Arrival at Van airport and transfer to Dogubeyazit. En route we make a short break at the Muradiye waterfalls enjoy our tea and the outstanding scenery. Check in at our hotel and free time for a delicious lunch in the town. Collecting our climbing permits and a final gear check at the hotel. Free evening to rest and prepare for the trek.

After breakfast at hotel, we transfer to Mount Ararat by minibus. We stop at Eli village at 2200m. Here a path with a slight initial grade will take us to our 1st camp (Green Camp at 3340m). On the way up to the Green Camp we meet nomads who live in these mountains, explore their lifestyle. The walk takes about 4 hours and the grade becomes steeper only for the last hour. Dinner at camp (weather permitting open-air), rest and good sleep to prepare for tomorrow's acclimatization trek (horses are used to carry our gear).

This is our acclimatization day. We trek up to the 2nd camp at 4100m then return to our first camp for overnight. This enables us to climb high and sleep low important for acclimatization. Total trekking time: 5 hrs.

Today's plan is to trek on the south ridge to our camp at 4100m. From this camp, we have good views of the lesser cone of Little Mount Ararat (3896m) which rises up to the south-east, separated from its bigger neighbor by the so-called 'lava plateau'. As the day before, we will take our lunch pack and start climbing. Weather may be chilly at 4200m and we can expect temperatures between 0 and -15°C on the summit. The luggage will be taken to the camp on horseback. When we reach the camp, hot drinks and soup will be ready for us. Before dinner, our guide will teach how to use crampons, ice axe and rope. We will rest in tents till midnight.

We make an alpine start at around 3.00 am, and aim to set off at first light. Before the climb, we will get the latest weather report. After a few hours of climbing, we should see the huge shadow of the peak of Mount Ararat on the left. About 7-8 hours of climb and we will reach the summit of Mount Ararat. Everything seems mysterious and magical here, we can see 4 countries at once - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. After celebrating reaching of the summit and taking photographs we will be back to our previous camp (4200m) for hot soup and tea. After rest for an hour we descend to the 1st camp at 3200 m.

Morning back to Dogubayazit, check in at hotel. This day is dedicated to cultural exploration and we start with a city tour of Dogubeyazit. We visit magnificent Ishak Pasha Palace. Perched high on a cliff, this half ruined fortified palace is the stuff Arabian tales are made of. Continue to visit Noah's Ark National Park, where we can see many fossils found at the site and visit Noah's Ark Museum. Our last stop is the Meteor Crater. 60 m deep and 35 m large, the crater is the second biggest in the world. On the way to the crater, we pass by border checkpoints between Turkey and Iran.

After breakfast, we drive to Van, free day.