Bingol, Turkey (1 Sept 2012)

The next morning we headed for Bingol, driving at a leisurely pace to take in the sights – beautiful villages clinging on to hillsides and valleys, rugged mountains, steep climbs and fast downhill slopes, sharp bends and scenic plains before stopping at a viewpoint with a Memorial. The memorial located near Bilaloglu village is dedicated to 33 soldiers who died fighting in the 1993 war. We fed a friendly but very hungry dog that came out of a nearby bush. We gave the dog as much bread as he could eat, a whole liter of water to drink but sadly he was shooed away by the memorial’s caretaker before we could give him the hard boiled egg mum boiled for him. We had breakfast – bread dipped in half boiled eggs seasoned with soy sauce and white pepper and mugs of hot tea, at one of the gazebos before moving on, still looking out for the poor dog. It’s sad to see a homeless dog, a cute one at that too.  


>> Scenery on the way to the Memorial
















 

>> Look out for horses on the road!
















 

>> “33 Sehit Aniti” Memorial built in July 2011. There are 33 flag poles lining the perimeter of the semi circle memorial, one for each of the 33 men who died in the 1993 war.








 
 

>> A tortoise making its way quietly around where we were sitting. I guess he was too busy looking at us that he walked straight into a tiny but prickly bush, ouch!. The sound of dried grass and weeds squashed by his weight meant that it was easily spotted. We gave the tortoise some salad, but he’s not biting.