We landed on this Monday late afternoon to beautiful weather in Erzurum, the beginning of our road trip. Alejandro and Mehmet were waiting at the airport having arrived in the morning on their overnight buses. We rented the car, a roomy Hyundai SUV, gased it up and headed downtown. Though we were to spend less than 24 hours in Erzurum we aimed to see the sights.
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| So happy to be in Erzurum and starting our long planned road trip |
We parked downtown and started walking. I had broken or lost a pair of my reading glasses so wanted to get a spare. We found an optics shop on the main street and ordered a pair (in Turkey you cannot just buy a ready made pair of magnifiers). The price was definitely higher than in the U.S. but the glasses were custom made for me - I chose frames and gave the power (2 1/2) for the lenses.
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| The friendly people here set me up with a new pair of magnifier reading glasses - located on the main shopping street of Erzurum |
We went to the museum at the Yakutiye Medrese (holy school) which was interesting and in a wonderful building built in 1310.
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| The museum is less impressive than the building but a definite must see in Erzurum |
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| The guys outside the main entrance of the museum |
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| The wonderful minaret |
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| The ornately carved entrance |
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| A ceiling open to the sky |
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| Interior carvings |
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| The interior doorways were very low to keep the heat from escaping |
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| A really great carving on the exterior |
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| The kumbet attached to the medrese |
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| Mehmet was impressed with the size of the tea samovars in the city |
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| Our next sight - Ulu (big) Camii (mosque) built in the 1100's |
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| The exterior was rather plain |
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| The interior of this active mosque |
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| Inside we found a model of a holy place in Mecca |
We headed to the main sight - the Cifte (couple) Minareli (with minarets) Medrese - unfortunately it was closed for renovations but we admired the exterior. This was built in the late 1200's and is Selcuk.
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| Some information about this treasure - we will have to return to Erzurum to see the interior one day |
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| The twin minarets were impressive even with their scaffolding |
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| The double eagle symbol of the Selcuks |
Nearby was another top sight - three kumbets. Kumbets are tombs - above ground, mainly octagonal and Selcuk. All were excellent and some local boys accompanied us and were curious about our sightseeing. Due to the Kurdish and other terrorist activity, tourism in eastern Turkey was way, way down and most sights and hotels were pretty empty.
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| A typical Erzurum street on the way to the Uc (three) Kumbetler (kumbets) |
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| Window detail on aged house |
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| The largest of the kumbets, dating from the 1100's and is unusual for its two toned stone |
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| The tomb of the Emir on the right and the smaller and later tombs on the left (most likely of his sons) |
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| Mehmet chats with the local boys |
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| An unusual bunny carving on the kumbet |
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| Another double eagle carved on the kumbet |
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| One of the local boys took this photo of us in front of the most notable kumbet |
Across the street we were beckoned to an old Ottoman house and invited in by the owner, an elderly Kurdish man. He gave a tour of the house and tea in the upper sitting room. It was an interesting if a little creepy experience (the house was not in the best shape and I think he still lived there). We tipped him and walked back to the car.
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| The unaltered Ottoman house |
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| Our guide - the Kurdish owner |
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| One of the impressive ceilings in the house |
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| Tea in the traditional sitting room upstairs |
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| Another impressive ceiling in the house |
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| The owner insisted I pose in front of this tiled area of the sitting room - it is actually a nice photo |
Mehmet informed us that a certain type of kebab, cag kebab, is famous in Erzurum so we found a restaurant that specialized in this. This is lamb roasted horizontally on an open fire spit. The guys loved it as the meat kebabs are brought out as long as you keep eating. Like other restaurants in eastern Turkey, there was no alcoholic beverages among the offerings. We ate until we were filled then headed up the mountain to our hotel - the only five star in Erzurum - the
Polat Erzurum. This is a ski resort hotel located in the ski area of Palandoken and was pretty empty in early August. Our rooms were next to each other and comfortable. We broke open some wine (purchased earlier at a local mall) and had a small in room party.
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| Erzurum at dusk |
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| Our dining spot of the night specializing Cag Kebab |
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| The main attraction - the roasting lamb |
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| We ate a lot of the meat, vegetables, bread, yogurt and ezme |
In the morning we were treated to an awesome hotel breakfast with lots of choices. The sun was shining and the views over Erzurum were excellent. Eating our fill, we loaded the car, and set off. We first stopped at the Optics Shop where I had ordered another set of magnifier glasses the afternoon before. Getting my new colorful glasses, we headed out for our road trip, going east toward Kars!
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| The Polat Hotel was built for ski tourism |
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| View from the hotel overlooking Erzurum |
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| Panorama from the hotel |
