Helen is not really right but is prepared to give the journey a go. Let's keep everything crossed especially legs. It's off we go again.
This is the bus to Hopa. The journey is a long one, over 7 hours with 3 stops for breaks, 2 of 10 mins and one half hour for lunch. It's not that's it is that long a journey, but the terrain is somewhat challenging. Kars is on the high Anatolian plain which is a plateau at 1400 m. We have to climb up to over 3000m before working our way down through the gorges passing many dams and reservoirs until eventually getting down to sea level at Hopa.
The entire river system is becoming one massive HEP project. Please take the time to make the link to the YouTube video about just part of the scheme. www.youtube.com/watch?v=632GQ9EnDG8 Select the Rexroth video first, then the other about the Deriner Dam. We drove past the Deriner Dam which is the highest in Europe and third highest in the world.
It certainly washes the wax out of your ears!
The entire river system is becoming one massive HEP project. Please take the time to make the link to the YouTube video about just part of the scheme. www.youtube.com/watch?v=632GQ9EnDG8 Select the Rexroth video first, then the other about the Deriner Dam. We drove past the Deriner Dam which is the highest in Europe and third highest in the world.
It certainly washes the wax out of your ears!
A couple of views of two of the reservoirs on the Coruh river system. I am afraid that the video makes our pictures seem a bit pathetic. Remember the Deriner Dam is only one of 11 in the whole project.
Eventually we reach Hopa bus station. The option now is to haggle for a taxi to the border. We manage to get one to take us for 30 TL (£8) for the 35 km.
So now we are in Georgia and already you can sense a freer and livelier atmosphere. Another taxi trip (20 Lari) gets us to our doorstep in Batumi. The taxi driver was a delightful man. He didn't speak much English, but his daughter did so he promptly phoned her on his mobile and we had a good chat.
Eventually we reach Hopa bus station. The option now is to haggle for a taxi to the border. We manage to get one to take us for 30 TL (£8) for the 35 km.
So now we are in Georgia and already you can sense a freer and livelier atmosphere. Another taxi trip (20 Lari) gets us to our doorstep in Batumi. The taxi driver was a delightful man. He didn't speak much English, but his daughter did so he promptly phoned her on his mobile and we had a good chat.
Our doorstep in Batumi.
No comments:
Post a Comment