Gallivanting Grandma

August 20th – Friday

This is our last morning in Anatolia.  Our time in Eastern Turkey has passed quickly and we were all full of happy and emotional memories. Chris and Francoise got up early and went swimming in the pool.  Roseanne actually went for a swim in Lake Van.   She said that the water was warm and felt slippery.  Later, Chris took a photo of a water snake with a fish in its mouth in the lake just off the dock. Of course, the photo was the hit of the morning.  Jamal called the manager of the hotel to see the photo.  Everyone had said there no snakes in Lake Van.

We all had a good farewell breakfast by the pool.  The sun was shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky, and the day was warming up.  We were all packed up and ready to go to catch our 10 AM flight back to Istanbul. We said our goodbyes to the Zeronians, and Jamal, and Setanik. Selcuk drove us to the airport and Armen accompanied us. We said our final farewells and took the Turkish Air flight back to Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.

It was a quick three hour flight back to Istanbul and the White House Hotel car was waiting for us to whisk us back to our lovely home away from home. What a trip!!!  It had been an unforgettable journey that all of us will remember for the rest of our lives.

Our friends at the White House greeted us like family members home from a vacation. We checked into our rooms, freshened up and went out for last minute sight-seeing in Istanbul. Chris went to explore a section of Istanbul that he did not see before and the Dolmabahce Palace.

The rest of us took the tram and the funicular up to Taxim Square.  Claudine and Astrig wanted to get some Turkish Delights for their friends. Nicole, Francoise, and Roseanne wanted to return to the pedestrian street, Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Street) to purchase some last minute gifts to take home.  In the evening, Chris caught up with us and we had a last Turkish dinner together near the White House Hotel.

August 21 Saturday

In the morning Chris, Claudine, and Astrig left at 9 o’clock to catch their planes home. We had a nice breakfast with them before the car picked them up for the ride to Ataturk Airport.   A little later, Francoise and Nicole came down for breakfast and then we all walked to Topkapi Palace for a quick last few minutes of sight seeing.  Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel and said our good-byes to Nicole and Francoise and they left for their flights back to France.

It was still early in the afternoon so Roseanne and I decided to go the Spice Bazaar to look around and do some shopping. We walked through the fascinating little streets and alleyways of Istanbul.  Unfortunately, I started to feel sick and I thought I had the Sultan’s Revenge, so we had to take it easy and we took the tram back to the hotel.   I rested for a couple of hours and felt better later.  Later in the evening, Roseanne and I walked to the main street to pick up a small snack.  I was feeling well enough to walk around but still couldn’t eat.  We returned to the White House Hotel and sat for a while  in the lobby and talked to Cefir.  It was a quiet, relaxing end to a very busy day.

August 19^th Thursday

Breakfast the next morning was on the patio of the hotel along Lake Van. I had difficulty sleeping last night because there was no air conditioning and the room was very hot. I tried to open the window but the noise from the nearby road kept waking me up as cars whizzed by until the early hours of the morning.

It was a warm brilliant morning and the sunlight reflected brightly on the lake. I was tired but energized by the idea of being in Van. I’m pretty sure that my grandparents had never visited the famous lake, although they probably knew about it. They never mentioned it in conversations with me when I was young. Also, transportation from Sebastia to Van would have been very difficult for them a hundred years ago.

Breakfast by Van Lake

The sun was shining brightly in a cloudless blue sky. The heat was already starting to grow. I met everyone by the pool and we had coffee and chai with a surprisingly large assortment of breakfast offerings.

Fresh Baked Bread in the Morning

The kingdom of Urartu, the biblical Ararat, flourished near the Van Rock, from the 13th through the 7th centuries BC.  The Urartians borrowed much of their culture, including cuneiform writing, from the neighboring Assyrians with whom they were usually battling.  The Assyrians never subdued the Urartians, but joined with several other tribes to cause the downfall the the Urartian kingdom.  By the 6th century BC the region was settled by the Armenians, who are believed to be the descendants of the Urartians.  After the fall of the Byzantines in 1071, Turkish emirs ruled the region until the Ottomans took over in 1468.  The Ottomans destroyed the old city of Van before Russian occupation in 1915.  The new current city of Van was built 4km east of the old site.

The Countryside of Van

After breakfast, we all gathered and boarded the vans for a tour of the Van region. The city is located right on the lake with dry brown grassy hills rising behind it to the east.  Our first destination was an old Armenian church which was located in a Kurdish village.  The villagers maintain the care and upkeep of the church by charging a small donation fee.

