Mount Aratat & the Wonders of Turkey Expedition Dispatch
August 17, 2013 – The Team Has Arrived in Eastern Turkey
Adventure and Mount Ararat awaited us far to the east, so we loaded into a large comfortable bus at 7:30 am and headed off for our flights to the city of Van and ultimately to Dogubeyazıt, at the foot of Ararat.
We said goodbye to Roxanne, Clayton and Oz at the airport in Istanbul. Our onward connection to Van was a tight one (we actually re-boarded the same plane, but we had to deplane and present our boarding passes for Van. Doc and Dennis found time to locate an Arby's and I saw them happily munching on sandwiches and French fries.
The best thing was seeing Deke Owens standing at our gate. Deke had arrived directly from North Carolina and New York and it is great to have him with the team now.
Duygu and Mehmet were waiting in Van, as always. After a quick stop in downtown Van for a visit to a money change office and the ATM machine we were on our way to Dogubeyazıt.
We made a stop at Muradiye Waterfall and it was relaxing to sit around at this popular local picnic area.
By early evening we met Jamal to try a new terrace restaurant; there are far more businesses open in Dogubeyazit now that Ramadan is over. The climbers from our first two groups this season would not recognize this place.
We enjoyed excellent kabobs and pide (Turkish pizza) with the noisy street below us and a big near full moon above. At least two wedding parties passed while we were dining.
When we arrived at our hotel the iPads and laptops quickly came out and several team members were checking their emails and on Skype. We are tired and will rest well tonight. Tomorrow we are off to the mountain.