On July 24, 2025, one of our dreams came true – we climbed the archaic Mount Ararat, where, according to the Bible, Noah's Ark landed.
Klaus from Saxonia, our guide Faruk, Alfred, Rüdiger from Saxonia and Marion on top of Ararat which is with 5137 meters sea-level the highest mountain of Türkiye
It's a perfect shaped volcano adorned with a ice cap, overwhelming it sourrounding more the 1200 meters. Ararat is located near the border triangle between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey, so its political situation is quite complicated, but thanks to local Turkish organizations and guides, climbing its summit is now easily possible.
A few days before our ascent of Ararat, we met the friendly and personable Kemal Ceven with a group of climbers at the base camp of the Süphan Dagi volcano (see below). Kemal told us a lot about mountaineering in Turkey and finally asked us if we wanted to climb Ararat with his organization, see its website ceven-travel.de. He made us a reasonable offer, which we accepted. We drove to the Ertur Hotel in Dogubayazit, where our Ararat adventure began. There we were able to park our car safely and free of charge. Klaus and Rüdiger from Saxony accompanied us up the mountain, along with our friendly guide Faruk and our excellent chef.
The horses with our luggage at the start of the hike at 2490 meters above sea level - Ararat in the background
Horses are the true heroes of Ararat – they carry almost everything to the base and high camps. We hiked for four hours to the comfortable base camp at 3,375 meters above sea level, where we were greeted with a delicious dinner. This camp had perfect facilities, including cold showers.
Marion with the our tents in the base camp
Very cozy the tents from Ceventravel
On the second day of our Ararat adventure we made an acclimatization tour to the high camp at approx. 4100 meters sea-level.
Shopping Mall between base and high camp
Marion with Ararat close to the high camp - the path to summit runs more or less on the left ridge
Our little tent in the high camp on the left
On July 24, 2025, half an hour past midnight, our cell phones rang. We had a quick breakfast and climbed to the summit in the dark. It was a pleasantly warm night with little wind, but an incredible number of stars in the sky. At dawn, we reached the glacier at almost 5,000 meters above sea level, where we put on our crampons. The last part was an easy hike in the snow.
Breakfast at one o'clock in the night
Rüdiger, Marion and Klaus with the ice of Ararat
People hiking to the summit
Alfred on top of 5137 meters high Ararat with Little Ararat in his back
There were many other people on the mountain with us, including a group from Iran, one of whom proudly displayed the Iranian flag. However, our guide told us that they had expected more visitors to Ararat this season—we saw many empty tents despite the perfect weather and mountain conditions. They believed that the current crisis between Iran, Israel, and the US was preventing many people from coming to Ararat, which lies just 15 kilometers west of the Iranian-Turkish border.
After enjoying the summit, we descended to base camp, where we showered, rested, and happily celebrated. The final day consisted of a short hike to the trailhead, where a minivan picked us up, along with our luggage, which had been transported from base camp on horseback.
We would like to sincerely thank Kemal, Faruk, and our team at ceven-travel for this exceptionally well-organized and very enjoyable trip - it was a true pleasure. We would also like to thank our companions, Klaus and Rüdiger - we had a great time together and laughed a lot.
Before reaching Ararat, we had to cross all of Eastern Anatolia. Our first stop was the stunning UNESCO World Heritage Site of Arslantepe – the Lion's Hill in the bigger city of Malatya. It is a site dating back to the Melid Kingdom (Neohitte period) from 1050 to 850 BC, and even earlier, more than 5,000 years ago. Archaeological work is still ongoing, and admission is free.
Relief: Libation (Offering): Storm God is illustrated on a chariot driven by the sacred bulls Serri and Hurri. Melidean King PUGNUS-milli offers a libation to him
Wall painting in the Arslantepe castle, dated 3350 to 3300BC
The Nemrut Dagi Tumulus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a magical place. At 2,150 meters above sea level, it is one of the highest peaks in the eastern Taurus Mountains, towering over the plains of the young Euphrates. In 62 BC, King Antiochus of Commagene built a funerary sanctuary on the summit of Nemrut Dagi, flanked by enormous, 8- to 9-meter-high statues. At some point, the statues were damaged, and their heads were removed, possibly due to iconoclasm.
From Malatya, there's a well-maintained road about 60 kilometers long, with only the last four kilometers unpaved. So we picked up our bikes from our parking space at the northern entrance to the Nemrut Dagi Tumulus. Luckily, we stayed at about 2,000 meters, because it was almost unbearably hot in Malatya.
East facade thrones with severed heads of Apollo-Mithra-Helios-Hermes, Heracles-Artagnes-Ares, Persian eagle and lion, and the tumulus in the back
Head of Goddess of Commagene which is the only female figure on Nemrut Dagi
Lakes of the river Euphrates in the east
About 300 kilometers to the east lies a second Nemrut Dagi on the western shore of the huge Van Lake, a nearly 3,000-meter-high stratovolcano with a massive caldera about 8 kilometers in diameter. Almost half of the caldera is covered by a moon-shaped lake (Gölü), which is why this mountain is also called Nemrut Dagi Gölü. A very good, paved road leads over a 2,553-meter-high saddle into the crater, where we spent two nights. Rangers told us that only a few bears live in the caldera, but we didn't see any. They are semi-wild because people feed them.