In A Kurdish Village

We drove into the Kurdish village and immediately the children circled the van.  The women peeked out from their doors and windows, men began to gather with curiosity, and the children happily greeted the strangers.

A House in the Village

In this village the children came prepared with lovely beaded head-scarves, which they claimed they had made by hand.  The children were charming and it was hard to move beyond them to the church.  In the other villages, it was usually the boys who gathered to talk to us.  In this village, the girls greeted us.

Kurdish Girls

The door of the church was small and encircled with Armenian writing.  Inside the long abandoned church, it was cool and dark, dimly lit by a couple of incandescent light bulbs.  The dome was gone and covered with wood.  The caretaker and his family had arranged wooden slats to display scarves and other trinkets to sell to visitors.

Interior of the Former Armenian Church

Close-up of Stone Ornamentation Inside the Church

Kurdish Girls in the Village

The city of Van is a fairly large city with a population of almost 400,000 people.  According to the guides, the majority of the people who live in Van are Kurdish.

Taking Photographs on the Road

After we left the village, we stopped along the road to take photos of Van in the distance.  Then we stopped at a place where we could see the tombs of some Urartan kings close-up.  As the story goes, one of the kings comes out of his tomb on a special day every year to see if there is world-wide peace.  If there is no peace, he returns to his cave for another year.  When there is peace, he will leave his cave and join the people.

Urartu Tombs

This time young boys scrambled down from the high rocks like mountain goats to greet our vans.  They were really cute, jostling for a close position and calling out “Hellos” in English!!  None of these children are begging for money.  They are curious about us and want some recognition and ask to have their photos taken.  Then they laugh when we show them their image on the back of the camera.

Young Boys Greeting Our Van

Van was bustling with people and cars and looked like any other busy Turkish city with shops, food stores, department stores, pharmacies, etc.  The Lonely Planet Guidebook gives these encouraging words: “Van is different in spirit from the rest of southeastern Anatolia – more urban, more casual, less rigorous…”  It was a relief for us after the warnings about Erzurum.

Modern Street in the City of Van

We stopped at a busy intersection and got out of the vans to go into a jewelery store to look at silver pieces. We all got out of the vans and went into the store. The silver jewelery was beautiful and unique. They were made in the Armenian silver jeweler’s technique using Urartu designs and symbols. The pieces were so unique that I had to buy something. So I bought a necklace and earings. We took a long time to look at the beautiful jewelery. Chris explored the neighborhood and found another good bakery.  We also bought some yummy baked goodies at the corner bakery to eat for a casual lunch on the road.

Bakery Selling Simit

Then we went to the Archeological Museum. As we entered, we met some Armenian people from Canada. They were also cousins and two were from Montreal, who spoke French, and the other two were from Toronto and spoke English. We compared travel ideas and notes and they said to make sure to sing the Lord’s Prayer in Akdamar Church.  They also told us not to pay attention to the guards who might complain about our singing.

Archeology Museum

The museum was very interesting.  It had a good collection of Urartan artifacts and explanations of where they come from and how they lived thousands of years ago. There were also several Khatch Kars (“cross stones” literally) in good condition with Armenian lettering and Urartu cuneiform inscriptions. These were used as grave markers for important people in ancient times.

Ancient Cuneiform Writing

I was very happy that we had a chance to visit the museum. Then we returned to the Merit Hotel, picked up the Zeronians and went to the shore of Lake Van to go to Akdamar Island.  There is virtually no water sports on the lake and no resorts. There are natural sand beaches, but very few people venture into the beautiful turquoise water.

View from My Window at the Merit Hotel

Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey and the second largest in the Middle East. The lake water is alkaline and is rich in sodium carbonate and other salts. It was formed by a volcanic explosion of Mt. Nemrud, whose last eruption was in 1440 AD. It is more that 74 miles across at its widest point and has an average depth of 561 feet according to the guidebook.

Ferry Boats to Akdamar Island

The water is not suitable for drinking or irrigation because of its high salinity and only a very limited species of fish can live there. The lake is surrounded by fruit and grain-growing agricultural areas. The lake was the center of the Armenian Kingdom of Ararat from about 1000 BC. Along with Lake Sevan in today’s Armenia and Lake Urmia in today’s Iran, Van was one the three great lakes of the Armenian Kingdom, referred to as the “Sea of Armenia” in ancient times.

Calm Lake Van

We drove a few miles down the shore of the lake to a place where ferries wait to take people to Akdamar Island. Armen bought tickets for all of us and we boarded the boat.

