Excursion Day 3

Our first stop for the day was at one of Turkey’s tallest waterfalls, measuring 48 meters (close to 160 feet). It was cloudy when we arrived, but not too cold or windy, so we ventured down to the bottom of the falls where there was a nice rocky promontory almost directly under the cascading water. Before getting back on the bus, we sat at the top of the waterfall, chatting and sipping Turkish tea. Just as we were leaving, the sun peaked through the clouds, hinting at the promise of a beautiful afternoon.

After an hour or so of driving through a valley with a similar landscape to the day before, we stopped for lunch at a picturesque restaurant perched on a small pond. I had fried trout from the fish farm nestled beneath the restaurant’s porch. After lunch, a few kids took a paddleboat out on the pond; I opted to eat ice cream and sit on the deck overlooking the water and distant hills.

The next stint of driving brought us by some beautiful snowcapped mountains on our way to a small village that houses Oski, an old Georgian church. The church’s roof had caved in, so beams of sunlight filtered down, warming the bleak stone walls. While the inside of the church was impressive, even more stunning was the image of the church’s façade cast against the Anatolian mountains that engulf this village.

Our final adventure for the day was to visit yet another Georgian Church. This church, however, was way up in the mountains, so we had to unload from the bus and climb into vans that shuttled us up to the top. The road was precipitous and (of course) had no guardrail. For some reason, our driver insisted on hugging the edge, cruising literally a foot from the vertical drop. I asked our guide if there was anything wrong with the right side of the road since the driver seemed to disregard it entirely. Our guide assured me that the driver had been carting people up and down this road for fifteen years. This reassured me, and I decided to shift my focus to the breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains.

When we reached the top, the sun was out in full. Despite the wholly barren appearance of the mountain, the village we found ourselves in was lush with flowers and greenery. I felt as if we had just stumbled onto an oasis amidst a desert of arid mountains (which I guess we had in a way). The Georgian church was under renovation, so we were forced to admire it from afar. It had a similar structure and beauty to the previous church, but my real focus was on the surrounding countryside.

Our descent was more enjoyable than the way up, since it afforded some even more spectacular views. I wish I could provide a better sense of the tremendous geography of this area—the pictures don't do it justice. You’ll just have to take my word for how dwarfed I felt driving amid these rocky giants.

On our way to the complex of mountain bungalows where we would be spending the evening, we encountered a bona fide blizzard. I couldn’t see a thing out of the bus windows, so it’s beyond me how our bus driver managed to navigate the route to the bungalows. But hey, what’s spring break without a good old snow flurry?

*I've been having trouble uploading photos to this blog--it's probably because of my mediocre internet connection in Turkey. Anyway, there are plenty more photos of this day, which I can hopefully share later if I fix the upload problem.