Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
DAY 5
A bit of history on Ankara this morning before leaving. We learnt that Angora is the old name for Ankara and they have 3 indigenous animals in the region - Angora Goats, Rabbits & Cats.
We started today with a visit to the Museum Of Anatolian Civilizations to see the unique collections of Hittite sun discs, stag cult figures & reliefs and Phrygian metalwork. Our favourite was a 4,000 year old letter written in stone and encased in a stone envelope!
On the road towards Cappadocia.
Izzet mentioned granulated apple tea was the best - need to keep an eye out for this at the next supermarket.
Our first roadhouse stop came at lunchtime. We shared a pita with meat which was basically a Turkish pizza... Very nice actually! The two men in the gift shop thought I was from Canada.
Travelling through central Anatolia we then stopped at the great salt lake Tuz Golu for a photo opportunity. We were treated with a salt scrub experience to our hands, which felt amazing!
Back on the road again and the next roadhouse stop was a quick visit to a supermarket for bottled water and an ice cream from Mado :). The guy in the supermarket was very friendly and Aleisha confused him by saying "Hi". He taught me a new word "Gule Gule" which means "Goodbye", or "Go with a smile on your face".
Arrived at 4pm at our hotel, Peri Tower Hotel and only 50 mins to get ready for our evening entertainment. It seems we were lucky enough to get a suite - there were only 4 offered for our entire group!! To me it's still just a very basic room, but we have a double balcony (1 wraps around the building) and the room itself is quite large in size - according to the others this constitutes a suite! The balcony has views out over the shopping area, which looks really nice at night. No kettle again and bad water pressure in the shower., but the room has plenty of room to move around even with suitcases on the floor. Need to mention at this point - I HATE living out of a suitcase!!! The hotel has a nice little gift shop and sells the gorgeous mosaic lamps that I love. They also have the usual Turkish spa and sauna etc, but it's not free here as it's not owned by the hotel.
Tonight we attended the traditional ceremony of the Whirling Dervishes in a Caravansary, which dates back to the 13th century. With the best seats in the house, and in the front row, we watched the spiritual dance take place. I must admit it was difficult to know what was going on as the chanting etc was all in Turkish and the constant whirling just made me tired - I struggled to keep my eyes open! Afterwards we were all treated to a glass of traditional hot Chay - a blend of cinnamon, clove, ginger and pomegranate tea.... Absolutely delicious!!!
Back to the motel for a buffet dinner - not too shabby. The highlight was a chocolate profiterole for dessert. :)
- comments