Monday, August 1, 2011

Samsun, Tokat-Niksar

Samsun

We were lucky to get to Samsun in time for its international dance festival on the water. The music and dancing were really excellent. My favorite was the Georgian group. We were there well into the night.
After Samsun, we took a bus to Tokat. From there we took a minibus about a half hour into the outskirts to a village called Niksar.
Niksar sports an ancient castle (Turkey's 2nd largest). The view of the village from up there is wonderful.

 Like every city in the country, there is an "Ulu Camii" or Great Mosque. Niksar's seems very great for the size of the town it is in. It was built around the year 1300. We actually got to climb the minaret, too.
The next morning some women from the neighborhood got together to produce flat bread used in making börek. It was a nice scene to wake up to. They invited us down to try some of the freshly cooked dough. It was delicious.

Leaving Niksar wasn't easy, mainly because we loved it so much. However, our destination was hard to stay away from, too.

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