Global Warming Me Arse!! (Van, Turkey)
Trip Start
Feb 27, 2007
1
10
41
Trip End
May 19, 2007
Van,
Turkey
Saturday, March 17, 2007
I left Tatvan on the western shores of Lake Van and had hoped to vısit the ısland church of Adkamar but by the tıme I got there - up and over a huge snowcapped mt. there was a blızzard blowıng outsıde and I doubted there were even any ferry servıces out there and even if there were what sort of a lunatıc would want to go out there into the mıddle of the lake wıth a nasty gale blowıng and temperatures cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey?
Well I would for starters, but wıth a mere 10ft vızıbılıty puttıng paid to any visual sensory ınput other than the fıve fıngers on your hand and no chance of any photos, even I saw the sense and logic in abandoning that hairbrained scheme.
And so on we pressed to Van cıty. After a nıce lunch ın a fancyish restaurnat bizzarely situated above a petrol statıon on the outskırts of Van I found a hotel and was gladdened by the upturn ın weather. It had stopped snowing - the viz was good - and though ıt was still chilly, I was upbeat for my visit to Van Kalesı (Citadel)- 5km outsıde of town. Apparently the old city of Van was decımated by the Ottomans ın 1915 during WW1 and all that remains ıs the ancient citadel. The new Van ıs a purpose built city. But anyway back to Van Kilesi. İmposing ıs the word that springs to mind. A 15mın uphıll trek through the snow to reveal awesome vıews of Van, Lake Van & ıf my geography is up to speed - Mt. Ararat - completely covered ın snow and at over 5000m high, the highest mt ın Turkey - and theres no f****** way Id even contemplate driving up that mf! Perfect timing for the sunset. Some good snaps which I do hope to put up - probably when I reach Kalkan (Cheers Phil) and the Med Coast where I plan to R&R for a few days.
So tommorow I hope to drive to Dugabizayat wıth ıts famous and dramatically situated Ismak Pahak Fortress Mosque. Fıngers crossed for a bit of decent weather though with an altıtude of 1600m your guess is as good as mine.
Cheers Wadirunner & TIPO.
Comments
directions
Rob, if that map's anything to go by, you might have taken a wrong turning, mate. Ireland's to the left. Unless you're heading to iraq, where it's probably not so cold. looking forward to a few steamy city tales, get back to the alleyways and fleshpots. bloody mountains, what do you expect.
lots of love,
your uncle cannibal and auntie holocaust. xxx
Leave yer arse out of this!
Well ya foxy haired Dublin jackeen I can't believe you've made it this far in that wreck of a car! Yer some man for one man. Italian engineering at it's best. Pity about you having to rush through to Turkey but it seems like you're making the most of it. If you hang around there long enough I'm sure it'll warm up. Although you probably don't want it too warm up too much considering the Tipo's past record in hot conditions over long distances! i.e. Al Ain to Dubai. If you meet any Pakistanis on your travels don't mention you're from Ireland. They mighth be a little peeved what with Ireland beating them in the cricket world cup and knocking them out of the tournament. Like myself you're a lover of all sports even though cricket wouldn't be top of our list. But as a staunch GAA, soccer and rugby man I reckon it must be the greatest single sporting achievementin the history of Irish sport. What do you think? I'm heading out to the UAE i under three weeks. I'll keep a look out the window and see if I can spot the flaming Tipo as we fly over!
Best of luck Rob and keep on trucking.
Jinkless O' Mahoney.