Istanbul Hotels

East of Turkey

We'll run through the major towns and sites, just to give you a feel of what the region is like. In terms of important architecture Diyarbakir is second only to Istanbul in Turkey. Diyarbakir has always been important and now it serves as a centre for Turkey's Kurdish populations and as a military base for Turkeys campaigns against the outlawed PKK in the South East of the country. Contained within massive black basalt walls once boasting 72 towers are a large number of mosques, some dating from the 11th century. Diyarbakir is a good base for exploring some of the regions other sites such as the monasteries of Tur Abdin and the ruins of Hasankeyf.

Van, capital of the Urartians and settled next to a huge lake has only been accessible to tourists for 30 years. The Urartians left an amazing castle here as well as fine metalworking skills. Van itself provides access to the Guzelsu Castle and the troubled but spectacular Hakkara province.

If you can't get to Easter Island then have a look at Nemrut Dagi. Its carved heads were the work of a relatively unimportant local dynasty about whom all else has since been forgotten. It's tough to get to but easier since the 50km road from Kahta (West of Diyarbakir, South of Elazig) has been given a decent surface. For the full experience you're supposed to climb the mountain side in time for sunrise. Good luck.

Dogubeyazit (way, way East, next to Ararat) is nothing special except for its proximity to both the mountain and the bizarre pleasure palace built at the turn of the 18th Century by feudal chieftain Ali Pasha. I've got a nice photo of it so on the page it goes. If you're interested in looking for Noah's boat I'm sorry to tell you that Ararat is out of bounds as a result of it's proximity to the Armenian border, sorry, did I say Armenia?

If this stuff sounds interesting there's a lot more that we'll tell you about later. Erzerum, Elazig, Sanli Urfa, Karsbasically the map at the top of the page represents a lot of country. It is possible (as I write) to tour this area in safety. It is, however, a volatile situation and you can always check with your Embassy on the advisability of travelling and whether or not you should eat the salad.

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