WAN

"Van in this world, paradise in the next."
~ Old Armenian proverb.

On the way back from Doğubayazıt, my traveling companions and I stopped in Wan (Van). Although the city is larger than Doğubayazıt, I didn't find it as picturesque. It was overrun with tourists from Teheran, all of them in Western clothes and some of them were perturbed that no one in Wan spoke English. I wondered what the Iranian women must think of the AKP girls and their voluntary adoption of the AK uniform--headscarves and long coats. The Iranians must have ditched their chadors at the airport, and they seemed happy to walk around in a relatively free environment unencumbered by volumes of black fabric. But more on the AKP girls later.

On the surface, everything seemed calm, especially after the Newroz violence perpetrated against the people of Wan by the Ankara regime. The TSK has a large presence here, too, but in the city tends to be hidden by high walls topped with concertina wire, such as it is in some areas of Amed.

As we headed back towards Tatvan, we stopped at Akdamar Island. The sky was absolutely clear and deep blue, the sun brilliant, the water of Lake Wan cold and clear.

We stopped in Gevaş to pick up provisions for a picnic in the mountains, and we almost shared the picnic with a mother fox and her two young kits.

It's always good to know where you are.

Wan's fortress.

Wan's most famous resident: the Wan cat, at an entrance to the bazaar.

One of the things that makes Wan wonderful: its cheese. I have yet to come across anything like it. Wan cheese is flavored with garlic and herbs, including rosemary and thyme.

A view of Lake Wan from the fortress at Adilcevaz.

Lake Wan from Akdamar Island.

The Armenian church on Akdamar. Someone really should spend some money to restore this building. The carvings on the outside are fabulous but the painted walls on the inside appear as though they may soon be lost.

A gravestone in Armenian, from the church yard.

Waterfall at Muradiye.

Wildflowers at Muradiye.

Commemorated in Gevaş, Kurdistan's answer to the Loch Ness Monster: Van Gölü Canavarı--Lake Wan Monster