Czech photojournalist Pavel Dobrovsky has been to around 80 countries, but there is one place in the world where he loves to go a lot - the east of Turkey: Pavel has visited the area of Mount Ararat for more than 20 times. He has never been to Armenia, so he saw Ararat only from the Turkish side. The Czech photojournalist says that he feels very relaxed around the mountain and enjoys communicating with the locals.

We have discovered Pavel Dobrovsky’s photos of Mount Ararat on Flickr and asked him to tell about his trips and the experience of Ararat exploration.

Understanding how they see the world

I travel a lot, I believe that it is very important to see the world and to write stories having the first contact with different nations. We are living in the information society, where it is very difficult for people to navigate and orient the reality of today’s world. That is why I find it very important to talk to locals, to remember the talks and write it down, as well as to take photos of all of them, because photos are the frozen moments in time.

Mount Ararat

Photo: Pavel Dobrovsky

During my trips, every evening I write a diary of what happened to me and how I felt about it. Sometimes I write articles in this diary for Czech magazines to introduce diverse countries to the local people. As a rule, I don’t write articles about politics, because there are countries where you start talking to people about politics and suddenly, you get 2-3 policemen behind you thinking that you are a spy. While travelling, I need to be careful about what and to whom I am talking, so that is why I don’t talk about political issues with locals; instead I just ask about their lives to understand how they see the world.

Dreaming to climb Armenian mountains

I have never been to Armenia and I am very sad about it. I have some Armenian friends and I would like to visit them one day. I visited the area around Ararat more than 20 times. Every time when I am near Mount Ararat, I can see the lights of Yerevan that are not very far. On clear days I can even see the mountains near Aragats. It has become my dream to visit those mountains because I like rock climbing and walking around the mountains.

Pavel Dobrovsky

Photo: Pavel Dobrovsky’s archive

I usually plan my trips by old travel or history books, I don’t use the Internet that much and I don’t really follow the social media, because I want to see the history which I believe is very close to the people.

Mount Ararat

Photo: Pavel Dobrovsky

When I visit Turkey, I don’t like to spend my time in Istanbul; I prefer to be in other parts of the country because that is where the real country is. The reason why I visit Turkey so often is that I like the Kurdish people who live around Ararat. I have a good friend there, and every time I visit the area, the same family hosts me - I am sort of a part of their family. I like the area around the mountain, especially because there are no tourists.

Mount Ararat

Photo: Pavel Dobrovsky

Tourists usually want to see the best of what Turkey offers, so they visit Istanbul and the other big cities. Besides, people think Eastern Turkey is a dangerous place to visit.

The first trip

It was in 2001 when I first saw Mount Ararat. I was on the way to Iran. I took a bus from Istanbul to Tehran, and I was sleeping when we reached the border. I woke up, saw Ararat from the window and felt shocked. Of course, I had heard about Ararat - everyone knows it - but I didn’t expect the mountain to be so visible, massive, huge, powerful, strong and beautiful.

Mount Ararat

Photo: Pavel Dobrovsky

Usually, when you see a high mountain, it is surrounded with other mountains, but in this case it is just one. Ararat is special, you can see it from very far; it is a solitary mountain standing there just like a lighthouse to guide you on your way.

I cannot say that one side of the mountain is better than the other side, because mountains are beautiful from the all sides. For me, Ararat is a mountain which is full of history and wisdom. It is very relaxing for me to be near Ararat.

After that trip I decided to come back and climb it, and one or two years later I finally did it. Since then I visit this area every year.

Mount Ararat

Photo: Pavel Dobrovsky

Photos even from banned places

I have one nice story about the part which is called Ahora Gorge. This area is not allowed to visit, but one day I was lucky to get there.

Ahora Gorge

Photo: Pavel Dobrovsky

There was no soldier around, so I just drove and went up to the mountain. There I met a little Kurdish boy, who said that he wanted to show me a special place.

Ahora Gorge

Photo: Pavel Dobrovsky

This boy took me to a small cave which was inside the mountain, the cave was full of Armenian writings on the walls: the Armenian pilgrims left these writings and crosses when they came to the mountain and slept in the caves.

Ahora Gorge

Photo: Pavel Dobrovsky

It was a magical moment. If you ask me whether I have photos of this cave, I would say no, because sometimes to take a picture is to destroy the place, sometimes it is better just to look and leave the place without taking a photo. So I don’t have a picture of the cave, but I have several photos of Ahora Gorge.

People of Ararat

I think the local people appreciate what they have, they are now the people of Ararat: every day they wake up in the morning and see the mountain next to their house. I believe these people are very special and different from other Kurdish people.

Everyone I spoke with had a respect for Armenian culture and people. I can say that the locals are aware about these places, they realize that it is important to preserve them.

Mount Ararat

Photo: Pavel Dobrovsky

There are so many places that are obviously connected with the Armenian history. Besides those churches that everybody knows, there are even small ones, sometimes you can find only ruins and stones, but local people know about them and they would tell you that they used to be Armenian churches. For the locals, Armenian historical buildings are very important as they realize if they preserve them, tourists will specifically come to visit these places.

Amalie Khachatryan