Turkey: Van, Doğubeyazıt, Kars

Spring Break Day Nine (continued from part eight)

The next day I woke up early, since I wanted to make sure I had ample time for travel. I had breakfast at the hotel, strangely enough consisting of olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, and tea. I met another tourist there, coincidentally another American. He was a former Navy corpsman and was traveling all across Turkey, so we talked for awhile about the interesting things we'd seen.

Because of my ATM dilemma, I wanted to make sure I bought a plane ticket back to Istanbul before I spent any more money. The airlines office had to get a shopkeeper from next door to translate English for me. I could barely understand what he said, but everyone was friendly enough and I had a ticket back to Istanbul two days in advance.

After checking out of the hotel, I walked over to the bus station and bought a ticket to Doğubeyazıt for 15 lira (less than $10 USD). There were two French tourists on the bus also, but the rest were local Kurds. The trip to Doğubeyazıt was about two hours, but the ride was incredible and was an attraction in itself. It passed first along the shores of Lake Van and then through remote highways on brown plains. Occasionally we would pass through a small village or see farmers working in their fields, but for the most part it was remote and undeveloped. There was a heavily-fortified checkpoint manned by Turkish Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı, but they didn't inspect passengers, only the bus driver.

The road to Doğubeyazıt, with Lake Van in the background.






We passed very close to the Iranian border.


I arrived in Doğubeyazıt around noon. Doğubeyazıt is a Kurdish town with only a few thousand people. It seemed to be much poorer and more agricultural than Van. I wasn't sure at that point whether I was going to stay there that night or go somewhere else, but after I got off the bus a man approached me and began speaking in English to me. He said he could take me to Kars that afternoon for 25 lira if I wanted. He also told me to open my guidebook to the Kars page to find his name listed as the town's best tour guide, and sure enough, it was there. That sounded good to me.

I walked around the main street Doğubeyazıt for a bit, though there wasn't really anything I could visit. However, I was there to see the palace, so I took a taxi to the summit, which is about 5km off the main road.

Along the way to the palace is a large Turkish military base, and I noticed at least twenty armored tanks parked there. Doğubeyazıt is only a few minutes away from the Iranian border, and apparently there have been troubles in recent years with drug smuggling into Turkey. Additionally, much of Kurdistan was not suitable for tourism until the late 1990s, since PKK, a Kurdish separatist group, had been known for committing terrorist acts in the area. The Turkish military had since increased its presence in the region and the PKK presence is no longer a threat. Although I felt safe while traveling, I did feel there was a considerable amount of tension in the region.

At the top of the mountain outside of Doğubeyazıt lies İshak Paşa Sarayı, a partly-ruined Ottoman palace from the 18th century. The scenery atop the mountain is spectacular, and ranks as one of the best things I've ever visited. Unfortunately the top floor was closed for restoration, but you could still see good views from the ground floor. The palace was divided up into many rooms - courtyards, a kitchen, a mosque, a hammam (thermal bathroom), a library, basement, and dungeon. The architecture is pretty bizarre, looking like a cross of a fortress and an ugly mosque.

The weather on the mountain was cold and damp, somewhere between a drizzle and light flurries.

The various sections of the palace.








The mountains around the palace.







At the palace, I met the same tour guide, and he said he could take me back to Doğubeyazıt before we left for Kars. He had transported two Spanish guys and two Australian guys from Kars that day, and they were going to Van later. We all had lunch together at a very strange restaurant in Doğubeyazıt which was decorated in a Hawaiian style. After lunch we parted ways, and the tour guide, Celil (pronounced jeleel), took me to a carpet shop, which was the meet up point for the Kars trip. Waiting there were three other tourists: a German couple, both doctoral students, and an Italian guy, who was an undergraduate in Rome.

Street in Doğubeyazıt.


The five of us left Doğubeyazıt around 2pm on the road to Kars. Strange as it sounds, the road to Kars was the best part of my spring break. The scenery was among the best I've ever seen in my life, and every so often we would stop along the road, and our tour guide would explain the local area and its geography.

Along the road to Kars.





From the road we could see Mount Ararat, the largest mountain in Turkey, and what is believed to be the location of Noah's Ark. Because of PKK troubles, the mountain is off-limits for visit unless you obtain a climbing permit in advance. Not many people have climbed it, and apparently many of the locals consider it impossible and sacrilegious to climb it. From Doğubeyazıt you cannot see the top of the mountain because of cloud cover, but as you get further away from Doğubeyazıt the summit becomes visible.

We made a stop at this place not far from Doğubeyazıt called Iğdir. Celil had to meet a friend for something. It was a depressing little town with nothing going for it. We weren't there long.

Break in Iğdir.


The road from Iğdir to Kars passes across the intersection of three continental plates - the Eastern European, the Anatolian, and the Asian. Celil showed us exactly where the divides were, which explains the reason the region is prone to serious earthquakes.

We passed by a Turkish wedding along the way. I had heard about them, but I figured the chances of actually seeing one was slim - I was wrong. We stopped for a second to observe. It was a bit strange. The wedding was essentially a group of people on the side of the road with some music and some dancing.

At one point, we stopped on the side of the road to take pictures and for an explanation of the area. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia maintained military bases in Armenia, which are still manned today. The Turkish-Armenian border has been closed for many years, so the area is very sensitive. While we were taking pictures, a group of Turkish soldiers came up behind us and told us we had to leave. They were friendly about it, but they had certain border agreement they had to enforce.

We passed through two fortified checkpoints along the road to Kars and it was noted that there were foreigners visiting the region, but they didn't have us present our passports. Celil had to show his driver's license, though.

More along the road to Kars.





Near the Armenian border overlooking a Russian military base.




We arrived in Kars at around 4:30pm and the first reaction from all of us was that it felt like we were in Russia. I had never been to Russia before, but the Germans had, and they said it reminded them of Moscow. It turns out that Kars was under Soviet rule briefly after World War I. Kars is a small city of about 130,000 people, mostly Kurdish. The streets were wide and arranged in a grid pattern, and most of the buildings were plain stone structures with thick fences. Perhaps the most ominous thing was the statue of Atatürk outside the former military barracks. It could have been replaced with a statue of Stalin and it would have looked normal.

Celil helped us locate a place called the Güngüren Oteli. It was a clean place and I was able to secure a double room for 30 lira per night. Even here the Soviet architecture was striking. In the lobby, a bunch of men smoked cigarettes and watched television, while a small bust of Atatürk loomed in the background.

My concern was getting back to Van for my flight on Tuesday morning. I found out it would be difficult to get a ride back to Van unless I left early the next day, which would mean I wouldn't get to visit Ani. Celil called up the Turkish Airlines office and helped me moved my ticket depature from Van to Kars. That was convenient.

Soon after, I went out to dinner with the Germans and the Italian to a restaurant on the edge of the city. Again, in the Soviet style, the restaurant was much larger than it needed to be, and we were the only ones in there for most of the time. The staff spoke little English, but they were exceedingly friendly and were excited to have us there.

Near the restaurant in Kars.


I ventured into an Internet cafe for a bit before making my way back into the hotel. At night, Kars was freezing. It was funny to think only a few days ago I was burning up near the Dead Sea in Jordan, and here I was fighting to stay warm.

Overall, it was a tremendous day of visiting, and was exactly what I wanted to do. Celil offered to take us to the ruins at Ani the next day, so we agreed to meet in the hotel lobby at 9am.