Advertisement
Published: September 3rd 2013
Hello my fellow travelers!
This is the first of 18 posts that I'll make about a solo trip I did to Turkey and the Balkans in August 2013 and it will cover my first day in Ankara.
The trip started out a bit poorly as my backpack broke at the airport in Copenhagen but it picked up as I met a nice girl named Amina on the plane and spent the duration of the flight talking to her.
When I arrived in the morning I actually hadn't exchanged to any lira yet, I don't know why, I just guess I counted on my card to bring me where I needed to go but that wasn't quite right. Fortunately the bus driver was a nice man and let me ride for free to Kızılay Square. First things first, I needed a new backpack so I headed into the big Kızılay Shopping Mall and picked one up along with some toothpaste and mouthwash since mine had been thrown away at the airport security in Copenhagen (damn size limit).
I decided to start my exploration by checking out the Güven Park which is located right next to the Kızılay Square,
Hall of Honor
Anıtkabir, Ankarathere I saw the monument
To a Secure, Confident Future which was erected in 1935 and which bears a message from Atatürk to his people. From there I headed up to the massive Anıtkabir which is Kemal Atatürk's mausoleum and I have to say that this one is a must visit! It is a real landmark and when you're in Ankar you should pay your respect to the founder of this nation.
At the mausoleum there is also a museum which is really good and you should definitely visit it, the fact that it is free of charge makes it even better. There are lots of gorgeous murals here, including one of Seyit Çabuk, a Turkish soldier who is famous for carrying three heavy shells to an artillery piece during the Allied attempt to force the Dardanelles in 1915. There's also very touching scenery of the War of Independence. These are complete with sound effects for a very immersive experience.
After a few hours at the Anıtkabir I decided to head to the Ulus area, this is basically the old town of Ankara and where all the old Roman ruins are located. On the way I stopped by
a nice restaurant and ate some grilled kebab. After a hearty meal I continued towards the Ulus area but I lost my way and ended up in the Gençlik Park. Fortunately I managed to find a nice gentleman there that led me the rest of the way. I thanked him and we said goodbye before he continued with his day, free of crazy swedes.
Ulus area is actually quite easy to recognize with the Victory Monument that stands upon its square. Unfortunately I was really tired and completely missed the Roman Baths even though I passed like two hundred meters away from them. I did however check out the Temple of Augustus and Rome and the adjacent Hacı Bayram Mosque. Next to the mosque is a
türbe which means tomb in Turkish but the structure is more similar to what we would consider a mausoleum. This is the tomb of Hacı Bayram-ı Veli, inside it I spoke to several locals who were all very friendly and eager to tell me about the life of Hacı Bayram-ı Veli. He was a teacher to the Ottoman Sultan Murad II and he successfully predicted the conquest of Constantinople. He seems to be
quite revered here and the mosque was quite packed with worshipers.
From there I passed by the Column of Julian before I headed up to the massive Ankara Castle, it was a really sweaty hike up with my backpack but I made it. It is a nice castle but much of the area have been turned into lower level living quarters which is a shame, but at least the view from up there was stunning. On the way up I also got a nice view of the Roman theater situated beneath the hill.
When my visit of the castle was done it was time to head back to Kızılay Square to meet up with my host Tunç, I was late and had to take a taxi there but taxis are quite cheap and it only cost me 10 lira. Unfortunately though Tunç and me had misunderstood each other. I was under the impression that we were meeting at the square at 6 pm while he thought that I was going to call him to confirm. So I was sitting there at the square for over an hour, surrounded by throngs of police in full riot gear. The police
Worshippers
Hacı Bayram Mosque, Ankara was still on high alert due to the riots that shook Turkey in 2013, I really hoped that I wouldn't get caught up in anything during my stay.
The main issue at hand though was that for some reason my phone wasn't working so instead I went to a nearby internet café and looked up his Tunç's address and then I set off to find his apartment instead. This took me quite some time because Ankara isn't the easiest city to navigate and no one seemed to know where anything is.
After a while of searching and asking I finally came upon a great young man who helped me right up to the doorstep of the apartment complex. Tunç wasn't home right then so my newly found guide even called him for me. It turned out that he had thought I wasn't coming since I hadn't called him so he had just gone around the corner to pick up some food, perfect timing actually because I was getting quite hungry.
I thanked the young man for his help and then me and Tunç spent a nice evening eating pizza, drinking some wine and Turkish tea while talking
Victorious!
Ankara Castle, Ankara about travels, spirituality and anything else that came to mind.
When I told Tunç that I'm a agnostic he didn't know what it was but when I explained it to him he said that it's similar to how he feels and he appreciated learning that term. He's a really nice guy that's very easy to talk to. He has a son but I didn't get to meet him since the boy was with his mother for the weekend. I wish I could spend more time with him and keep this interesting conversation going but the next day I was off for Istanbul with a night bus.
The next post will be about my second day in Ankara and until then I wish you all peace and happy travels!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.667s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 37; qc: 170; dbt: 0.5101s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.7mb
