bus ride from Erzurum to Dogubayazit... first view of Ararat | Ishak Pasha Palace near Dogubayazit |
Following day i explored famous local sight - Ishak Pasha Palace and most importantly i sorted out the bureaucratic hurdles tied to climb on Ararat (unfortunately there is a certain red tape - one needs a permit and a guide). And i got lucky, since we will be just group of three people, which i more than prefer over a large organised crowd (which is usual here).
his majesty - Mount Ararat | starting the climb at 2100m |
In the morning a van drives us (myself, Atila and our guide Adem) from Dogubayazit, over a vast plain below the mountain, where we are dropped at 2070m. From there it's a long walk up with heavy backpack (mine was close to 25 kgs) up to Base Camp at 3350m.
view to the south from 3150m | Ararat Base Camp - 3345m |
walking up to C1, view towards Dogubayazit, on horizon is Tendurek Dagi 3542m | Camp 1 and Ararat summit above |
Next day morning is wonderful. After breakfast we clean up the camp and start walk up to C1 at 4150m.
at 4300m, looking down to C1 and plains below Ararat | in Camp 1, Little Ararat (3923m) behind me |
Camp 1 are three small plateaus at 4090m, 4120m and 4170m and we grab spots on the middle one. Spending rest of the day cooking, filtering water, sleeping and making a short walk above the camp to 4300m.
evening view to the East, Ararat throws it's shadow to the sky | climbing nightmare... mountain path traffic jam at 2:30 AM |
Night was almost sleepless. The altitude plays the role. The wake up call is at 1 AM and at 2 AM we start the climb. There is already a row (well over 40 pieces) of headtorches ahead of us. The pace of all the groups ahead of us is pretty slow, so we are overtaking and above 4600m taking the lead.
natural masterpiece... Ararat mountain throws giant shadow | summit gets visible again at around 4800m |
With sunrise the views are getting fascinating - Ararat throws a giant triangle shape shadow on the plains towards the west.
glacier begins at 4950m, summit on the right | at 5050m, almost there |
Last stretch is an easy walk over a glacier plateau and final short steeper slope to the summit, which we reach as first at 6:40 AM. Brilliant weather, clear sky, nice views, but a very strong wind forces us to start descent after just a few minutes on the top.
shortly prior reaching summit, view on the glacier plateau | on top of Ararat, 5165m |
yupeeee | view from the summit towards Iran... on the right Little Ararat |
Upon return to C1, we pack all our stuff and the descent continues - we want to get back to Dogubayazit same day evening. It takes many hours to get down to van waiting for us at 2000m. Five minutes after i reached it, a heavy storm arrives.
looking back during descent | storm is coming |
The next day was a 100 % rest day - wandering around town, visiting turkish bath and taking short ride to border post with Iran and back.
in the streets of Dogubayazit | leaving Dogubayazit... |
After success on Ararat i decided to scale Erciyes Dagi (3917m), an extinct volcano near Kayseri in Central Anatolia.
mountains near Erzincan | in Kayseri, Mount Erciyes Dagi on the right |
It was 3:30 AM when we reached Kayseri. I did not feel well and was having a light fever. In the end i resigned to do the climb, just wandered around the city and late in the afternoon took a bus to Istanbul.
next day morning, good old Istanbul... cargo vessels passing Bosporus Strait | Recep Tayip Erdogan takes care of you... water cannons first, then tear gas (tourists get both too... for free) |
Already in Istanbul, when walking around (together with bunch of other tourists and locals) Galata Tower, Erdogan's (PM of Turkey) police did bucket down major shopping street with water cannons and just to make the action brilliant teargassed the whole neighborhood. Well done, you islamic communist!
evening on Galata Bridge | ferry leaves from nowadays closed Haydarpasa Railway Station |
Next day was solely about wandering around, taking a ferry to Asian side and back... In the evening i'm moving to the airport and at 4:30 AM (yep, luxurious departure time) with together another 8 passangers only, taking a flight to Zurich. Zurich security checks are pain as usual. Then follows a short flight to Prague, which is also final dot of the whole trip.
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