Kars - Ani, Coins and Knives

I've arranged for a taxi to take me to Ani this morning, which is supposed to have some of the most impressive ruins around. I'm not disappointed when I get there - the ruins cover a huge area and a lot of them are still intact enough for a non-expert like me to make sense of.



There seems to be nobody else for miles around, and I'm really enjoying the solitude. As I poke about some ruins I spot someone else. After exchanging hellos he shows me some coins he's found - he speaks no English but he indicates that he found them lying about. That's quite cool in my book, so I ask him if I can take a picture of them. Mostly it's because I'm planning on an Indiana Jones ''they belong in a museum!'' joke later on.



Sadly it turns out that this guy isn't one of the cool friendly Turks I've been meeting all month, but one of the asshole tourist baiters. He demands money off me for taking the pictures. I'm a bit put out by this and refuse, going as far as to delete the pictures from the camera. I walk off after emphatically indicating that our conversation is over (not by giving him the finger or anything, just through tone of voice and body language). I head a bit further into the ruins, hoping that's the end of the matter.



It's not. He follows me and then he pulls out a knife. He doesn't brandish it or threaten me, but I feel the subtext is reasonably clear. He walks over to a wall and beckons me over - I come about a step closer to try and not anger him any more but I feel it's about time I kept my distance. He carves '10' into the rock wall - 10 Lira being about four pounds. It isn't a life-changing amount of money, but I'm pretty sure about the worst thing I could do right now is actually give him the cash - then he'd get a good look in my wallet and the next thing I know I'm a few hundred down.



By moving to the wall he's now no longer between me and the exit, so I forcefully decline to play any more and leave sharply. As I'm marching away I'm aware he's following me from a distance. I assess the situation - on the one hand, he is pretty angry, armed and knows the terrain. On the other hand, I back myself to be able to run away from him if I need to, plus although it's quiet, it is a public area. Above all, if the worst comes to the worst, he can have my wallet. That's what insurance is for. I decide to carry on inspecting ruins keeping an eye out for him.



This does naturally detract from my enjoyment of Ani. I don't inspect the ruins as closely as I usually would, and whenever I'm inside a ruined building I'm very aware of where the exits are. I'm probably being a bit of a drama queen, but I have no desire to meet extortion-knife-man again, especially with my back literally against a wall.



Moving towards another church I meet a different man, and again we exchange hellos. I have a sense of foreboding and sure enough he reaches into his pocket and withdraws some coins. What is this, some kind of national sport? He's barely opened his hand to show me when I'm backing off and making it clear I'm not interested. Thankfully this guy just smiles and doesn't seem too fussed. Then three army guys show up out of nowhere. I don't say hello to them but the sight of them makes me feel better about things.



It's hard to remain jittery though, as the scenery is spectacular - not only are the ruins themselves amazing but they are set against a backdrop of Armenian mountains and with the sun shining it's not long before I'm sauntering along again. I even cautiously head back to the area where I met knife-man just before I leave as I hadn't seen everything there. He isn't around - I haven't seen him since just after the incident when he followed me for a little while, and I don't see him again.



Back in Kars I wolf down an Iskender kebab and head up to the Castle which I didn't get a proper poke around yesterday. Back at the hotel I bump into three Turks who are making dinner in the common room - bread, cheese, tomatos, olives, chocolate spread etc. They absolutely insist I join them, overuling my objections that I've already eaten. After dinner I impress them with my two magic tricks and utterly cream one at backgammon.

I don't sleep well tonight and am awake until 6.30 am or so.