Van

Can you guess where I am?

If you got that one wrong, you don't deserve to even be reading this.

I was in Van, formerly known as Tushpa, was a large Armenian city until the early twenties, and has been a mixed Turkish and Kurdish city ever since. The city was badly damaged in an earthquake in 2011, and there's still repair work going on. As a consequence, the museum there was still closed, as was several other places I wanted to visit. Here's a couple of pictures of the castle (which was infested with huge amounts of flies at the top, tread very carefully on the grass lest you disturb them all and have to make a quick retreat back down again like it did)

However, the the jewel of the crown for Van, is a very well kept secret. Yedi Kilise, or seven Armenian churches, are high up in the hills around Van. Once you get there, you literally have to go though someone's garden and past a load of street children and goats to see it. To visit, you can walk (but it takes hours or so) or you can take a taxi.  I took a taxi there and walked back, to get some exercise and to see the valleys around. Here's a couple of picture for you.

They are simply simply divine, and well worth visiting!