Enteli and Agara

Last Saturday I went on a hike with my Armenian 8th graders and some of their friends.

We started and ended in the village of Uraveli. Cave dwellings overlook the village.

A Georgian tombstone. Armenians and Georgians often etch pictures of the grave's occupants on their tombstone.

Nice place for a farm.

First we visited the deserted village of Enteli. This church is the main ruin left.

The Enteli Stoneman is a pagan idol worshiped an estimated nine centuries before Christ.

A Turkish soldier's grave.

Wild Mint

Spooky

Agara Monastery was built in the 10th century. The complex consists of many buildings, but only a friendly family of foxes calls it home now.

Waterfall

Our guide, a teacher at my school, discovered this church in the woods and received a medal for it decades ago. We lit some candles here and went on our way.

Next we climbed up to the waterfall. This wasn't the safest thing I have ever done.

It was worth it though.

Spring is wildflower season in Georgia.

I wasn't expecting this though...

Piggies!

Sumela Monastery

Sumela Monastery is located an hour away from Trabzon, the largest city in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The Greek Orthodox Monastery was founded in 386 AD by Roman Emperor Theodosius I. The last major construction at Sumela was sponsored by Alexios III, Emperor of Trabzon (a splinter kingdom of the rapidly failing Byzantine Empire), in the 13th century. The Ottoman Sultan protected the monastery, but after Attaturk's war of independence against Greece in the 1920s, Greece and Turkey exchanged their respective populations, so the monks had to leave. The site, though now abandoned, is a popular pilgrimage site for Russians and Greeks.

Sumela Monastery is located in Altindere National Park, which is beautiful in its own right.

Rock Church

There is a lot of 200-300+ year old graffiti on Rock Church.

Inside Rock Church

Home bittersweet home at the Hopa-Batumi border crossing. Sarah and I hope to return to Turkey soon!

Ordu

Ordu is a hidden gem on the Turkish Black Sea coast. This was the most relaxing city Sarah and I stayed in our entire trip to Turkey, and the only place we decided to stay an extra day.

Ordu and Giresun Provinces produce 75% of the world's hazelnuts. The rolling black sea hills around Ordu are coated in hazelnut trees.

Yes, this is a hazelnut fountain.

The Black Sea

Ordu has a wonderful cable-car to the top of Boztepe hill overlooking the city.

Halis is one of my best friends in Georgia. He teaches Turkish at Akhaltsikhe University and Ordu is his hometown. He took Sarah and I on a tour of Ordu and his family's hazelnut farm. Thanks for being amazing Halis!

Cappadocia

Cappadocia is one of the great treasures of Turkey. Many early Christians lived here, hiding amongst, in, and below its fairy chimneys. This was the view from my hotel room in Goreme.

Sarah and I stayed in a cave hotel.

There are many UNESCO sites in Cappadocia, and most of them are overcrowded with tourists. One such site is the Kaymakli Underground City, which consists of a labyrinth of rooms connected with child sized tunnels. It was interesting, but hard on the knees and not fun to navigate when filled with tourists.

There were lots of wineries down there; with tunnels that small I understand why.

Sarah and I rented a scooter in Goreme and drove to Soganli to avoid the crowds. Along the way we saw many amazing cave settlements.

We also found an abandoned church.

It still had some frescoes inside. Only in a place like Cappadocia could there be so many ancient churches that some are still not documented archeological sites.

There were very few people in Soganli, and it was just as amazing as Cappadocia's UNESCO sites.

Although we had to drive through hail at one point, riding the scooter to Soganli was my favorite part of our Cappadocia trip.

Pigeon Valley was right next to our hotel. The monks used to raise pigeons in the cliffs here.

This dog followed us through the valley, and when we sat down it would roll onto its back and try to kick us up out of our spot. Weird.

We hiked from Goreme through Pigeon Valley to Uchisar.

The view from Uchisar was breathtaking.

We didn't end up riding a camel.

Uchisar Castle was first hollowed out by the Romans.

The Goreme Open Air Museum was nice, but too crowded for our taste. The walk there from Goreme was beautiful though.

The cave church next to the Goreme Open Air Museum had some beautiful frescoes inside.

Uchisar Castle had the best view.