Van: Day 2

Saturday was to be our long day. We drove northeast along the edge of Lake Van, headed toward Ishak Pasha Sarayi, not far from Mt. Ararat. The scenery was stunning and there were sheep everywhere. Apparently, livestock was a very big part of the economy until the fighting broke out between the Turkish army and the Kurds. It's referred to as a war, actually. It sent thousands of Kurdish refugees into the cities, particularly those of eastern and southeastern Turkey. This particular shepherd had been a long-haul trucker before retiring to his farm. He actually invited us to come to his house to drink tea, but we had to get back on the road. This wasn't the last stop we made to take pictures of sheep.

Our first stop was Muradiye Falls. As it's prime snow melt time, they were really roaring. Actually, we stopped a bit earlier at a much small water fall, really water rushing through a gorge and under a bridge. It was here I spotted what I think was a White Wagtail.



From the falls to Caldiran, locate on the edge of a beautiful plain ringed with mountains. Actually the plain is famous for a very famous battle that took place between the Persians (speciffically the Shafavid Dynasty) and the Ottomans in 1514. The Ottomans beat the Persians decisively, thereby gaining control over Eastern Anatolia. We stopped there for tea -- tea breaks are very Turkish. Actually, it was good to get out of the car. There was some sort of celebration going on -- political in nature, but we never did find out exactly what it was. Then we drove across a pass. For what seemed like quite a while we drove through lava beds that reminded me of the Malpais in New Mexico. As we went over the pass we got a good view of the volcano Mt. Tenduerek. It was beautifully clear. Interestingly, when we drove back later that afternoon we encountered snow flurries.

As we came down from the pass, there was a view of Mr. Ararat across the valley. Unfortunately, all we could see was the base of the mountain. However, living with the comings and goings of Mr. Rainier, I'm used to that. We drove on the the Iranian border crossing where we got a look at Little Mt. Ararat.

Little Mt. Ararat. The Big Mr. Ararat is to the left, mostly hidden in the clouds.

Turkish and Iranian flags at the border.

This is probably as close as I will get to Iran. If you click on the picture and look in front of the red bus, you'll see the face of an Ayatolla -- they said Khomeini but I don't think that's correct. Actually, one of the reasons we made the trip right to the border was to get into the Duty Free Shop. In theory, on those who have come across from Iran and not yet passed the last Turkish checkpoint can shop there. However, our guards drove right around the checkpoint. Unfortunately, "we" weren't able to buy anything, because the person on duty said they were being watched for just such activities. I use the term because it was really our guides who wanted to pick up some stuff from that store.

From the border we drove back to Isak Pasha Sarayi (castle). They have just finished a major renovation. Sadly, the Russians burned it during the First World War. The portal was gold plated -- and is now on display in the Hermitage. They also took all the books out of the library. Since the roof burn, the castle was exposed to the elements until fairly recently. As you can see from the photo below, they have built raised roofs with clerestory windows over the exposed areas. These window let in a lot of light.

Isak Pasha Sarayi from above

The castle isn't that old, by Turkish standards. It was built in 1785 and not completed until sometime in the 19th century. The builder, Isak Pasha, was a local chieftan of either Kurdish, Armenian or Georgian decent. Actually this was more of a residence than military installation. The Russians burned the castle during the First World War. The portal was gold plated and can now be viewed in the hermitage. And the took all the books from the library as well. Don't know where they are.

The dining room in the palace. Notice the roof. It really does let in a lot of light without distracting. Very nice approach to the restoration.

One of the fourteen bedrooms, each with its own fireplace and fabulous view of the valley below

Of course, Isak Pasha was not the first to build on this site with its strategic location the silk road. Across a small gully from the palace you can see a mosque built by Selim II, who defeated the Persians in the decisive battle at Chaldiran. You an also see the remains of a Urartian fortification.

After what had been a long day, we had a late lunch in Dogubeyazit. They had regular tables but we chose Turkish style. One of our guides said he had just such a table at his house.

Driving back to Van we spotted this next from the road. We drove into the village and sure enough, there was a stork in it. What fun.

Almost back to Van we stopped at a place where you could by salt "distilled" from local water. It turned out the proprietor was busy grilling pearl mullet, a kind of fish that lives only in Lake Van. It was quite tasty. It turns out to be pearl mullet season. One of our guides had stopped and purchased some for his father from a roadside merchant.


Our last stop for the day was Van Castle. The original Old Van was on the back side. It was razed by the Ottomans during World War I, ostensibly to keep the Russians from getting it. Actually, the poor city had changed hands between them several times. I always feel sorry for the citizens when empires clash.


This is one of the gates into the old city through what remains of the original wall. In the background is one of two remaining mosques. This one has been painstakingly restored. The other is locked up and is apparently just a shell.


On the right you see all that remains of what was once an Armenian church. I have been told that "Van" means city in Armenian. The Van basin was the center of an Armenian dynasty, the Atzruni dynasty. At the time of its demise, this walled city housed about 80,000 people; the rest of the population lived on farms and orchards outside the walls. It must have been lovely.



My artistic picture, a ray from the sun setting over Lake Van -- taken from the portico of the restored mosque. A great way to finish a great day.