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Most people think of
Kars as a remote frontier
post, the bitter end of Eastern
Turkey, but I like it.
It's got interesting things to see,
do and eat.
Most people—at least foreigners—also mispronounce
its name. It's KARSS (rhymes
with 'farce' and 'sparse'), not 'karze.'
Now that that's settled...
Kars (alt. 1768 meters, 5800
feet, pop. 90,000), set on its high,
chill plateau beneath a steel-grey
sky, dominated by its stolid, forbidding citadel,
does not immediately endear itself
to the visitor, but give it a chance.
It holds an odd mix of interesting
things to see: the Armenian Church
of the Apostles (937 AD), the 15th-century Ottoman Stone
Bridge (Tas Köprü),
the grim Citadel (1579), a 19th-century Russian
cathedral, and a good local museum.
The region produces some of Turkey's
best butter and honey, and thick,
rough but appealing carpets made
with wool of different natural colors.
But most people come to Kars on the
way to the ruins of Ani,
the great medieval Armenian capital
45 km (28 miles) to the east on the
Turkish-Armenian frontier.
You'll have to spend at least one
night in Kars. Don't expect much
from its hotels, though they can
do for a night.
Kars is served by air, bus and train. Turkish
Airlines has several flights
weekly from Ankara to
Kars, but many travelers fly to Erzurum instead
and rent a car or take a bus to Kars.
Virtually all long-distance bus service
is via Erzurum. Minibuses will take
you to Ardahan, Igdir or Sarikamis.
To get to Yusufeli in the Kaçkar
Mountains without your own car,
you'll need to go via Erzurum.
Click here for info about crossing
the border at Posof into Georgia.
Although the Dogu (Eastern) Express train travels
to and from Istanbul several
times per week, bus and plane are far
faster. If you do go by train, it's
a better idea to catch the train at
Erzurum, and to reserve a place in
a sleeping
car.
By the way, Imperial Russia tried
to grab eastern Turkish territory for
centuries, and actually did grab Kars
in 1878 and held it until 1920, which
accounts for Kars's Russian-style buildings.
Distances & Travel Times
Ani: 45
km (28 miles) E, 1 hour
Ankara: 1086
km (675 miles) W, 16 hours
Artvin: 207
km (129 miles) NW, 4.5 hours
Dogubayazit: 290
km (180 miles) SE, 6 hours
Erzurum: 206
km (128 miles) W, 3.5 hours
Hopa: 277 km (172 miles) NW,
6.5 hours
Igdir: 235 km (146 miles) SE,
5 hours
Istanbul: 1435
km (892 miles) W, 25 hours
Posof:
123 km (77 miles) N, 4 hours
Sarikamis: 53 km (33 miles)
SW, 1 hour
Trabzon: 434
km (270 miles) W, 8.5 hours
Yusufeli: 204 km (127 miles)
W, 4 hours
Eastern
Turkey
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