ASIANOVERLAND.NET LONDON TO SYDNEY  DAY 307: ERZURUM TO DOGUBEYAZIT,  TURKIYE

Mount Ararat, also known as Mount Ağrı, is a snow-capped dormant volcano in the extreme east of Turkey which is assumed to be the location of Noah’s Ark. It must have been a pretty big flood and a well-built ark, as the legendary Mount Ararat is 5,165 meters high, and towers above the surrounding mountainous landscape.

Doğubayazıt, better known as Doggy Biscuit to Top Deck crew, is on the Turkey/Iran border and has a rich history with monuments dating over 2700 years. The area is extremely mountainous and cold, and we used to light fires under the bus’s fuel tank to ensure the diesel didn’t freeze.

Before the Ottoman Empire, Doğubayazıt was referred to by its Armenian name Daruynk. From the 4th century, Princes of the Bagratid dynasty of Armenia resided at Daroynk and rebuilt the fortress into its present configuration with multiple towers carefully integrated into the ascending rock outcrop. It was subsequently conquered and reconquered by Persians, Armenians, Byzantines, Seljuks and Russians, all of whom used the plain to rest and recoup during their passages across the mountains.

Turkish peoples arrived in 1064.

The Kurdish Ayyubids established themselves in 1171, under the leadership of Saladin. Saladin led the Muslims to recapture the city of Jerusalem from the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin. The Ayyubid dynasty lasted until 1341, when the Ayyubid sultanate fell to Mongolian invasions.

The castle of Daroynk was repaired many times through history, and is named after the Turkish warlord Celayırlı Şehzade Bayazıt Han, who ordered one of the rebuildings in 1374.

Under  the Iranian Safavids, the area was ruled by Turkic-speaking generals, later including the Ottoman general İshakpaşa, who built the palace that bears his name.

Doğubayazıt saw fighting in the Ottoman–Persian War (1821–23), when the commander-in-chief Abbas Mirza of Qajar Iran occupied it.

Doğubayazıt was attacked by Russia in 1856, and taken by the Russians during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78). When the Russians retreated to their new borders under the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, many of the Armenian population left with the Russians to build New Beyazit (now Gavar in Armenia).

At our final fuel stop in Turkiye before crossing into Iran, I gave the punters a pep talk about Iran dress codes, stoning as a standard Iranian punishment, a complete alcohol and drug ban, and emptied the bus of alcohol, to the surprise and delight of the local service station owner in Doğubayazıt. We then passed through passport and customs control on the Iran side of the border, and were given an Iranian policeman and Iranian customs officer to accompany and supervise us for the 3,000 kilometer drive through Iran to Pakistan.

↑ Day 306 ↓ Day 308