Onwards to Ankara

 Wednesday 18 September

Our penultimate day starts with another early rising to catch the balloon flights, though there aren't as many today and I think they must have gone up earlier as a couple are already landing as we view from the terrace. 

At breakfast we discover that one of our group, Harry, a lovely young Australian who's on a bit of a world tour, went out for a hike on our return yesterday afternoon, and tripped and fell down a 15m gully about 4km from the hotel. We hadn't seen him at dinner but he wasn't the only one missing and nobody realised that he'd gone out alone. Thankfully people nearby heard his cries for help (his phone had no signal), and the police came and threw down a rope. How he escaped without breaking any of his limbs is a miracle - just a few bumps and scrapes, and he said that the police were concerned only for his welfare and not at all annoyed!

Our first stop today is a pottery where we watch some of the "masters" at work, and the work is truly beautiful. Despite a hefty discount, as with the leather manufacturers the prices reflect the quality and work involved and so I buy only a pretty little oblong dish in which I shall serve elegant snacks like olives. Unfortunately, photography is only allowed when we watch the potter at work as he demonstrates how to make a perfect hollow decanter, so I can't show the finished article as it has about 50 layers of bubble wrap around it for safe transit home.

 


We move on to the Ozkonak underground city, dating back to the first century, where again the Christians sought a solution to protect themselves from Pagan attacks that was even more elaborate than caves. Modelled on similar cities hollowed out by the Hitites something like 4000BC, this ingenious subterranean structure is on 3 levels (livestock lived on the top level) and millstones were in place to be rolled across Raiders of the Lost Ark style to block the entrances if under threat.  

A lengthy drive to the Tuz Golu salt lake which is 80 x 50km and a bit like the tide has gone out and left all the salt behind. About 70% of Turkiye's table salt is harvested there during the summer months. It's a massive tourist attraction with a very basic and chaotic cafeteria and more retail opportunities. I try out and buy some exfoliating salt product and we take a quick turn on the salt flats as the lunch melee has taken up rather too much time, with the best bit being nar suyu, freshly-squeezed pomegranate juice.

We then set off for the capital, Ankara, (named after the Angora goat) and with a population of 5 million. Mustafa Ataturk made it the capital as Istanbul was the capital of the old defeated Ottoman Empire, and following the war of indepence which saw Turkiye become a republic in 1923 he wished to emphasise the changes that brought about. Being inland it's also less vulnerable to attack - had the Allied forces not been routed at Gallipoli, they would have reached Istanbul and the Bosphorus would have given access to central Europe. Our guide is keen to point out that Turks consider themselves to be eastern Mediterranean, not Middle Eastern. 

Ankara is bustling and (at least where we end up) very modern. We check into our very modern hotel and then go for a wander around the neighbourhood (an interesting array of shops, including a whole street with nothing but little flower shop units, and another with nothing but cafes, several of which feature moustachioed gents playing cards and drinking tea. I get some Turkish Lira out of an ATM for guide and driver tips, having found one after several tries that charges no commission fees (one was 9.9%!) We enjoy an apple tea in a pleasant park opposite the hotel, then go back for a sort-out and dinner. 

It's better quality than the last place, but I'm still feeling buffeted out and pick at food without my usual enthusiasm. There is some nice and reasonably-priced wine though, and a bar attached to the hotel where there's a live band doing jazzy cover arrangements of English-speaking artists from Amy Winehouse to Stevie Wonder - they're very entertaining with a bubbly and rather good lead singer, and seven out of our group of ten stick around to enjoy the music. Tomorrow we head back to Istanbul, the final day of the tour.