Day 26 - Don Curry at the goal

Don Curry almost always plans his trips as round trips. The starting and ending points are the same. Therefore, there is actually no real destination that needs to be reached at the end of the journey. The journey consists of constantly changing stage goals that are equally arranged. And yet, during his trip to Russia, Don Curry chose one of the many stage goals as a symbolic goal of the entire trip; in that case, it was the White Sea. On his trip this year, his main goal was a mountain, and Don Curry was supposed to reach it today.

But first, he had to enjoy a mountain of delicacies from the breakfast buffet at the Ramada hotel. When Don Curry wanted to pay the hotel bill at check-out, the porter said it was already taken care of. Don Curry was a bit puzzled, but maybe the hotel had already charged the amount to his credit card.

From Van, he drove north, along the shore of the huge lake for a long time. There is another fortress of the Kingdom of Urartu on a hill right by the lake. The Urartians always chose places that allowed wide views in all directions in order to completely control the area. When Don Curry had finally climbed the hill of Ayanis, he saw a whole team of archaeologists and their staff conducting further excavations on the fortress grounds. Unfortunately, this meant that a part of the site was inaccessible to him, including the ruins of the main temple. Instead, Don Curry soaked in the breathtaking view over Lake Van and began his descent.

The next stop held quite a surprise for Don Curry. He had read about a waterfall near the town of Muradiye, but he didn't expect much in this dry, almost desert-like high plain. Nevertheless, a lot of tourist infrastructure had settled here, from souvenir shops to restaurants and even a parking lot attendant who first collected money. You could cross to the other bank of the river via a swaying suspension bridge to get a better view of the waterfall. The sound of the rushing water sounded promising to Don Curry. Then he stood in front of a mighty, wide waterfall surrounded by autumn trees that left him amazed. Of course, it wasn't the Victoria Falls, but it exceeded Don Curry's expectations.

He continued driving north, more specifically northeast. He was slowly getting closer to his destination. The travel guides reported that it is usually only visible in the early morning and disappears behind haze and clouds later on. It was already past noon. When Don Curry maneuvered around a curve, he suddenly stood in front of it - in all its splendor, sparkling in the sun: Mount Ararat. It is considered the Holy Mountain of the Armenians, but today it is located in the tri-border area of Armenia, Iran, and Turkey on Turkish territory. At first, Don Curry could still see it towering behind other mountain ranges, but as he drove into the plateau in front of the 5137m high mountain, he could fully admire the majestic shape of the snow-covered volcano. What a sight!

However, he was heading towards another destination through the city of Dogubeyazit at the foot of Ararat, which can be called almost as spectacular: the Ishak Pasha Palace, which was built by an Ottoman regional prince in the late 17th century into a breathtaking mountainous landscape, very close to the medieval fortress. Although this architecturally unique building has suffered heavily from battles and earthquakes and has almost completely lost its roof, it still bears witness to Oriental splendor and the former pride of its inhabitants. A modern glass roof now protects the premises from rain and excessive sunlight without spoiling the appearance of the palace too much. Don Curry would have liked to explore the fortress and some burial monuments in the surrounding area, but he had to continue. It was already clear that he would once again reach his hotel in the dark.

During the drive, he kept the Ararat in sight for a long time, but then it was time to say goodbye and drive about 180 km further northeast. As soon as the sun had set, the temperature gauge of the car dropped rapidly. Don Curry arrived in Kars at 4°C, one of the most remote cities in Anatolia, just before the Armenian border. At the end of the 19th century, the city belonged to the Russian Empire for several decades. The completely untypical for Turkish conditions absolutely orderly layout of the streets still preserves this heritage today. In addition, numerous buildings from the Russian period have survived, most of which were built with black basalt stone and have a sturdy character.

The Hotel Cheltikov was such a building, which had probably served as a hotel even during the time of the tsars. In addition to the black stones, the antique furniture made of dark wood almost created a sense of unease. When Don Curry entered his well-heated room, he noticed that the only tiny window of the room was positioned at a height of 3m. A ladder made of dark wood was available to open the window at all. Only on the top step of the ladder could Don Curry catch a glimpse of the dark city of Kars.

Despite the cold, Don Curry set off towards the city center. Just 300m from his hotel, the impressive castle of Kars rises, and at its feet are other historical buildings such as an old bridge, an Armenian church, and several mosques and hammams. Restaurants are also lined up here. Don Curry randomly chose one and found himself in an apartment where two rooms were used as guest rooms for the restaurant, with a kitchen and pantry next door. Since the menu was only available in Turkish, the host asked a guest at a neighboring table for translation help. With his assistance, Don Curry was able to order a vegetable soup and the specialty of the city of Kars: goose! Of course, the host also served various salads and pastes, and Don Curry was even able to order a beer. He was then served a goose shoulder blade with wing on a bed of savory bulgur as "goose". The meat, which had to be fought off the bones, turned out to be quite tasty. However, special delicacies are also expensive in Anatolia: Don Curry paid €14 for his filling meal.

Afterwards, he hurried back to the hotel. The thermometer showed 1°C. The warm room made him forget about that quickly, and the thought that he could actually reach his destination. He had seen Mount Ararat - in all its splendor!