After making our way back from old Hasankeyf, we reached the region of Tur Abdin at the Syrian border with nearly 70 Syriac Orthodox monasteries, the earliest surviving Christian buildings dating from the 6th century. We first came past the monastery of Mor Jakup and then to the town of Midyat. The monastery founded by …
It was a very grey and foggy day, when we reached the River Tigris, north of Hasankeyf, where the Ilısu Dam already flooded the valley. My guide book still describes Hasankeyf before it submerged in the water, which made it strange to arrive there and realise all the town is gone. A couple of important …
From Tatvan a good road leads up to the big crater of a volcano, and we went to explore it a bit. But we also found an incredible cemetery a little bit further north. The road took us up the mountain, past a chairlift for skiing in winter and to the rim at about 2500 …
From Doğubeyazıt we drove to Lake Van, passing incredible lava formations, a waterfall and an old bridge before we reached the lake. We visited Van with its fortress and museum before we accidentally joined the Black Friday shopping. The next day the sun was out and we took the ferry to visit an incredible Armenian …
On the way to Doğubeyazıt we had some incredible mountain views, but none of Mount Ararat. Apart from that mountain, the most important sight in this area is the Ishak Pasa Sarayi, one of few surviving historical Turkish palaces. We are now in Turkish Kurdistan, and regularly we have to pass military controls along the …
From Hopa/Turkey, at the coast of the Black Sea, we drove inland along reservoirs and through valleys, until we traversed a pass at 2,600 metres, before we reached a high plain where Ani, the Medieval capital of the Armenia Kingdom, lies directly at the border to Armenia. The city, which experienced its golden age during …
We tried the border to Turkey south of Akhaltsikhe, asking nicely if we might cross it, but no – closed except trucks. The only open border to Turkey was therefore the one near Batumi. To get there, we had two options: a longer route with good roads, or a shorter one over the Goderdzi pass …
Borjomi is famous for its hot sulphuric mineral water but also for the national park surrounding it, where you can take a lot of different hikes. We had decided on a hike to the bath of the Tsar which included a ride with the old cable car! Already the Russian Tsars valued the healing qualities …
From the plateau at 2000 metres we were driving down a valley doted with the remains of castles, until we reached the cave town of Vardzia, one of the major sights in Georgia. We had visited the cave town of Uplistsikhe, which is much older, and the cave town of Khndzoresk in the South of …
Near Tsalka, at the 2000 meter high volcanic plateau, the Dashbashi Canyon is cut deep into the landscape. The “weeping wall” of small waterfalls at the bottom of the canyon sounded enticing. When we reached the area, we were in the middle of a nearly finished giant tourism enhancing project. A suspension bridge with a …
