Tekin Hotel Van

... as though the smoke was movıng behıng thıs huge black mass. There ıs no buıldıng that tall ın that dırectıon and ıf there was I would not have a clear vıew of the mountaın. It could be a spotlıght doıng thıs but there was at least a lıghter shade of smoke can be seen where the 'mass' ıs. It contınued for about half an hour and then the mass dıssapeared and I could see ...

... started in the 13th century BC, when the kingdom of Urartu (Ararat in the Bible) set up its capital here, so there should be enough to see in and around the city for our 4 days there, but the trouble was, not all the places where we wanted to go are readily accessible. Public transportation to areas outside the city is spotty at best, since locals do not travel a lot, and there is only a small number of outside visitors in ...

... dingy alley cat, which I got to face my camera by goading it into clawing my hand and biting my knuckles.<br><br>The carpet seller guy had suggested I go to the Kampus of the local university. I don't know why there, but, ok, it was the only clue I had. So I got a mini-bus and headed went out to the far-out-of-town campus. <br><br>I forget the name of the university. But the campus seemed a lot like other university campuses I have seen in Turkey. A vast space ...

... left at 11pm that night &#8211; a 9 hour wait! That left us with no choice but to return to the main road and wait for the next bus bound for Van.<br><br>(Sim)<br><br>As we left Diyanbakir the land was dry, barren and rather nondescript. Seven hours later, as the first siting of the lake came into view, the scenery had changed dramatically. Rolling green hills and sharp craggy mountains (with a few still snow capped) surrounded the enormous glistening blue lake. Wild ...

What a fabulous lunch (see above) and an even better greeting and hospitality from the camp site staff. After lunch we travel on the local ferry (opposite site) to Aktamar Island, where we visit and learn about the small but perfectly engraved church (see photo). Lake Van is beautiful, blue blue water, pretty flowers growing around it, calm and very large.

... by earthquakes, sometimes bending them and stretching them into long strange peaks and canyons. We drove along Lake Van and around the mountains before turning south and stopping outside the town of Hosap to camp for the night. There was a strong military presence because we were only 100km from the Iraq border. The night got very cold very ...

I woke up at 7 am. The plan was to wait until 10 am to try to pass the military checkpoint again. I dont know why they picked 10 am as a good time. I imagined that a new crew of soldiers would have started before then. But I am sure there was a good reason. Perhaps the earliest bus from Iran left the border at 9 am. If we went too early to the checkpoint, they would question us. So getting to the checkpoint at 10 am would not raise any suspicions. Or ...

I woke up from my "bed" (mattress on the floor) at 730 so I could get ready for my journey back to Turkey. I went to use the squat toilet and then had a nice Iranian breakfast that Ali prepared. Yes, this is how traveling in Iran is like. Ali Reza and Ali then took me to the bus station. It was nice of them to see me off. Unfortunately the bus station was closed. We knew it was a religious holiday but we didn't think that the bus station would be closed. So I had no ...

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... to find 'the illegal histories.' Besides paying for a load of our laundry (without us knowing) and taking us out to dinner, he offered us black market gas (but we're using LPG, which is cheaper, so we couldn't use it anyway.) Apparently his uncle smuggles petrol. The whole village in which his uncle lives travels on horseback, 70-100 horses, to the Iranian border (about 20 minutes away) and brings back the cheap ...