Note 2 — Chapter V · FROM VAN TO BITLIS
Reading edition
The following are the intermediate distances along the track according to my estimates:—Van to Artemid, 8 miles; Artemid to Vostan, 15 miles; Vostan to Akhavank (Iskele), 8 miles; Akhavank (Iskele) to Enzakh, 13½ miles; Enzakh to Kindirantz, 17 miles; Kindirantz to Garzik, 9 miles; Garzik to Sach, 16 miles; Sach to Bitlis, 11 miles—Total, 97½ miles.
As far as the promontory of Surb the path either leads over little plains interposed between the lake and the mountains, or crosses the rocky spurs which descend from the range into the waters, forming promontories. Of these spurs the most formidable is that which is scaled beyond Enzakh (Pass, 7600 feet); but the descents to the plains of Kindirantz and Surb are both long and arduous. Beyond Surb the track for the first time follows along the base of an almost vertical parapet of mountain, rising immediately from the water’s edge. This romantic course is pursued for some distance west of Garzik; when the lake is left behind, the Güzel Dere is entered, and you pass almost imperceptibly from the basin of Lake Van into that of the Tigris. It now only remains to cross from the Güzel Dere into the valley of Bitlis, which is done by way of the Bor Pass, 7490 feet.
On the whole the route along the southern shore of Lake Van is by no means an easy one. The principal difficulties to an engineer occur between Enzakh and the Güzel Dere. ↑