Part 9: Kars, Turkey
Hotel: Kars Konak Hotel, 26 EUR/night incl. breakfast

It was already close to 6pm by the time I arrived at my hotel, located on one of the main city centre streets. There weren't too many accommodation options available in Kars and the Konak seemed to be one of the best of the bunch of mid-range hotels. There were one or two slightly more luxurious options but as these were out of the city centre I didn't opt for them. For just 26 EUR per night the Konak surely did deliver. The single room which I got was a bit cramped, but nonetheless was clean and comfortable – and for me that was all that mattered. The hotel staff was friendly and helpful too.








Single room at the Kars Konak hotel and view from the window

As I was super hungry I decided to leave all sightseeing for the following day and find myself a good restaurant straight away. Upon hearing I would visit Kars my Turkish friends told me that the city is famous in the country for its cheese and goose, so I embarked on a little quest to find both. With the help of my friend Google I found two potential restaurants which were well-rated and were said to have goose on the menu. Unfortunately, restaurant number one was closed – but restaurant number two (Kamer Cafe & Restaurant) looked promising by the look of the props on the outside wall.



Unfortunately, they did not have any geese today – but I was assured by the friendly waiter that other dishes were good too. As I had another day to try to find a goose tomorrow and I was real hungry by now I decided to stay – which turned out to be a great decision. On recommendation of the waiter I first took the aubergine cream soup, which was delicious.



For the main, you can't go wrong really with a plate of Iskender kebab – which the restaurant did very well too.



After the meal I was served some tea on the house. Both dishes, a coke and some water set me back less than 5 EUR.

Next up was finding some cheese shop to taste some of the famous Kars cheese (and to buy some for friends I would visit later during the trip). The city centre surely did look interesting as it basically mixed Ottoman-era buildings with clear Russian influences (Tsarist-era brick houses which would not look out of places in the Baltics or so). The city and adjoining region where Russian-administered as the Kars Oblast in between 1878 and 1918 – when the Ottoman army succesfully took the city back from the Russians at the end of World War I.





The central streets of Kars have quite a few cheese shops where they allow you to taste for free. The cheese was good, so I decided to buy some for my friends as a souvenir.



I then opted for some more after-dinner tea and nargilah in an appealing looking garden cafe I came across. Unfortunately, the nargilah was bad quality.



Afterwards I bought a beer or two and retired back to my hotel room to watch the Belgium vs. France World Cup semi final. Unfortunately, the French did not play true to their national character and did not run away and surrendered when attacked by the superior Belgian team, and ended up winning the match (and later on the World Cup).



Next up: A visit to the ruins of the old Medieval Armenian capital of Ani.