Blogs from Ankara, Central Anatolia, Turkey, Middle East - page 2

Heute verbrachte ich den Vormittag mit meinem neuen Freund Can, der Obermotorradmechaniker bei BMW Ankara. Am Vortag wurde ich aufgefordert, genau um 8.45 zu kommen, denn schließlich müsse man mich einplanen. Natürlich war ich punktgenau da, hätte aber auch zu beliebig anderer Zeit kommen können - es war kein anderer MR Kunde da. Es gibt auch nur einen Mechaniker, Can, und einen Lehrling. Paulchen wurde also in die Werkstatt gefahren, der Lehrling machte sich an die Arbeit und immer wenn er nicht weiter wusste, rief er Can an, der dann vom Schreibtisch aufsprang und in die Werkstatt sauste. Die Gummimanschette am Kardan war abgerissen, es dauerte 2 Stunden bis alles wieder dran war, Paulchen wurde auch noch gewaschen. Ich verbrachte inzwischen die Zeit damit, das ich Can zuschaute, wie der den Auftrag ausfüllte, dann tauschten wir ... read more

We didn't do much in Ankara we just saw the grave of the first and seconded president of Turkey, we also saw his fancy cars and what they used to move his body to the tome it was a really interesting place. We then went to a city under ground it was started being built in the 7 hundreds. It was AMAZING we only saw 10%and it could fit 3000 people for 6-7 weeks. The city had 8 floors but the first 3 floors are just storage to fool the attackers. We then went to Cappodicia we had supper and went to bed. Good night all. Snake Wangler... read more

In Ankara is the mausoleum of the first President of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Our guide Ibo, brought to life this incredible man and his accomplishments through his thoughtful explanations which also touch on the humorous and human. Therefor, when we went through the mausoleum and museum, I was moved to tears. The Mausoleum is huge due to the awesome dimensions of the architecture, with simple clean marble lines and huge open spaces. The museum attached tries to teach of the difficult, painful sacrificial nature of the war that had to be fought to gain independence, democracy. It does not glorify. The museum also describes the hopes and dreams for the future of Turkey with explanations of the reforms that were made. Finally, the museum gave you glimpses of the man behind it all, through old ... read more

Hello my fellow travelers! This is the second of 18 posts I'll make about my trip to Turkey and the Balkans in 2013 and it will cover my second day in Ankara. The first visit of the day was the magnificent Kocatepe Mosque, built between 1967 and 1987. It was located quite literally just around the corner from where I was staying and I definitely recommend visiting it. It's very large and intricately decorated, and even better there was hardly any people there. The inside is beautiful with a really ornamented minbar (pulpet) and mihrab (the wall facing Mecca). From the mosque I took a bus back to Ulus and made my way over to the Roman baths, it's quite well preserved and a nice open air museum. Entrance was only three lira and was well ... read more

CAPPADOCIA TO ANKARA, TURKEY—Monday, May 13, 2013 Altinyazi Hotel, Avanos, Cappadocia Region At 6:15 we watched the balloons again this morning. Today they went up and most stayed very low and then came toward town and the hotel much closer than yesterday. There were about 50 in the air at one time. Valerie got better pictures this morning as it was a little clearer. We heard at breakfast that someone from another tour group staying at this hotel got hurt when a balloon hit a house. They did look low enough to do so. As we were boarding the bus a group came back toting their very muddy, grassy shoes in their hands--guess they had to get out in a muddy, wet field after their ride. (On a sad note, while in Istanbul, we learned that ... read more