Turkey, in terms of water tourism, has a large, and at the same time, very peculiar potential. Turkey's rivers are mainly fed by rainfall and snowmelt. This means that flooding peaks in late winter and early spring. The ideal time to visit and pass rivers in the south of Turkey is in early of April. But as the amount of rain and snow is variable, so are the river levels can vary dramatically during the same time of the year. For the rivers of Northern and Eastern Turkey the best time for rafting is early May.
The historic province of Tao-Klarjeti, which once belonged to neighbouring Georgia, is now in Turkey. Georgia, is now on the territory of Turkey, so there are many monuments of ancient Georgian architecture.
Lake Tortum is also located in this territory, on the way to Ishkhani Cathedral. Tortum Selalesi is a huge lake eight kilometres (five miles) long and one kilometre wide. The lake is "cut" on all sides by mountain cliffs and and was formed by a giant landslide that blocked the northern outlet of the valley. Most likely, this happened towards the end of the last Ice Age, approximately 10,000-15,000 years ago, but some local residents say that their ancestors remember the cataclysm that happened, and are sure that the lake is no more than 250 years old.
The water in the lake, even on a sunny day, has a milky beige, dirty green or boring gray color, so only daredevils swim there, and the local population uses the rocky shore near the village of Balaklky, as well as the end of the peninsula, located eight kilometers to the north, as beaches from the secondary road leading to Yoshk Bank. Near the lake there is a cosy restaurant where you can after a tour of the nearby church, have a nice lunch.
If you drive twelve kilometres north from the turn-off to Jøršk Bank on a minor road, you will be able to get to the lake. Yoshk Bank on a minor road, one reaches the Tortum waterfalls. Turkish Electricity Company (TEK) has built an artificial dam with a turbine on a a natural dam. When you see the hydroelectric power station, you have to turn off on the road marked "Tortum Selalesi". After another kilometre, you will see a large rock with a 48-metre cascade on the left. The spurs of the Ditlu, Aksek and Kara ranges, below the waterfalls, tighten their embrace, thus narrowing the valley and and turning it into a beautiful canyon.
The road along the lake starts to gain altitude, and comes to a small localised pass at 1150 metres. From here there is a wonderful view of the lake - as if the green-coloured water is in a bowl of grey-yellow layered rocks. The colours are all very contrasting. And on the the other side of the pass the river delta, cut into the sandy shore, and the a distant road, along the winding ribbon of the river.
There is a narrow road in front of the hydroelectric power station. It runs along the northern end of the lake, turns left and leads to the waterfalls of Tortum Cayi, from which from which the view is spectacular. This waterfall plunges its waters from a height of fifty meters (164 feet) to shallow waterfalls below. The landslide that created Tortum Golu has also created small lakes surrounded by rock fragments, which hold countless trout. As the water falls. takes large masses of air with it, so that in the crevice below the waterfall. there is always a strong, moist wind.
Tortum Lake and Tortum Falls attract hundreds of tourists every year. The best time to visit the area in the spring, because in the summer the hydroelectric power station takes almost all of the water almost all the water for its needs. In season, the lake is a very popular and crowded place - fishing, catamaran hire, camping, but in summer it is quiet and deserted.
