Field trip

The field trip is supposed to give you the impression of eastern Anatolia and is destined to Doğubeyazıt, a city that is located in Turkey's most eastern district close to the border with Iran. It lies 1,625 meters above sea level and the population of the district in 2010 according to Wikipedia was 115,354 (only 73,794 in 1980) of which about 70,000 live in the town of Doğubeyazıt and the rest in the surrounding countryside.

Dogubeyazit’s authorities aim to develop tourism. The 17^th to 18^th century Ishak Paşa Sarayı (Ishak Pasha Palace) that we will visit is certainly one of the main tourist attractions of the region. There is also an interesting rock formation called Durupinar site that resembles the ship and is therefore also called the Noah’s ark. Some people actually believe(d) that it really is a petrified boat from the holy books. Another place of interest can also be a lake in a lava bed named

Balık Gölü, 60 km from the city.

Doğubeyazıt lies 25 km southwest of Mount Ararat and 35 km from the Iranian border. It is located on a plain surrounded by some of Turkey's highest peaks. Beside Ararat (5,137 m) these are ridges and peaks well above 2,500 m like Little Ararat (3,896 m) or Tendürek Dağı (3,533 m).

About 90 km long road from Ağrı to Doğubeyazıt generally follows the flow of river Murat (Murat Nehri) the major source of Euphrates (Eastern Euphrates). The land is not densely populated and there are few settlements along the road.

We believe that it is not just worth seeing the place and the palace but also to get deeper insight into efforts of local community located in border peripheral land of sleeping volcanoes that strives to avoid marginalization.

In case that we get the permit we can also visit meteor crater 35 km east from the city. It is the result of a meteor crash in 1892 and is the second biggest one in the world at a width of 35 meters and depth of 60 meters.