Sleighs
Horse-drawn.
Erkan Karagöz — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kangal3632 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kangal3632 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Linda M Caldwell — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Altug Doganlarlioglu — CC BY-SA 4.0
Lake Çıldır is a large freshwater lake in the provinces of Ardahan and Kars in northeastern Turkey, close to the borders with Georgia and Armenia, about 52 km north of Kars in a straight line. The lake lies at about 1,959 metres amid mountains, covers 123 square kilometres and is up to about 42 metres deep. Its Georgian name means «lake of shadows». Its water is used for irrigation, and the area around it lives from livestock, as vegetation is sparse and farming almost absent at this height and cold. The wide blue lake stretches between bare grassy plateaus and distant mountains, with flocks of sheep grazing its shores. In winter the lake freezes completely into a vast white surface crossed by horse-drawn sleighs, while fishermen fish through holes in the ice. Visitors come in winter to ride horse-drawn sleighs on the ice and watch traditional ice fishing. In summer the lake is a quiet place for an outing; winters are bitterly cold, so dress warmly.
Horse-drawn.
Traditional.
Flocks of sheep.
Çıldır, Ardahan, Turkey
January and February for the ice.
Very warm clothes.