Fifth Journey Day 125: Children’s Voices, Unheld

"Children’s Voices, Unheld" — Lines drift like laughter on the wind along Lake Van.

Date: September 10, 2025
Location: Van, Turkey

In Van, on the eastern shore of Lake Van, I followed the lake’s weather and a hush that belongs to this high plateau of Turkey. The water here is mineral-rich and ancient, and the wind carries a cool, stony scent that slows the day to the lake’s pace.

Wind Off Lake Van

Today felt slow, as if the lake wanted me to go at its speed. I walked toward Lake Van, drawn by the shimmer I had glimpsed from the bus window. The streets were quieter here than in other cities. They were more spread out, with pockets of stillness between voices. When I got to the water, the wind hit me first. It was cool and strong, and it smelled like stone and salt. The lake's surface looked bigger than normal, stretching on forever, as if another sky had been placed at my feet.

Traces in Motion

I sat on a low rock that had been smoothed over by the passage of time, and I felt the breeze on my face. The sound was like water breathing, and I couldn't sketch it quickly enough. My pencil followed the movement anyway, tracing shifting lines, arcs that dissolved even before they were complete. I thought about how water always moves, even when you try to stop it, and how this movement leaves a trace.

Shared Quiet by the Shore

Children passed by, their laughter carried away by the wind. A fisherman sat nearby, completely still. We shared the same view without saying anything. I liked that. There's a special connection when you're quiet together, and the lake speaks more than we do.

Choosing Stillness Over Sketching

As I left, I noticed how the light had changed. It was a softer silver color, almost looking bruised at the edges of the clouds. The city behind me felt less real than the water before me. I felt the air on my skin, saw the lines in my notebook that weren't finished, and thought that sometimes the most important thing is to stay still and let the world show you what it wants to.

Travel Notes

• Weather: Pale skies with thin clouds; 18°C; a steady lake breeze that felt cool and mineral on the skin.
• Scents: Stone and salt from the alkaline water; a faint mineral tang riding the wind.
• Sounds: Water breathing against the rocks; children’s laughter snatched and scattered by gusts; the hush of a patient fisherman.
• Reflection: Movement leaves its own record—sometimes the truest sketch is the pause that lets the landscape draw itself.

Continue the Journey

You might also enjoy the city’s contrast in Fourth Journey Day 157: Market Fragments from Istanbul—another rhythm, another Turkish shoreline of sound and color.