Ankara

Now, personally I didn’t really have a need to come here but then I did not want to go back to Istanbul either. Seeing that Ankara was only a 5 hour bus ride away the choice was an easy one to make in the end.
My hotel was near the old castle and the museum of Anatolian civilisation. These were really the only two places that I wanted to go to and seeing that I only had one full day in the city it would be enough to keep me busy.

On the Saturday I woke up nice and early and walked the short distance up the hill to the castle. The castle is kind of cool. Inside the fortifications was an old fashioned Turkish village. It had small winding lanes passing along houses in various styles and states of repair or collapse, depending on how you looked at it.

From there it was a short stroll to the museum.

Somehow back in 1997 it was voted the best museum in Europe! Not sure how they came to that conclusion…maybe tactical voting took place. Don’t get me wrong it was a very well presented but it was small. You would think that they would have loads of stuff to put in it. The Greek equivalent in Athens was about 20 times larger and Turkish history is just as rich and varied as anywhere else.

So…I had the afternoon free. What to do in Ankara with time on your hands. There is only one answer. It was time to go to the centre of the cult of personality that is Kemel Ataturk. His mausoleum is sited on high ground and looks out over the city.


And that is it for Turkey...next country please!