Ottoman Heartlands

So after the ruins it was time for a short break as told in my last message so I opted to go into the old Ottoman heartland...

First stop Ankara! Ankara is quite expensive, but I met some cool Turkish students who walked around with me as I was sightseeing and later took me for dinner... Thanks Halil and Gokhan!

After this I went to Safranbolu a town which has preserved all the old ottoman houses. The people were really friendly and laid back and I was whisked into many a shop, not to sell me stuff, no... For having a tea with me and strike up a conversation!

Then on to Amasra on the Black Sea coast another laid back place... Than it was time for a two day trip to Sinop, not that I planned to take two days to get there, but busses are rather thinly spread on the ground so I got about half way and there were no more busses going onward.. The scenery was amazing though with the road winding it's way along the valleys of the Black Sea coast... Sinop is nice, but it was raining so I didn't do that much walking around.

From Sinop I went to Amasy via Samsun... Again it was raining and by this time I was thinking I had been cursed as it seemed to be following me around, but as I went out to look at the Pontic tombs which are carved out in the cliffs surrounding the town, the sun miraculously appeared... Not cursed after all...

Than on to Hattusa, a word of advice for those planning to visit: don't go on a weekend as there are no minibusses to the village and you will be forced like me to take a taxi for forty lira!! The minibus costs two lira... On the upside with my long expired student card I did get into the site for free!

Than it was time for Cappadocia with it's weird landscape, underground cities, cave dwellings and many, many rock hewn churches, some with incredible frescoes... And the laid back atmosphere makes things all the more enjoyable…

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Part of trip: The great journey east!

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