Roads Less Traveled

A fascinating part of Turkey, one of the hottest destinations for Indonesian travelers today, is enchanting eastern Anatolia.

If you’ve ever traveled in western Turkey but felt there was more to this wonderful country than the tourist buses, antiquities and beach resorts of the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, well … you’re right.

That something more lies in eastern Anatolia, a fascinating and beguiling region of Turkey that receives fewer tourists than it deserves. For a taste of adventure, dare yourself to see the Turkey outside the tourist brochures: the wild, magnificent east that brushes up against Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Syria.

A good place to start is Trabzon, a busy, ancient town on the coast of the Black Sea. Just a small offshoot of the Byzantine Empire when Constantinople was sacked by Christian soldiers in 1204 and the noble families of Constantinople fled east, it has several interesting Roman and Byzantine sites.

But the most stunning place to visit is the nearby Sumela Monastery, clinging to a cliff face. Originally founded by the Byzantines in 386 AD, it was abandoned by the resident Greek Orthodox monks in 1923, after it became clear that the newly created Turkish Republic had ended their dreams of a greater Greek state.

From Trabzon, you cross the Kaçkar Mountains to Erzurum, fought over for centuries because of its strategic position between east and west. At 1,853 meters above sea level, Erzurum is the largest city in the region and an important ski resort. Its summers are short, but when the snow finally melts and the sun starts to shine, the city softens to reveal the surrounding green treeless steppe rising up to snow-capped peaks. This impressive sight is best viewed from the ramparts of the ancient kale (castle) perched on a hill north of the city center, originally constructed by the Emperor Theodosius in the 5^th century.

Trek Star

Heading further east toward Kars, you pass through Yusufeli, back in the Kaçkar Mountains. This is one of my favorite areas of northeastern Anatolia because of its sublime mountain scenery, which in spring resembles high summer alpine pastures, not unlike those found in Switzerland. The villages are even composed largely of Swiss-looking wooden chalets.

Yusufeli is a popular center for white-water rafting on the torrents of the Barhal and Çoruh rivers as they carry away the waters from the melting snow in May and June. For me, though, the highlight is the trekking, using the villages above Yusufeli as a base. One such village, Barhal, even has a 10^th century Georgian monastery sitting by the local school, forgotten by the villagers. These villages have several pensions that cater to trekkers, and they provide some of the best organic food I have ever tasted: freshly baked bread, fresh trout, homemade honey, fig jam, cheese and butter and even heavenly sweet and moist homemade baklava.

June and July are the best months for trekking, as the snows have mostly melted and guides can be arranged – horses too if necessary. It pays to have a guide: Brown bears live in the mountains, not to mention the odd wolf, so it can be dangerous to wander off into the forest alone.

If you can tear yourself away from this pastoral paradise, the next step is to head east through the stunning scenery of the barren steppe to the city of Kars. Kars is an ideal base for trips to Ani, which was the thriving Armenian capital a millennium ago and today sits on the border with modern Armenia, albeit on the Turkish side.

Thanks to the trade that passed this way along the Silk Road, Ani became a thriving capital competing in size and wealth with Constantinople in its heyday. But as the Byzantines weakened the Armenian state in the 11^th century, so Ani succumbed to numerous invaders, the final blow coming in the 14^th century in the form of Tamerlane, the great Mongol leader. Today, the 1,000-year-old neglected ruins are a telling and melancholy reminder of how politics and fortune can change so utterly over time.

Following the border south, you reach Dogubayazit, a jumping-off point for travelers going on into Iran, just 20 kilometers to the east. Dogubayazit sits in the shadow of the immense volcano-like Mount Ararat, Turkey’s highest mountain at 5,137 meters. Legend has it that this is where Noah and his biblical Ark came to rest after the deluge.

On a hill 5 kilometers out of Dogubayazit is Ishak Pasa Palace, a magnificent mix of Seljuk, Ottoman, Persian and Georgian architectural styles completed in the 18^th century after 100 years of work. It is said that the Kurdish chieftain who had the palace built was so pleased that he had the eyes of the architect gouged out so that the poor man could never build another palace to rival it.

Van Guard

The next major city on the road south is Van. This is the region devastated by the major earthquake in October, which left more than 600 people dead and thousands facing the freezing winter homeless.

Van is built on the shores of Lake Van, the largest lake in Turkey. Hoşap Castle, built by a Kurdish chieftain in 1643 on a rocky outcrop about 35 kilometers southeast of the city, makes an interesting side trip. Also interesting is the 10^th century Armenian Akdamar Church, on a small island in Lake Van. Often featured in the tourist brochures, the church unfortunately suffered a crack in its dome from October’s earthquake.

Heading west from Lake Van, the road descends into the basin of the River Tigris and eventually the fertile lands of Mesopotamia – the Fertile Crescent, as it once was known. A worthwhile stop along the way is Hasankeyf, honey-colored stone village clinging to the rocks of a gorge cut by the Tigris, complete with a soaring rock-cut castle. In the middle of the river stand the broken arches and pylons of a 12^th century bridge. The cliffs of Hasankeyf once marked the easternmost border of the Roman Empire, protecting the Romans from the Persians further east. There are plans to dam the Tigris a little bit down the river, submerging the village and the haunting ruins.

Next along the route heading west is Mardin, another lovely honey-colored town overlooking the roasting-hot plains of Mesopotamia stretching toward Syria on the horizon. Assyrian Christians settled here in the 5^th century, followed by the Arabs. From the 12^th century, a constant stream of invaders made life difficult for the locals, until the Ottomans settled things for good in 1517. Today, few Christians remain, and the extant churches seem to be little used. Crowning Mardin is a castle that overlooks the town, but this is occupied by the Turkish army and out of bounds. Further down in the town is the bustling old bazaar, where donkeys are still the main form of transportation.

Further west from the walled city of Diyarbakir, the Kurdish cultural center, is Nemrut Dagi, or Mount Nemrut, famed for the gigantic stone heads at its summit. The mountain rises to 2,150 meters but is easily accessed by car. According to history, a megalomaniac pre-Roman king cut two large ledges into the mountain summit and filled them with the colossal statues of himself and the gods. The heads were originally atop seated bodies but were toppled by earthquakes. They have been pulled back upright but not yet replaced on their respective bodies. The king had an extra 50 meters added to the summit, and it is thought that his burial chamber may lie under the tons of extra rock.

Nemrut Dagi marks the limit between eastern Anatolia and central Anatolia, famed for Cappadocia, with its surreal moonscape of phallic cones, underground cities and superb rock-cut frescoed churches – another fascinating and spectacular region of Anatolia, heavily featured in those glossy brochures.

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