As I mentioned previously, our trip to Van required us to change once again in Diyarbakir. The transit from Mardin to Van only confirmed that we had made the right decision not to spend time in Diyarbakir. Unfortunately, the dolmuş we took did not go to the main bus terminal in Diyarbakir. Instead, it arrived at another, smaller, dolmuş stop about 10 minutes driving from the bus terminal. Just as before, there were many small, parentless children (much like India as I described before). Furthermore, we did not arrive there until around sunset. We asked how to get to the main bus terminal and a guy offered to help us.
His voice was raspy and he seemed a bit sketchy. I felt very uncomfortable with the situation, but because I could not speak Turkish it was completely out of my hands. He took us to a taxi and we got in (the guy was sitting in the front with the 4 of us crammed in the back seat). The taxi took us through the streets of Diyarbakir in the dark. There was eerie sense about the place and I did not like it. When we arrived at the bus terminal, the guy we paid. The guy taking us did not offer to help pay for his portion or anything. So basically, this guy took advantage of us as tourists and got himself a free taxi ride. The taxi also charged us more than we originally understood we would be charged. I was pissed and felt like we had been screwed, but at the same time I was happy to be safely inside the bus terminal. We ate dinner and waited for our 9pm bus direct to Van (the bus ride to Van is supposed to take 7 hours through the mountains so it was an overnight bus).
The roads across the mountains were incredibly bad. They were basically all dirt and gravel and the bus could not go much faster than about 10 MPH. Furthermore, once we got up into the really high elevations, there was still blotches of snow on the ground, requiring the bus to be especially careful. These mountains were also dangerous because they are known as hiding places for the PKK. In fact, at 2AM Elif noticed some Turkish soldiers walking along the side of the road and into the woods. The next morning, we had heard word that a large PKK bust had taken place the previous evening in the mountains to the west of Van. So basically, we witnessed the bust as it was happening, which is kinda ridiculous!
The next morning we arrived in Van at a very early 4am. We found the Bayram Hotel very close to where the bus let us off and decided to set up camp there for fairly cheap. Once we checked into our rooms, we decided it would be a good idea to take a little nap (one is awfully tired after a long bus ride). The plan was to sleep until 8 or so so we had the full day to really enjoy Van. However, we ended up sleeping until 10 instead. Oops? Actually, Sonya and I woke up before Emily and Elif and we made our way down to the local museum in Van which featured several exhibits on the Urartians. Unfortunately, not all of the descriptions were in English but what can ya do?
After getting up, we went to a traditional Van breakfast. Van is famous for its breakfast which consisted of several types of cheese, bread, cucumbers and tomatoes (like any Turkish breakfast), butter, eggs, sausage, various types of jelly, home made honey, olives, and of course Turkish tea. It was delicious! :) (See pictures)
After our late breakfast, we decided to make our way towards Akdamar Island, a famous island situated in the southern portion of Lake Van. To get there, we had to take a dolmuş to the southern part of the lake (Van is on the eastern side). One interesting fact about the dolmuşes in Turkey is that they perform many functions. In addition to just carrying passengers, they can also carry newspapers, mail, and other sorts of items that need to be delivered. All of these things of course come at a price, and the driver maximizes his profit. Well, on our way to the ferry, we stopped in a small town and picked up some passengers. These passengers happened to be three live chicken! What's more...they took the chickens and held them upside down to paralyze them and tied them together so there was no cage! It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. The drive just took them and tossed them into the back of the Van in front of us like it was nothing! They just sat on the floor board (see pictures)!
So after our little joyride we made it to the ferry and waited along the shoreline to be taken to Akdamar. Surprisingly, we met a guy who was there to visit Akdamar with his girlfriend. The surprising part was that he knew English and I struck a conversation with him in English. He asked if we knew the story of Akdamar Island and we did not, so he told us. The short version is that a woman was living on the island and in love with this man and so after her husband would sleep, he would swim to the island and meet her (with her shining a light to guide him). One day the king found out and turned off the light, allowing him to drown in the water. As a result she also killed herself out of grief. This is not exact but it goes something like that. We also got some general info about the area and where we could go. Elif particularly appreciated me getting this info because she was beyond tired of translating.
We spent the better part of the afternoon enjoying the island. In the center of the island was a beautiful abandoned Armenian church built before the year 1000. The outside has depictions from Adam and Eve carved on it. It was beautiful. The real treat in my opinion was the scenery of the island itself. Because the island is in the higher altitudes of the mountains in Eastern Turkey, spring was in full swing by the end of April. The temperature was in the upper 60s and flowers were blooming. Additionally, surrounding the lake were picturesque snow covered mountains. The island itself had a couple of rock faces, giving it a bit of varied geography. Covering the island was green grass. I would rank this place in the top 5 most beautiful places I have ever seen. Whats more, it was not crowded at all, making it absolutely perfect! Please see the pictures on the right to get a fuller appreciation of what I am saying about this.
After spending part of the afternoon at the lake we made our way back to Van. Unfortunately, the dolmus we wanted to take was waiting too long. He kept waiting for more people and we told him we wanted to go (we had been waiting for an hour). When a large bus on the way to Van passed by, we flagged it down and they took us to Van for a small fee of 5 TL (same price as the dolmus). The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around Van. There was some really neat shops there. This is where I bought the kacak cay (illegal tea)! :) We also walked around in these shops under the street and I took a picture of this advertisement where they showed a woman with a red headscarf on and red panties. I though the display together was ironic. Maybe guys get excited if there is a matching headscarf to go with the panties? I also thought putting them on the same manikin had to go against some kind of Islamic law. Oh well.
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