Boats to Akdamar Island

Akdamar Island is the second largest of four islands in Lake Van. It is home to the 10th century Armenian Church of the Holy Cross (Armenian: Սուրբ Խաչ, Surp Khach), which served as a royal church to the Armenian Vaspurakan Kingdom and was the seat of the Armenian Catholicos from 1116 to 1895. The ruins of Armenian monasteries also exist on the other three islands of Lake Van: Lim, Arter, and Ktuts.

Skipper of the Boat

The origin and meaning of the island’s name is unknown, but is often attributed to an old Armenian legend. According to the story, an Armenian princess named Tamar lived on the island and was in love with a commoner. The youth would swim from the mainland to the island each night, guided by a lantern she lit for him. Her father learned of the boy’s visits. One night, as she waited for her lover to arrive, her father smashed the lantern leaving the boy in the middle of the lake without a guide to indicate which direction to swim. They say his dying cries of “Akh, Tamar…” (“Oh, Tamar”) can be heard to this day at night. The legend was the inspiration for a famous Armenian poem by Hovhannes Tumanyan.

Akdamar Island

We were the only passengers on that particular trip. The sun shone brilliantly in the flat calm water. The breeze of the moving boat felt wonderful on my face as the boat chugged along to Akdamar Island in the distance. The young Turkish captain of the boat had lively turkish music playing quietly in his cabin and we asked him to raise the volume. We danced and swayed to the music in exuberance as the boat sailed closer to the island. It was a joy to watch the island grow larger as we approached it.

Landing on Akdamar Island

We could just see the top of the famous steeple of the Church of the Holy Cross on the other side of the island from the boat dock. We got off the boat and walked up the steep stone path and around to the church. On September 19th there will be the first church service in this church with Armenian priests officiating since 1915. It will be a grand event. I wish I could be there to see it!

Armenian Church of the Holy Cross

The outside of the church is in remarkable condition. The ornamentation stone reliefs around the church are in excellent condition due to recent reconstruction efforts.   They are magnificent!

Each one depicts a story from the bible and they continue around the outside of the church building. We climbed up the high stone steps and went inside. Efforts have been made recently to restore the paintings and one can see the beauty and brilliant colors of the original works of art.

Stone Reliefs

There were two Turkish guards walking around the church. They weren’t threatening; they were just smoking and entertaining each other with conversation. We admired the exterior and interior of the church and we noticed that it had wonderful acoustics right under the main dome in the middle.

Interior of the Church

We then called everyone together, and we all stood right under the dome and we started to sing the Lord’s Prayer (Hymer) in Armenian. All 18 of us started to sing – what a sound!!! – but then the guards yelled at us to stop. We continued for a few minutes, but they shouted at us and we had to stop singing.

Cousins

Armen stepped in and began to talk to the guard who seemed to be in charge. Armen talked to him in Turkish for a long time. A few of us milled around and finally, Armen said that we had permission to sing!

Armen and the Turkish Guards

We quickly gathered everyone again and started to sing the Hymer in Armenian under the church dome as loud as we could, facing up to the heavens in honor of our grandparents and parents and all the other Armenians who could not sing or pray in their home churches or country any more. It was a really strong emotional experience and I had difficulty continuing to the end.  Filled with tears and sorrow, we thought about our grandparents and parents and the sacrifices they made and how difficult their lives had been as survivors.  We remembered their parents who were lost in the genocide.  WOW!!  What an experience…….

Exterior of the Church of the Holy Cross

Later, I asked Armen what he had said to the guard to get him to change his mind. He said that he told the guard that we were 20 people and when we went home we would each tell another 10 people that the Turks would not let us sing in the church. Then those 200 people would tell another 10 people each, that the Turks would not allow singing in the church. And those 2000 people would tell another 10 people each and quickly hundreds of thousands of people would know that the guards at Akdamar do not allow singing and it would bring disgrace to the government.  Armen also said that he told the guard that people would be singing on September 21st during the service, so if the Turkish government allows singing next month, of course they will allow it today!

We all thanked the guards for allowing us to sing in Akdamar Kilisesi, the Turkish name for the Church of the Holy Cross, and smiled appreciatively at them. They looked relieved that they were saved from an international and major incident.

The Lucky Seven Cousins

We explored the exterior of the church and the grounds around the church and then happily walked back to the boat. It had been quite an experience and quite a day….

Our Ferry Back to the Mainland

We returned to the Merit Hotel to relax before dinner. The weather was hot and dry and everyone needed a refreshing shower.

