We continue our journey exploring Eastern Turkey enroute to Van, which is filled with ancient sites and many views of Mount Arawat. We took a ferry ride out to Akdamar Island, to photograph an Armenian church. This was a perfect chance to send up our drone, to get aerial images of the church (upper-left, upper-center and lower-right).

Fortunately, we had clear skies and Mount Aarat (where Noah is believed to have landed) was not covered by its usual shroud of clouds.

We climbed to the ancient site of Cavustepe which was a fort built by the Urartians in the 7th Century BC. The caretaker we met is one of the few in the world who can read and wrote the cuneiform script, He described it in detail, though we did not transcribe, nor remember, his explanation. He later wrote a message to us in that lost language in the sand (lower-right).

We were able to view the 18th century Hosab Castle from both higher angle (via drone, center) and lower angle (via handheld camera). Enroute, we stopped to photograph reflections of the mountains in the lake (upper-right). When we returned to the hotel this evening, we were greeted by a bride in the lobby, who was waiting for her husband to check in (middle-bottom). Many wedding couples stay here to be photographed in front of landmarks.

As we traveled along the Iranian border, we were warned not to fly the drone. We were still able to capture stunning views of Ishak Pasha Palace in the morning from a cliff above (upper-left), then had a chance to check out the insides. We were able to see the beautiful shadows cast inside as well as much detailed carvings. This palace was built during the Ottoman period, and is one of the few surviving historical palaces from that period.

At sunset, we found an opening in the fence into the pasture and photographed the 8th Century BC Van Fortrress with herd of sheep in the foreground.

Enroute to view the 50 meter high Muradiye Waterfalls, which is where locals come and picnic located 80 km from Van. We enjoy seeing the rural countryside of Eastern Turkey, where many people are still dressed in traditional clothing.

Here are more views of Mount Ararat and an archaeological site believed to be the final location of Noah’s Ark (middle-top). The dimensions cast on the ground are approximately the same as the size of the ark mentioned in the bible, and dating soil samples reveal human activity match the timing, however it is still quite controversial whether this was the correct location

Herding cats is a colloquial term, and that was what we found in a local university research center. We had an opportunity to photographed the Van cats, known for having two different color eyes, one blue and one green. One cat was captivated by Mehmet, as it jumped on his back (center).