Ankara 2

Incidentally if you are wondering Ankara is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable. There are no photos for today so I'll make this short.


I had all day to spend before the night train. A had to work, so I took myself to sightsee Ankara. I tried to find the THY (Turkish Airlines) office to reconfirm my return flight as they were handling agents for MH, but got redirected to the next suburb, so decided not to bother. I went to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. Turkey, or Asia Minor in the past, is a very ancient land. Artifacts from the beginning of recorded history have been found. The Turkish language comes from Central Asia so multiple civilisations have overlaid this part of the world. You might remember that the Old Testament mentions Hittites. Well, they lived in Anatolia. Archaeology and history aren't my favourite subjects, but I was impressed by the wealth of artifacts displayed. I think photography was not permitted in the museum otherwise I would have a souvenir of this visit.


After walking around the market area of Ankara, for lunch I found a sitdown kebab place near A's workplace and had one of the specialties: Gaziantep Kebap. It was delicious, filling and cheap; came up to about $3 converted. I looked for the two recommended bookstores. One was moribund, the other was nowhere to be found. Victims of the economic downturn? I bought some cherries for my hosts and made my way back to A's office. Watched them work for a while. It reminded me of my workdays back home. When a terminal became free, A let me check my email, but there was nothing urgent.


After dinner they drove me to the train station and we said our goodbyes. A said he might visit me later in the year to check out the employment situation in Australia, and perhaps do some diving, his passion. And then I was headed westwards into the night.