Day 25 - Don Curry charters an excursion boat

Don Curry has gained a lot of travel experience. He knows that there are always unforeseen problems that need to be solved. Sometimes he can rely on proven solutions, sometimes the solution needs to be created on site. It can almost always be found.

During breakfast, the only problem was deciding what to choose from the abundant selection. There was another buffet with self-service, and only an employee was serving at the omelette station, preparing the eggs as desired and serving them at the table. The city of Van is nationally famous for its great breakfast restaurants with an extensive selection. Of course, the Ramada Hotel also has to try to keep up. There were at least 10 types of cheese, raw broccoli florets in the vegetable section, Brussels sprouts, and a mushroom-pepper salad in addition, as well as fried onion rings, fries, chicken schnitzel, and pieces of a quiche-like dish.

His main destination was the Armenian Church of the Holy Cross, which is one of the best-preserved Armenian churches in the country after careful restoration. However, visiting it posed a problem - it is located on an island in Lake Van. But there is a well-signposted boat harbor on the coast with a dozen excursion boats for up to 50 people each, just waiting to take art-loving visitors to the island church. When Don Curry parked at the harbor, he asked at the boat office when the next ship would leave for the island. The answer was, "As soon as there are 20 to 30 visitors who can be transported together." Since Don Curry was the only visitor at this time, he must have looked quite doubtful. "They come together quickly. He just has to wait a bit." Don Curry waited. In fact, a couple appeared after about 10 minutes who also wanted to go to the island. After that, nothing happened for a long time, until the couple gave up and disappeared after 30 minutes of waiting. When Don Curry had spent almost 60 minutes in the harbor without getting even an inch closer to his destination, he went back to the office and asked about other options for getting to the island. He could pay for a whole boat; that would be 250 lira (equivalent to 23 €). This was probably meant half-jokingly, but Don Curry immediately said, "Ok!", took out the requested banknotes, and was taken to a particularly large boat that he now had all to himself. Also on the island, he quickly realized that he would be the only visitor. The two ticket sellers were quite irritated that Don Curry had crossed over all by himself, but the captain explained the situation to them, and they all smiled. Don Curry also paid €3.50 admission for the church and was able to take photos outside and inside undisturbed. It was only 40 minutes later that another boat reached the island, but by then Don Curry had already completed his extensive tour and explored some more of the rest of the island, which is inhabited by numerous rabbits. He then sailed back to the harbor on his 'own' boat, thanked the captain, and was able to continue to the next destination.

Twenty kilometers away, near the Kurdish village of Altinsac, another Armenian church from the Middle Ages rises up. When Don Curry turned into the access road, he unexpectedly ended up at a military checkpoint and was asked by the heavily armed soldiers where he was going. When he identified himself as a tourist from Germany, he received permission to continue. The road led beautifully along the lake shore, and although it was a dirt road, it was relatively easy to drive. However, five kilometers before reaching the church, Don Curry had to turn onto a rough dirt road that climbed steeply uphill. As the Insignia kept slipping and the tires had poor traction on the first hundred meters, he turned around. This route could probably only be managed by all-wheel drive vehicles, not by a sluggish sedan with worn-out tires.

Don Curry had better luck at the next destination, a fortress of the Urartians near Cavustepe. In the 8th century BC, this mysterious people built several mountain fortresses of extraordinary quality. The individual stone blocks of their walls were fitted so precisely that they almost look like standardized products of our modern times. In addition to magnificent views of the surrounding area, the elongated fortress on the mountain ridge also had some stones with inscriptions in the Urartian language and their own cuneiform script.

Don Curry continued driving south towards the Iranian border when suddenly a knight's castle appeared on a hill in the distance, the Kurdish fortress of Hosap, another destination for today. In the parking lot in front of the castle, he met Mohammed, a teenager who approached him curiously but only knew 4 to 5 English words. Nevertheless, he accompanied Don Curry to the castle gate, which was unfortunately closed. Mohammed probably tried to explain to him that there was a key holder somewhere in the village, but Don Curry couldn't really understand his constantly repeated hints. The low position of the sun also indicated that it was time to head back home. Don Curry used the soft evening light to take some pictures of the magnificent mountain scenery around Van; he scratched another Armenian church off his itinerary because he wouldn't be able to reach it before sunset.

Since he definitely didn't want to eat at the boring hotel restaurant again, he made a quick stop at a pide place and had a pide baked for himself. The menu only showed pictures, so Don Curry had no idea what filling he would get; it turned out to be a very spicy lamb minced meat with various vegetables, along with a fresh salad and a rather sour chili paste. All together, it cost him €2.50.

This way, the regular problem of dinner was elegantly solved. And Don Curry eagerly awaited the unpredictable situations that the coming day would confront him with. There was almost always a solution...