Dinner between the Lake and the Pool

There was a cool breeze blowing off the lake near the pool in the evening and we ate a good relaxing dinner. Afterwards we all gathered in the lobby to talk and laugh and share our experiences. It was actually too cool to sit outside!

Sunset Over Lake Van

August 18th  Wednesday  The weather was sunny and hot; a thunderstorm at dusk

The highway between Kars and Van runs directly south and it is a long day’s drive to the city of Van. Kars is located in the north eastern part of Turkey close to the borders of Georgia and Armenia. Trains and buses run regularly across the Georgian border to Tsibili and we saw signs pointing toward the frontier.  For now, the border between Armenia and Turkey is closed and there is absolutely no transportation between the two countries.

We pulled off the road and into a small village, named Digor.  It used to be an Armenian village and there are supposed to be the ruins of five Armenian churches in the area.  We drove through the center of the village and stopped in front of an old woman’s house.  Behind her house is the ruins of an Armenian church.

The woman spoke to Setanik in Turkish and said that she was 82 years old and has lived in the house since she was a child and that the church had been in ruins all her life.  However, her mother told her that her grandmother prayed in the church many years ago.

Many Armenian women were forced to marry Turkish men and raise their children as Muslims.  The woman raised 10 children in the house is a grandmother and great-grandmother.  There were several younger women nearby and a few children were playing near the house.  She smiled and seemed to enjoy talking to Setanik.

Older boys gathered by the van and talked to Chris.  They told him about more churches in the region and wanted to show us where they were.  Since we didn’t have the time to follow the young boys, we got back into the van and drove slowly back through the village.  A man waved at the van and Celcuk stopped to inquire.  The man said that another man had pictures of the church.  We waited a few minutes and a man appeared with two old photographs of Armenian churches.

He proudly showed them to us.  He did not want to sell the photos to us, but was talking about them in Turkish. Unfortunately, we could not understand what he said and the usual crowd of men gathered around us to find out what was going on.  Meanwhile, Chris got off the van and went into the barber shop on the corner.  We laughed about him getting a haircut, but we had to go and someone ran to call him.

The terrain became more rocky and mountainous, the farther east we traveled. Someone said that there was an old folktale about a man who had a dream that rocks were thrown from the heavens and that rocky place became Armenia. Another suggestion was that when Turkey and Russia divided the land after World War I, the Turks took the better, more fertile fields for themselves and gave the less desirable land to the Soviet Armenians.

Jemal Offering Turkish Cookies

During the long drive we entertained ourselves during the long ride by singing French songs, listening to Selcuk’s Turkish music CDs, dancing in the aisle of the van, and telling stories. Satenik passed the microphone back to Nicole and Francoise and they led us in a French & English song-fest. Selchuk was even inspired to sing a beautiful song in Turkish. He had a great collection of music CDs from many cultures: Kurdish, Persian, Turkish, and Armenian. The music from the countries is similar “Middle Eastern” music to my ear, but Selcuk says each country’s music is different. We enjoyed driving through the rough countryside listening to Middle Eastern/Turkish music.

We stopped a few times along the road to take photos of interesting sights. We were all looking forward to our first glimpse of Mt. Ararat, which is the national and spiritual symbol of Armenia. The famous mountain is now located on the Turkish side of the Armenia/Turkey border, and both countries claim the mountain as their own.

Mt. Ararat is supposed to be the traditional resting place of the biblical Noah’s Ark after the 40-day flood. Perpetual snow and cold near the peak keep people from uncovering the Ark and over the years, various groups have explored the mountain in the hopes of finding the remains of Noah’s Ark.

The summit of Mt. Ararat is 16,946 feet above sea level. It is a dormant volcano and its last eruption was June 2, 1840. Along the sides of the road there were large black rocks probably volcanic stones. The upper third of the mountain is covered with snow and ice throughout the year. Adjoining Mt. Ararat (4000 ft. lower) is the peak known as Little Ararat. The first recorded ascent was in 1829. While we were staying at the hotel in Van, we met a man who was part of an expedition to climb the mountain that week.

Across the road from the place where people stop to take photos of Mr. Ararat, was an outdoor “tea shop” which was set up by an enterprising Kurdish family.  Chai, as it’s called in Turkey, is the very popular drink of choice any time of the day or night.  Several members of our party stopped to have chai along the road.  It was raining and it seemed to be a good time and place to stop for a break.

