Take a stroll: Frozen Lake Çıldır awaits visitors in NE Turkey

Between December and March when the ice is sufficiently thick, 19-year-old Orhan Göller, who lives by Lake Çıldır, introduces tourists to his region. The lake is one of the biggest in Anatolia, on the border with Georgia.

Tourists and guides walk on the ice of Lake Çıldır at sunset, in the Cildir district of Kars province, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

Tourists enjoy a horse-drawn sleigh ride on the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

Tourists jump as they pose for a photograph on the ice of Lake Çıldır in the Cildir district of Kars province, Jan. 8, 2022.

A horse-drawn sleigh waits on the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

A tourist walks on the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

Turkish vendors sell tea on the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

Tourists walk on the snow-covered banks of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

Orhan Göller poses as he throws a fish in the air past his fishing net in a hole in the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

Tourists walk on the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

Orhan Göller drives a horse-drawn sleigh on the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

A horse-drawn sleigh glides on the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

A horse-drawn sleigh travels on the ice of Lake Çıldır at sunset at Çıldır District, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

Tourists stand next to a horse-drawn sleigh on the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

A horse-drawn sleigh travels on the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

Tourists walk on the ice of Lake Çıldır, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.

A horse-drawn sleigh travels on the ice of Lake Çıldır at sunset, in Kars, Turkey, Jan. 8, 2022.