When I woke up, I parted the curtains in my
hotel room to let in some light. I was greeted by this beautiful view of Mount
Ararat:
After breakfast, we took a short bus ride up a steep
mountain to visit Ishak Pasha Sarayı, an Ottoman Palace named after Ishak Pasha.
‘Pasha’ was an Ottoman title of nobility, so Ishak Pasha translates to English
as Lord Isaac. Who knew I had a whole palace named after me? We hiked up a nearby hill for a magnificent view of the palace set against the city of Doğubeyazıt extending across the lowlands with white mountain peaks stretching to the sky on the other side of the valley.
The palace had a certain simplistic beauty to it; the walls
were constructed of sandstone blocks and the only decorative features were
modest Ottoman designs carved into the arches above the doorways. Many of the
other sites we visited had paintings lining the interior and gilded ornaments
dotting the walls and ceilings, so I found Ishak Pasha refreshingly sparse.
After touring Ishak Pasha, we regrouped and headed to Lake
Van, Turkey’s largest lake. I had a tasty lamb kebab for lunch and then we
drove to Van Castle. The castle is built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the
lake. We climbed up to the castle around 6pm and hung around for the sunset. Alican,
one of our program assistants, had carted a few bottles of wine and some cheese
up to the castle, so we sat sipping wine and nibbling cheese as the sun descended
over Lake Van. It was a clear evening, affording us a perfectly unobstructed
sunset.
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| Van Castle |
A few other pictures from the day:
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