We had a beautiful first day of Spring!

What a gorgeous day we had yesterday. Blue sky and sunshine! It could have still been a little warmer, with a high of only 10C (50F), but there was no wind at all and with the sun shining it was really quite nice.

So we left Max behind and set off on a 10 km (6.2 mile) hike to try to get to the nearest high point.

We were way overdue for a decent hike.

Looking back at Max.

He was quite happy to remain enjoying the view!

Looking across the lake at the snow covered mountains.

Such a beautiful area.

This fellow was out enjoying the sun.

I can't seem to take enough photos of Max and the view.

Ruth thought she would check out the water temperature.

Yes, it was cold!

Pretty spring wildflower.

Of course, yesterday was the first day of spring!

Views as we climbed higher.

Looking for a clear view.

And we found a clear view from the highest point.

Looking northeast.

We walked back through the village of Karayusuflu located on the lake shore. Quite a few people waved and said hello... everybody is very friendly. One guy working on some farm machinery said in English "where are you from?"

And so we told him, and he said he worked with the American military in Iraq and that's how he learned a bit of English. 

As we were walking through the village, we passed a group of men sitting at a card table at a small local cafe playing some kind of a game. They were also drinking tea. That's what everybody does... drink tea. All day long.

Anyhow, they waved us over. Not a word of English among them. They asked (in Turkish) where we were from, and we told them. I showed them a picture of Max so they could understand that was how we got here. 

They asked if we wanted tea, and we said "yes, please" in Turkish.

I brought up google translate and asked what their game was called. It looked like Rummikub. They said "okay, okay". We laughed, and I wasn't sure they understood the question.

I looked it up later and it turns out that it's a Turkish version of Rummikub and it is in fact called "Okey".

They packed up their game and left. Not sure if we interrupted or what, but they all piled onto a tractor and drove away leaving us with the cafe owner and another guy, neither of whom were very talkative.

We finished our tea, and tried to pay but he wouldn't accept any money.

Ruth, saying hello to a friendly lamb.

Looking back at the village.

Yes, it's a beautiful spot, but we are moving on today. There is more we want to see, and if we stay in one spot we don't see more! We are headed back to the coast by the sea heading east towards the Syria border.

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