Ankara and Beyond

Our day began with a visit to the Anatolia Museum of Antiquities where we saw a number of exhibits from the various cultures that have controlled Anatolia (or Asia Minor). Anatolia is the name of the high plain in central Turkey, although it is often used to denote the entire peninsula. It is often called The Cradle of Civilization and the Crossroads of Civilizations. It is the Cradle of Civilization because ancient Mesopotamia, where civilization started, was comprised of modern day central Anatolia and Iraq. It is the Crossroads of Civilizations because many of the world's early cultures came through this area and stayed to control it for a while (this includes early stone age through iron age cultures, Hittites, Lydians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Mongols, Arabs, and Ottomans). This museum chronicles them all.

We then went to the tomb of Ataturk. As we previously described, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk created the modern, secular Turkish state out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire and World War I. The tomb complex contains a complete chronicle of his life and therefore the history of modern Turkey.







Then it was onto the bus for a ride to Cappadocia. While on this ride through the middle of nowhere, we noticed that our tour guide kept getting cell phone calls. It seems that Turkey is very well advanced with modern communications capabilities. If an area like this can have good cell phone coverage, it's strange that Gualala can't get the same.

While on the road, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the motorway and had the best food we ever had at this kind of establishment. The Turks love to eat!

Cappadocia is an area of west/central Anatolia where many civilizations have settled. Our first stop was at a thousand-year-old ruin of a caravanserai. The old silk road runs through this area. The silk road is not a single road but a general route that traders followed to trade with China and points west for silk, spices and other luxuries; it often took up to two years to make this journey and the route was fraught with dangers, especially from bandits. Since a camel could travel about thirty kilometers a day, the rulers built way stations at that distance apart. These stations, or caravanserai, were a combination of fort, police station and hotel; the caravan crews stayed there for safety at night. The ruins we visited are the remains of an ancient post for the guards. It is constructed of massive stone walls which have a number of fine carvings.

We arrived at our hotel and had a delicious dinner, We're getting hooked on Turkish food, especially baklava! We then went to a night club to see an exhibition of native folk dancing (including a belly dancer). This club is completely carved out of the soft local rock and is a series of large rooms in caves.