Van

If we thought we were going to somewhere warmer we were sort of wrong, but the views make up for it.

After a lot of ridiculous conversation with a taxi driver Elli has been messaging since Tbilisi, we discovered that he was lying and there is a bus from Kars to Van, so we pitched up at the bus station and were thrilled to discover that not only does it exist, it is a miracle bus that has fast Internet, power sockets and an attendant with a tea trolley (truly mind bending). Probably the comfiest bus we've had all year and an incredibly scenic route through the mountains and big open snowy plains.

Into Van by about 4pm and we found our accommodation, an incredibly cheap and again ridiculously overheated apartment in the centre of town.

The next day we went to sample the famous Van breakfast, which is a Turkish breakfast on steroids with 6 different types of cheese. The proprietor of the place we went holds the world record for most people eating breakfast together at once, and it felt like we were eating about the same amount of food that they did. The amount of halva, cheese and honey sent us all into a state of semi delirium.

Then we took the dolmus to Ahtamar by walking into the bus station and saying Ahtamar in an inquiring tone (this is a surprisingly effective strategy). 40 minutes down the road to the pier by the lake, and we asked when the next ferry was. We got a shrug. Maybe 10 minutes, maybe 20. We had a cup of coffee and a coach load of people turned up out of nowhere.

Ahtamar is a beautiful little island in the lake home to the much disputed Armenian Church of the Holy Cross which has only recently managed to secure permission to hold services, which it does yearly. A very serene and religiously significant place so it made a lot of sense when on the boat they turned on some deafening pumping beats, some men offered us some vodka and half the boat got up and danced. The group of old people opposite us barely flinched. It was surreal to say the least.

The next day Chris and I took a day off to zone out and think about other things while Tamar climbed the Van Fortress and met a Van cat, which are famously white and heterochromic, but we've seen a lot more photos of them than the real thing this week.Lue lisää