Well today was the first actual day of the tour. We left the hotel at around 0830. We are travelling around in a 12 passenger mini-bus with lots of extra space but small enough that I know the group of us will be getting to know each other very well.
Our first destination was Goreme, a small town in the Cappadocia Region of Turkey. It was about a four hour drive but there were few stops along the way before we got here. The first place we stopped was a the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. This was a great little museum that gives a good run down of the entire human history of the country.
Some of the pottery on display in the museum.
We got a special guided tour of the museum by Turhan, who is just a few months shy of his 81st birthday and has more historical knowledge than any 15 people should have. It was great to follow him around. He continually called it “his museum” and I guess after that many years he can claim it as his. That means we got to get up close to things, he kept touching things that were behind ropes and no alarms went off and nobody yelled at us.
Our great museum tour guide.
The main part of the museum is an original building that was actually built to be a bazaar, which is really obvious when you take a look at the design of the building (and if you have ever been in a bazaar).
Another fun part about the visit is that a large group a school kids were visiting the same time. The tour group, although we are all from North America or Australia, actually does not contain any white people and the kids seemed to find us, the Asians in particular, fascinating. It was like we were the tourist attraction for a while.
Another item on display at the museum.
After the museum we headed over to a very important a special site for Turks. This was the Mustafa Kemal Ataturk Mausoleum.
A soldier in a box. I assure you he is real but just stood very, very still.
Now I mentioned Ataturk in several previous postings. He was the founder of the Republic of Turkey and Turkey’s first president. The Mausoleum was built from 1944 to 1952. The area is quite huge and much larger than I expected. The Republic of Turkey is a very young republic have only been formed by Ataturk in 1923.
One of the monuments at the entrance to the Mausoleum.
Ataturk is still very well respected and revered here in Turkey. There is a small museum on site that contains a collection of his personal items such as clothing, ceremonial swords and knives and even his fitness equipment. Ataturk was very active in sport, especially when it came to children.
Me with the Mausoleum.
He died in 1938, from cirrhosis, although many people feel that his life was shortened because he was being slowly poisoned by his medical staff.
The group at the mausoleum. Eva, Sam, Reshmi, Monica, Liezel, Ed, Winston, Me and Paul.
Once we left the mausoleum we headed for lunch. Ergun (the tour leader) has been trying to make sure we are able to try local food and today actually ordered for us. The food so far as been excellent and the fact that he orders also makes it easier for us. We don't have to try to guess what the menu is saying. I am sure though in a few days we will have it all figured out.
One last look at Ankara.
We then started the 4.5 hour drive to Goreme. Let’s face it, we all slept for a lot of it and since I am like a baby and moving vehicles put me to sleep I was no exception. We did make one stop at Tuzgolu or the salt lake.
Me with the Salt Lake. Yes I am a little cold and I am sure I will be for the next few weeks.
It is only about 2 metres (6.5 feet) deep and around 40 kilometres (24 miles) long but produces a lot of salt for Turkey and other areas as well. When we walked out there it actually looked more like snow. Reminded us Canadians of home.
The rest of the Turkish country side is pretty bare at this point in time. Not a lot of vegetation or colour. I actually think it will look better when it snows. Lots of sheep and goats around and a very nice sunset and then just nothing but darkness.
Some of the random Turkish country side as seen through the van window.
Of course that means that we drove into Goreme in the dark so could not see much although we could see the outline of some of the cave dwellings we have heard so much about. I think it will look great in the morning. The whole group is signed up for a hot air balloon ride in the morning. It should be a lot of fun. Hopefully it will not be too cold and hopefully I will not get vertigo when I look down. I will probably be spending the trip on the inside rail versus the outside rail.
The wonderful sunset.
After checking into our hotel we headed to the Local Restaurant (that is actually the name of the restaurant) for some local food. Tonight we got something I will describe as beef stew. It is cooked for around 2 hours in a clay pot and the pot has to be smashed open to get the food out. The pots can only be used once so I guess that keeps the local pottery shop open for business. We also had some great local wine.
Preparing to open my dinner. It was GOOD!!
Food so far has been very, very good and very cheap. Of course we are getting a few discounts through Ergun but in general food is just priced well here.
It was an early night for us tonight as we are going to have a very full and long day tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing what Cappadocia has to offer.
Julie
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