiable thirst for pictures from foreign lands. Those cabbages are amazing and your lunch looks great! My brother went to Dogubayazit a long time ago and I always remember because we thought the name was so funny! I’d never heard of anyone else who’d been there until this post.
Hi Phoebe, Did you know the hippy culture referred to it at Doggy Biscuit?
The chimneys looks amazing…
I was so surprised to see them Lily 🙂
WOW. Turkey is just absolutely stunning. The more I read about it, the deeper in love I am. It’s HUGE though: would take an entire lifetime and then some to uncover all its majestic secrets!
Love love LOVED your photos <3 !!
-Maria Alexandra
Thanks Maria, Turkey is big and diverse and we could easily return for another six weeks. 🙂
The fairy chimneys are just the thing I would stop to photograph! And the landscapes are gorgeous, but that cabbage! Unbelievable!
Lovely images, interesting journey! Turkey is now officially on my bucket list.
Now, the story of Nefi, could the master have possibly been racially offended by Nefi’s satire?
I know – seems weird – but it is a very old story so who knows what twists and turns it has taken. 🙂
What gorgeous country side. I’d love this road trip as long as I didn’t have to drive on snowy roads. Your roadside lunch looked awesome, too! I love your photo titled “Tortum”…gorgeous!
I actually exclaimed outloud, “Wow, those are huge cabbages!” I like the Icing Sugar hills and the fairy chimneys, too. This one day certainly delivered a lot of interesting sights. It’s a good thing you were able to catch some sleep at the Teachers Hostel so that you could take it all in. Your story of the other lodgers reminds me of my Japanese friend who would listen to her cassette tape recordings of “Casey Kasem American Top 40” weekly radio show in order to perfect her English. Hence, she sounds a lot like Casey Kasem (the voice of Shaggy on Scooby Doo).
They say watching Television and tapes is a great way of learning another language. I was so surprised by the perfect English that came out of this couples’ mouths. 🙂
I have never been to Turkey, but planned to go for a beach vacation. I’ve never thought about Ski Resorts… The snow mountains are impressive!! Gotta go! I am a big fan of bridges… so Ottoman Bridge would be on my list too 😉
The Ski Resort might be the only one in Turkey – I’m not sure. You could fly from Istanbul to Erzurum and the ski fields are only 5km away. But a beach holiday would be fun and relaxing too 🙂
I’ve heard so many great things about Turkey! I had to do a double take of those cabbages – as a gardener, I was shocked to see them that big! Loved seeing the country side of Turkey through your photos!
Thanks Katie. I wonder why they grow so big?
Wow, what a dramatic landscape. Love Martin’s photo of mountains with icing sugar. The size of the cabbage is Horasan is amazing! It’s like a vegetable on steroid:) What an interesting accommodation you had found. You were lucky at all that they’re such a place in that town. Thanks for taking us a long on another interesting road tirp.
I realized later Marisol that I took that photo but didn’t want to redo it. Those cabbages were unreal. It makes me wonder why they grow so big!
This was such an interesting drive and stop. The countryside looks beautiful and I found the castle story quite interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen cabbages that huge. Amazing! Love those fairy chimneys.
We were not expecting the fairy chimneys as they are mostly located in Cappadocia some 700km away!
the scenery is magnificent, the overnight accommodation intriguing, and the stories of your travels fascinating, but you can keep those giant cabbages. I am not partial to cabbage, these giants would send me running!
Happy travels, and thank you for stopping by my blog.
I can’t imagine cutting one of those cabbages. You would need a huge blade!
What a shame you decided not to go to Erzurum. It is a great place with a lot of historical buildings. Will you be headed back that way?
Probably not Michael. A shame I know.
I love that the locals practiced their English with you and posed for pictures, so cool! I find this varies widely from country to country, but always so nice to get involved with the locals!
It varied greatly within Turkey as well Jess. I certainly had as many refusals as acceptances. 🙂