We drove on toward Van and after a while, took another break near a beautiful waterfall.  It seemed to be a family rest-stop with a snack bar near the parking lot. There was also a large rustic restaurant on the other side of a rope bridge spanning the gorge.

The WCs were a bit of a walk behind the restaurant. The young man sitting between the men’s and women’s sections was asking for one Turkish lire to use the facilities, instead of the customary .50 which was typical everywhere else in Turkey. We commented on his enterprising nature.

Before we entered the city of Van, we drove to a large natural rock formation which is located about 3 kilometers from the center of the city of Van and Selcuk parked the van. It is called Van Castle or the Rock of Van which dominates the view of the city.  The van was parked near the ruins of the old city which was destroyed in 1915.  A few buildings have survived and there is a stone mosque near the parking lot.

This had been a sacred place to the ancient Urartu people who carved out burial caves high up into the rocks.   Armenians are descendants of the ancient Urartu, so many people believe that this land rightfully belongs to the Armenian people. There are supposed to be numerous ‘khachkars” (Armenian stone crosses) carved into the southern side of the rock.

The sun was setting and it cast a beautiful light on the stones. The mosque near the parking lot glowed in the golden light. We walked around a little and watched families carrying plastic bottles of water. We wondered if there was a spring nearby.

It was getting late and we all got into our vans and drove to the Hotel Merit right on the shore of Lake Van. It was a large modern looking stone building with a large lobby and seating area on the ground floor. Through the glass doors past the reception desk is a large inground pool with tables set around the pool. The pool area is right along the lake shore. At the right angle it looks like the pool continues into the Lake Van.

We received our room assignments, took our luggage up to our rooms and reconviened by the pool for dinner. There was a large tent-like structure to the right of the pool and this was a buffet area set up with all the food in a semi-circle of tables along the outer edge of the room. On the left were many choices of appetizers or mezes as they’re called in turkish. Then the many choices of meats and vegetables, both hot and cold, and then the desserts and finally the chai area. Everything looked delicious.

Entrance to the Merit Hotel on Van Lake

The main problem was that there were many little gnats hopping around the tables by the pool and I could not sit there or bring food to the table. I suggested taking the dish into the lobby and eating there. The manager moved us away from the pool and those tables were better so we could eat.

Side/Back View of the Merit Hotel From the Road

It was very late by the time we finished eating. We sat for a short while in the lobby to talk but then everyone returned to their rooms for the night. It had been a full and exhausting day.

Massive Wall Around Ancient Ani

Later in the day, on August 17th we finally went to Ani.  This was something that everyone was looking forward to.  It was a very hot and sunny afternoon.  We had dropped off our luggage at the Grand Ani Hotel and Selcuk drove the van through the dry barren landscape for the 20 minute ride to the ancient Armenian city of Ani.

Ani is located in the Turkish province of Kars across the border of the current Republic of Armenia.  Ani was once the capital of a great medieval Armenian kingdom.  It was one of the major cities along the ancient Silk Road and various other trade routes crossed through the city.

Main Path Through the Ancient Kingdom

King Ashot III chose Ani for the site of his capital in 961 AD.  Successive kings built a citadel, great churches, and monasteries within mighty city walls at the edge of the deep river gorge.

One of the Many Churches

Ani had been called the “City of 1001 Churches”. It’s many religious buildings, palaces, and fortifications were among the most technically and artistically advanced structures in the world, at that time.

Church Near the Armenian Border

At the height of its glory, Ani had a population of between 100,000 to 200,000 people and was the rival of Constantinople, Baghdad, and Cairo.

Border Between Turkey and Armenia

Ani flourished for less that a century before being conquered in 1045 by the Byzantines, then by the Seljuks in 1064, followed by the kings of Georgia, and then various Kurdish emirs.  In 1239, the Mongols swept in, and finally in 1319 a strong earthquake cleared out the Mongols.  Ani has been in ruins ever since.

FRUSA Cousins & the Zeronians

Many of Ani’s churches survived the earthquake and have lasted through the centuries.  Some people say that the ruins of the churches seem to “float on a sea of grass above the collapsed rubble of the rest of the city.”

Armenian Chapel

We walked through the huge gateway in the massive stone wall and were awestruck!  Original paths lead visitors to the ruins of the buildings.  Adequate signs give information about the former structures.

The Ruins of a Building

We walked around the entire ancient city for several hours.  I cannot describe every building here, but have included a few of my photos.  There are books and articles written for readers who want more information about the ancient city of Ani.

The Ancient Kingdom of Ani