Ankara

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December 1 - 3, 2006

Friday

We arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara late in the afternoon. While Istanbul ranks as the historic and cultural hub of Turkey, Ankara was selected to serve as the Turkish capital in 1923 as part of the revolution (Ataturk preferred the isolated, authentically Anatatolian geography in making a symbolic distinction between the new and old regimes). At the close of World War I and the subsequent foundation of the Republic of Turkey Ankara had a population of around 20,000 people, somewhat more tidy than today’s mass of four million.

From the bus station, a massive, multi-level complex that just has to be seen to be believed, we decided to take the subway to Kiziray. While we were trying to figure out the fare system for the subway a guy stopped and asked us, in English, if we needed help. We don’t get that too often, unless someone wants to sell us something, and we were thankful for the help. We must have looked like terrible idiots to attract the young man’s attention in the first place. After our experience traveling we have sworn to jump to assist foreign visitors to the US when we get home. There is just nothing like the confusion and frustration that comes with being a stranger in a strange land.

In Kiziray, a bustling, congested, urban corridor of a neighborhood, Amy stayed with the bags while Roger went to check out some rooms. After some fruitless, frustrating minutes we ended up stopping in at a travel agency across the street from where Amy waited with the bags, and they were kind enough to book us a room at Enerji Otel for 85 Turkish Lira ($65) a night. The hotel was actually quite nice with free breakfast, free wifi in the lobby, and a two room suite complete with TV and couch. After getting settled we went out to explore the very busy area around our hotel which had tons of fast food (Turkish style), restaurants, cafes and internet.

For a pre-dinner splurge we stopped at Gloria Jeans for coffee - 6 TL for filtered coffee and specialty drinks in the 9 - 13 TL range. After coffee we visited an internet café across the street that featured slow internet and freezing temperatures.

We ended up eating dinner right by our hotel, drawn into the restaurant by pictures of iskender kebab and kunefe in their window. We really enjoyed the restaurant, Urfali Kevap at Bayindir Sokak No. 9/B. The staff didn’t speak English but they had a picture menu and we knew what we wanted anyway (when we ordered drinks two guys at the next table translated Roger’s cherry drink request for him - the Turks appear to love cherry juice). We had iskender kebab (delicious) and some thing similar that was like a rolled quesadilla cut into pieces with the same ingredients as the iskender kebab. Afterwards we had tea and kunefe (which was good but not life changing like the first one we had) and the whole bill was 26 TL ($20).

We closed our day back at the hotel watching Grey’s Anatomy.

Saturday

After enjoying the large breakfast spread put on by the hotel we headed to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, an archeology museum located in a ten-domed 15th century covered market. We spent the better part of an hour wandering around trying to find it because the maps in Lonely Planet stink (a consistent problem with that little blue book) and the street signage was somewhat inconsistent.

Our time at the museum was shared with lots of school groups, bustling in and out of the fantastic and detailed exhibits recording the vastness of the region’s history. The museum was very well signed in English and was pretty interesting (even for those a little weary of museums) and featured lots of pottery, jewelry, and stone works from ancient times. Among our favorite exhibits was the collection of tiny written tablets that represented everything from a marriage certificate to a divorce certificate to a loan agreement. We’d never seen anything like that and it was very interesting. The building that the museum was housed in was also beautiful, an ancient indoor marketplace that has been carefully preserved.

After our visit to the museum we walked to the citadel, Ankara Kalesi, a fortress that took its current shape around the 9th century AD. Walking uphill to the ancient fortress the streets were lined with women in headscarves selling household items or souvenirs. We walked around the wall a little bit taking in the smoky views of Ankara. Along the walls there were a few kids selling jewelry and other trinkets for 1 TL. They had the same charm as the hustling kids we’d encountered in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia, sharing little jokes and pitching their wares in English. Inside the walls of the citadel the maze of streets held houses that looked a little rundown and cafes aimed squarely at tourists. We didn’t stay long because we didn’t like the atmosphere. It seems that big groups descend on this area of town, flooding in for free views of the city and a walk around the walls, and then leaving without contributing anything to the people who live among the citadel itself. On our way out we bought two bracelets from some of the kids who, like vendors we encountered in other areas of Turkey, were not very pushy, offering their goods once or not at all. The kids were happy to make the pair of sales and did not ask for us to buy more.

