Fifth Journey Day 127: The Wall Listens Sideways

"The Wall Listens Sideways" — austere planes and crossing lines echo Kars’s listening river and wind-scoured stone.

Date: September 12, 2025
Location: Kars, Turkey

In Kars, on the high plateau of northeastern Turkey, the wind keeps company with the Kars River and the city’s dark basalt walls. Today’s walk traced that water—part frontier, part thread—through a landscape of steppe light, fort ruins, and quiet streets that seem to lean toward the current without ever crowding it.

Along the Kars River

Today, I let the river be my first guide in Kars. The water had a gray-blue color and was a little rough in some places, but it was calm in others, especially near the bridges. The breeze off the plateau made the surface shiver, so reflections of sky and stone were constantly changing. As I walked alongside it, I noticed how the city leaned toward the river without clinging to it. The buildings were set back just enough, as if they too were giving it space.

The Stone Bridge and Softened Sound

I stopped at a small bridge and leaned against its stone edge. The sound of water below was both quiet and loud. The water was moving quickly against rocks, and I could feel that sound in my chest. A man passed by with a cart of bread, and the smell of the bread hung in the air for a moment before the wind carried it away. The children's voices sounded far away, barely audible in the open air. Everything seemed to arrive softened, as though distance itself had become part of the sound.

Choosing Stillness Over Sketching

I kept walking until I found a low stretch of wall where I could sit. The river didn't seem to be a boundary; it seemed like a thread that connected the earth and the sky. My sketchbook stayed closed in my bag because today wasn't the right time to draw. It felt more important to let the water's rhythm, the dust in the air, and the silence between sounds move through me without interruption.

A City of Quiet Exposures

Kars feels both exposed and private at once. The plateau is open in every direction, but each corner of the city seems to have something hidden. Maybe that's what I'll remember most from this day: feeling like I'm being watched by stone, but being able to walk through it without making a sound. Tonight, I feel empty in a good way. It's as if the river has already begun to take what I no longer need.

Travel Notes

• Weather: Cool around 15°C; pale blue sky thinned by high cloud; a steady, dry plateau breeze that put a faint ripple on the river and a trace of dust in the air.
• Scents: Fresh bread drifting from a passing cart; clean stone and river-mineral notes carried by the wind.
• Sounds: Water both hushed and insistent against rocks; children’s voices arriving from far off; wind softening the city’s edges.
• Reflection: The river felt less like a border and more like a listening line—taking what was no longer needed and leaving room for quiet.

Continue the Journey

If this day’s hush spoke to you, you may also enjoy another moment from the same country—Market Fragments in Istanbul: Fourth Journey Day 157.