ANKARA
Day Three -- It is a 6 hour drive to Ankara. We cross the Bosporus, leaving Europe behind, and head for more than two weeks in Asia. On the way we learn a lot about the history, geography and culture of Turkey. The country is about the size of Texas and comprises 7 climatic regions. It has the 2nd largest army after the USA. With compulsory military training they have more soldiers than they know what to do with. With a $150 billion budget, 22% goes to the military and 8% goes to education. It is no wonder we will see so many military personnel and installations as we traverse the country. Another reason it is essential to have an active military is its relationship with some of its neighbors. It is bounded by the countries of Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Greece and Bulgaria, and the waters of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea. Turkey is separated from itself by the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Dardanelles. On the other side of Iran (many miles away) is Afghanistan. Our guide jokes that the one thing he would like to trade us Texas for is its neighbors.
We pull out our handy Baedecker's map which we will use to follow our route throughout the journey. We know that we will be traveling about 2500 miles and we want to be able to retrace the entire route when we arrive back home.
Ankara was declared the capital of Turkey in 1923 by its new president, Kemal Ataturk. He probably designated it the capital because of its more central location and to create a city that reflected his desire to have the country and its people come under the influence of a western designed environment. Symbolically the moving of the capital also represented a new beginning and it was considered safer to have the capital more central than Istanbul, which is located on the border.
Ataturk's Mausoleum
Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) was Turkey's George Washington, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln combined. He was a hero of the World War I battle of Gallipoli and the leader of the war to drive the Greeks from Turkey. He created a republic and a secular, western oriented society. He was the president of the Republic of Turkey, from 1923 until 1938, when he died. Every town we visit seems to have his statue in its town square.
A note of human interest regarding Ataturk is that he was married for only 1 1/2 years but adopted 7 children, six daughters, and one son, whom he raised by himself. He educated all of them and one of his daughters became the first female war pilot in the world. We think this is pretty amazing for a man of his time and background. He becomes a compelling figure whom we want to learn more about when we return home.
Changing of the guards at the mausoleum.
Kocatepi Mosque is the largest mosque in Turkey and holds about 15,000 people. This is a view of it from the grounds of the mausoleum.
Kocatepi Mosque
We spend a good bit of time in the Ankara Museum where Fatih proves to be an able and enthusiastic lecturer. His passion for archaeology is limitless and we are to learn a great deal on this trip. Among other things, we see frescos dating back to the 6th century BC, representations of mother goddesses dating back to 7000 BC, and the oldest sickles in the world. We learn about and see examples of cuneiform (used for record keeping) and hieroglyphics (used for ceremonial writing). We are informed that the origin of hieroglyphics is the Anatolia area of Turkey and not Egypt, as is popularly thought. It is here in this museum that we get a real sense of the word "scapegoat" from its depiction in ancient art forms. It is the goat that dies to save everyone else. Of course we knew that before but in this moment it becomes more compelling.
Ankara Museum
Day Four - After one night at our hotel, which was advertised as five-star and actually is, from where we have an unexcelled view of the mausoleum, (quite impressive lit up at night) and the Kocatepi Mosque, we head toward the Cappadocia region of the country.
We make several stops along the way...
Camel Caravanserai
Karatay Han
A han or caravanserai was a resting place for caravans and travelers. They were built a day's journey (10-18 miles) apart and maintained by the government. Travelers could stay for up to three days free. (Of course, the government did levy a 45% tax on merchants to finance its good works!) The structure we visit near Aksaray was built from 1231 to 1239. Hans were operated until the late 18th century and can still be seen in many cities in the central region of Turkey.As we traverse the country by van we see many goat herders and shepherds just like in biblical times and one-story homes that look like pictures from the same era. Marie's heart skips a beat as it brings back Sunday School lessons from many years ago. Because of the movement of the van we are sorely disappointed that we are not able to capture any this on film.
We also see many seasonal workers harvesting in the fields. In this area of the country the crop is potatoes. In other parts of Turkey or other seasons migrant workers harvest tobacco, honeydew and watermelon, figs, peaches, grapes, and cotton.
Another stop is about half-way between Ankara and Neveshir, the largest city in the Cappadocia region, where we will be staying. This stop is the largest lake in Turkey. However it is pure salt. It was quite an experience to walk on the surface. It is similar to the Dead Sea but much more shallow, with a depth of 3 to 6 feet. When it fills with rain, it can be up to three times the area of the Dead Sea. It is so vast that it has continually been mined, dating at least back to Roman times. In ancient times the mined salt was distributed throughout the region by trains of hundreds of camels carrying up to 600 pounds of salt each. For more information regarding this unusual wonder you may want to go to http://www.salt.org.il/turkey.html.
Tuz Golu
(Salt Lake)
As we enter the Cappadocia region we see the remains of one of the oldest Christian settlements in Turkey, that of the Rum people. We also visit an underground city that dates to 399 AD.
Early Christian settlement of the Rum People
As we understand it, the Rum people (or Urums) were ancient Greek Christians who lived in Turkey and were forced to leave the area when the Turks defeated the Greek armies in a series of wars for control of Turkey. One story we are told is that they went back to Greece. But from trying to do some research on the web we wonder if they are the same group who settled in what is now the Ukraine. If so they are a minority group which continues to live in the Ukraine. The picture above is a deserted community which they inhabited.
Ozkonak
The underground cities of Cappadocia have sections that may date back 2600 to 4000 years. They were built by people as refuges from the many invaders who traveled the region over the centuries. With many levels, the "cities" had living quarters, storage areas, kitchens, ventilating shafts and chapels. Openings could be sealed off by huge circular stones to keep out attackers. Passageways create a confusing maze and some tunnels are less than 4 feet tall. The site we visited originally had 13 floors, each 4 to 6 meters deep, and we visited the first four floors which were open to the public. All in all it isn't a good place for claustrophobic Tom to spend much time. (He manages to enjoy it, but is happy to see daylight again.) To Marie it is a reminder of her tour of the more confining Cuchi tunnels of Vietnam. Our guide, Fatih, confesses to us afterwards that the first time he led a group into the city, he got lost and spent three and one half hours leading the tour until he found his way out. We're glad we weren't with him on that trip!
7th Century Church
13th Century Mosque
Like many of the places of worship that we see in Turkey and saw in Spain, it was not unusual to convert a building from one faith to another as the new religion became dominant in the country. Fatih had hoped to get a key to this building so that we could see the inside but he is unable to do so.
Even though we aren't able to see the interior of the place of worship we are delighted to be joined by a group of ragamuffin, curious, happy children who wanted to interact with us. We are impressed by how kindly our drivers and guide treat them. They wipe the runny nose of one small boy, give him a package of tissues and warm words. The also make a point of introducing each of the children to us by name, age and their relationships with each other. A touching interaction.
And so we continue our journey in the Cappadocia region...