In the late afternoon of July 12, 2025, we climbed two secondary peaks west of our parking lot and hiked north the next day to the top (2941 meters above sea level), which was a fairly strenuous 18.4-kilometer hike up and down several subsidiary summits.
Lake Nemrut Gölü in the crater
Lakes Nemrut Gölü seen from the last part of the ascent to the main summit
Marion on top of 2941 meters high Nemrut Dagi Gölü
We spent three days at the beautiful Cennet Aile Piknik Alani campsite, located directly on the shores of Lake Van, a few kilometers north of the town of Tatvan. Swimming in the vast (over 3,000 square kilometers) salt lake at 1,690 meters above sea level was wonderful. We also cycled to the medium-sized town of Tatvan, the economic center of the region.
The excellent beach of the Cennet Aile Piknik Alani Campsite
Bazaar to help orphans and Gaza (Palestine) in Tetvan
The 4,058-meter-high Süphan Dagi volcano on the northern shore of Lake Van is the perfect acclimatization tour for Ararat. However, you need a permit to climb the mountain in the small town of Adilcevaz at the southern foot of the mountain. We went to the local police, who sent us to the town hall, where an employee handwritten our permit. We then had to go to the mayor's impressive office, where he signed our permit and sent us back to the police station. There, an officer warned us that Süphan Dagi was dangerous, lonely, and dry. We exchanged our WhatsApp numbers and promised to write to him if we were in camp, on the summit, etc., or had any problems.
We drove to the small village of Kiskili on the eastern slope of Süphan Dagi at 2350 meters above sea level, but due to the uneven gravel road, we were afraid to continue to the 2500-meter base camp. Instead, we hiked the next morning with heavy backpacks and 10 liters of water to base camp, where we met Kemal from ceven-travel.de (see also on top of this article), who offered us a reasonable price for the Ararat climb. He also needed €100 in advance for our permits - luckily, we had a €100 bill. He had a very good off-road vehicle and took us closer to the mountain, to almost 2900 meters above sea level, which saved us a lot of energy. There, we deposited some of our gear and hiked to 3,250 meters above sea level, where we found a small but beautiful spot to camp. Later, we returned, retrieved the rest of our gear, and returned to our tent.
At 3:00 a.m., we began our ascent to the summit of Süphan Dagi. The last 200 meters of elevation gain to the crater were quite critical, as the cone is relatively steep and contains large, partially loose rocks. We had two routes, an eastern and a southern one. Marion decided to return to our tent, and Alfred climbed cautiously, very carefully (as if walking on eggshells), up the eastern path. To reach the crater, he had to hike up and down more than a kilometer over scree in the massive crater to reach the highest point of Süphan Dagi. After enjoying the summit on a sunny and calm morning, Alfred ventured down the southern route. It turned out that this southern approach is much easier and less dangerous, and is therefore highly recommended for future mountaineers.
Sheep and goats in Kiskili - the access point to Süphan Dagi
Marion with the southern peak of Süphan Dagi
View from the summit to the Van Lake
Süphan Dagi (on the left or our car) seen from the marvelous overnight staying spot Çelebibagi
Thanks to Kemal and his team, we were able to climb Mount Ararat (see the beginning of this article). Besides Mount Ararat, another highlight of Dogubayazit is the impressive Ishak Pasha Palace, built between 1685 and 1784 during the Ottoman period. In 2000, the palace was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Nearby is the stunning and marvelous Dogubayazit Castle.
The Ishak Pasha Sarayi Palace with Dogubayazit in the back
In the ceremonial hall of the palace
Dogubayazit Castle, built between the 9th and 13th centuries BC, is about 3,000 years old
Dogubayazit Castle seen from the back
Finally we found Noah's ark in front the the Tuzluca Salt Mine - approx. 65 kilometers northwest of Ararat. Visiting the salt mine was an extraordinary nice experience.
Majestic Ararat seen from the highway Dogubayazit to Igdir
Noah's ark in front the the Tuzluca Salt Mine
Huge halls in the salt mine
Another must-see in Eastern Anatolia is the medieval ruined city of Ani near the Armenian border. Ani was the capital of Armenia between 961 and 1045. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2016.
Church Tigran Honents Kilisesi of Ani (built in the 13th century) with the border river between Armenia and Türkye
Awful mural in the Church Tigran Honents Kilisesi
Eastern city wall of Ani
Citadel of Ani
We spent our last three days in Turkey on the western shore of the beautiful freshwater lake Çildir Gölü near the village of Esmepinar. Swimming in the clean water was wonderful and refreshing - the lake lies almost 2,000 meters above sea level.
The excellent and free campsite Esmepinar on the lake Çildir Gölü
Flowers on the lake
On August 1, 2025, we crossed the border into Georgia and the next day into Armenia, as it is not possible to travel directly from Turkey to Armenia, where we had a superb time - more on that in the next article.
For more pictures, please click here
For a map of our itineraries, click here
To download our GPS coordinates file of Türkiye, click here