And the Winner is....

KARS!

I just reserved my spot on a train to Kars, leaving Ankara at 1:30pm on Thursday afternoon. I'm looking quite forward to this. I haven't been on a good adventure in a while, and I'm in the mood for one, given the fact that it is spring and all. It still looks pretty cold out east, but I can take it. I'm Canadian!

Traveling in Turkey is great. It's pretty darn cheap. I am going on a 1000 and some kilometer journey, in a sleeping car, for 89 Turkish Lira. That seems like a good deal to me. I haven't figured out where I will sleep or anything once I get there. Hopefully there will be some nice ditches, or small wooded areas or something. Or, I suppose, better yet...and safer...would be to find a relatively cheap hotel.

So, this is what I know about Kars. Apparently, they have lots of different types of cheeses. This is significant because the rest of Turkey does NOT have a lot of different types of cheeses. Why Kars does, I dunno. This area of Turkey was part of the Soviet Union for a good number of years so, there is plenty of interesting Eastern European architecture, or so I hear. The town is not far from the Armenian or Georgian borders. There is an interesting place not far from Kars called Ani, which promises to be interesting, if I can figure out how to get there. It used to be a midevil Armenian town that is now abandoned. It seems to be the big thing to see in that area.

Over all, I'm just looking forward to getting on a train and going! It's a bit different nowday, given that we have a little family. I'm going to miss our little son a whole lot, and of couse my wife. And, I know it will be very hard on my wonderful wife to be left alone with the little guy. This will be the first time that I have gone on a trip like this since he was born, so, it will be a new experience. There will be a learning curve. But, I think we can all do it.

So, Thursday, 1:30, Ankara train station....I shall be there.