pinkbirdflies

Explored the Anatolian Civilisation Museum of Ankara exhibiting a rich collection of archaeological artifacts from Anatolia. We then visited the Mausoleum of Turkey’s much revered leader Ataturk responsible for secularisation of Turkey, kind of like the war memorial in Canberra with a good depiction of the battle of Gallipoli. We drove to the region of Cappadocia through treeless, hilly to flat country with a lot of wheat production. A highlight was the massive Tuz Golu, a salt lake and one of the richest salt producing beds in the world. We then entered Cappadocia which was formed a millennium ago as volcanic ash first settled then hardened into soft rock, finally eroding forming the strange but fascinating spires, domes, pinnacles, gorges and “fairy chimneys”. Tried out the Turkish Hammam which was an interesting experience of scrubbing, sauna, massage on a large circular stone slab and wash down followed by apple tea which is quite delicious. Went to a ‘cave’ restaurant for meze, a Turkish beer and the traditional Pottery Kebab which we all had to break open.