3 August, Van
Bahar Otel 60TL (negotiated down from 70TL)

A quiet day, our last in the city of Van. We treated ourselves to another superb breakfast and for dinner had pizza: salami with chillies. In between we drank coffee at our local çay evi while Charl tried his hand at the Turkish version of draughts, beating, with some help from an interested bystander, the çay evi champion. I am fascinated by the number of çay evis in every town and the number of men seated at them from early morning until well into the night. They leave me wondering what they do for a living and when. And what their women make of it. Van lies in the far east of Turkey, in traditional, conservative country. But the city is a surprise. The shops and restaurants and (expensive) hotels are modern, attractive, brightly lit and open until late. There are bars with live music, serving outrageously expensive beer. The evening streets are filled with people: women shopping alone or with friends; couples strolling and openly affectionate; groups of young men. One often sees three or four young women together: one dressed all in black, one conservatively dressed in coloured scarf and “raincoat” (a take on covering up I have not seen elsewhere), one or more in jeans and T-shirt. Friends despite their obvious differences. Nice.

Mosque opposite our hotel

Draughts champion (on right) and local barber