As we wound through the streets of the citadel we saw several groups of kids goofing off in scenes reminiscent of what the movies make Brooklyn look like in the 1950s. Big grins, wiseass laughter, loud firecrackers…. Had the close quarters not exaggerated the cracks of the fireworks we might have lingered a bit longer, though we did stop to watch three little boys sled down the stone roadway in trashcan lids. For such a well visited tourist area we felt a little like voyeurs in the citadel, marching into such an intimately acquainted village.

Our next stop was to visit the tomb of Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey and a celebrated military hero. Before entering the massive park area dedicated to the tomb we stopped to eat, taking advantage of the lack of facilities nearby to indulge Roger’s desire to try Turkish fast food, in this case, Wimpy Burgers. Roger had a burger and fries and Amy had meatballs which came with bread, fries and salad. Upstairs there was a kid’s birthday party going on with continuous music and dancing. As we sat and ate we were able to watch the employees catering to the party running up and down the stairs grabbing food, delivering treats, napkins, etc. We managed to steal looks at the party, subtly we are sure, when we went upstairs to visit the restroom. The polished up little kids, all formally dressed for the affair, were adorable, particularly as they engaged in traditional dance.

After lunch, we passed through a metal detector and then walked up a long road that ends in a stone walkway that leads to Ataturk’s tomb. The impressive walkway, with stone lions on each side, concludes at a large, open plaza, itself lined with several buildings. The peripheral buildings feature exhibits about the construction of the space and display various state and personal cars used by Ataturk. There is also a room showing movies about Ataturk, in Turkish, and a library. There is a large museum that wraps around and beneath the tomb that gets very backed up with visitors. There is an enormous amount of information on Ataturk and his co-revolutionaries, including a display of his immense personal library, as well as information on various wars, war commanders and the sweeping reforms Ataturk declared when he was president. The information on the reforms, particularly pertaining to the transition from the culture under Ottoman rule to a more westernized society, sometimes seemed a bit far reaching, but the combination of reverence for the man and the unique place in the world that Turkey holds today as the only Muslim democracy, really intrigued us both.

The tour route, essentially a congested river of people snaking through the marble and stone corridors, winds into the mausoleum (rather, the doorway to the mausoleum, Ataturk is below in the tomb). The building is very beautiful and has a lot of nice space, both to accommodate visitors and to offer education and reflection.

On our way out we stumbled upon the changing of the guard, a small parade of marching officers who proceed from one corner of the tomb area to another, collecting the guards on duty, passing along orders, and dropping off fresh guards. After the ceremony is complete the procession moves back down the long stone walkway and over the hill. The whole process was very ceremonial and unlike procedures we had seen at any other place during our travels. Virtually every step of the guards’ procession was mirrored by a large crowd and it was very fun to watch (we admit, we followed along, too).

Our final stop was back at the bus station to check on times for buses to Safranbolu the next day. The huge number of competing bus companies and the efficient Turkish bus system allowed us to find the information quickly before we headed back to Gloria Jeans for coffee.

For dinner we went to a small restaurant that served a local specialty called manti, a dish composed of very small pieces of pasta, hand rolled, and stuffed with meat. The restaurant caught our eye when we walked by because there were seven women sitting in front of the dining area making the ravioli fresh. We shared a plate of meat-stuffed manti and it was delicious (the other time we had tried it had been vegetarian).

After dinner we spent some time looking for internet service, and for reasons we still cannot understand no one would let us use our laptop. We eventually used a place where at first we thought we could use our computer, but it turned out we couldn’t, but we stayed anyway. Before returning to our hotel we also spent some time looking for Amy’s face soap, Cetaphil. Going into stores and asking for it makes you feel a bit like a prima donna but the fact of the matter is that we have been able to find western products everywhere on our trip but no luck on Cetaphil in Turkey.

Soapless we opted for a second dinner, returning to the same restaurant as the night before and dining on the same quesadilla thing, again, and sampling their delicious pide. Our night concluded in the lobby of our hotel trying to download TV shows.

Sunday

We had breakfast (while checking email), checked out and headed to the bus station, which is like the size of an airport. At 10:30 we boarded a bus to Safranbolu. Numerous people we encountered had encouraged us not to visit Ankara. It is a big city, and a new city, to be sure, but the museum, Ataturk’s tomb, and several exceptional meals made the trip more than worthwhile.

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