Cappadocia – Ankara - Istanbul

We have had long days traveling and sight seeing from Cappadocia to Ankara (the capital of Turkey) then onto Istanbul. The Wonders of Turkey tour has now finished - 11 days goes so quickly - and we have two days to ourselves in Istanbul. We can't believe how many tourists are traveling - everything is booked out but we have have enjoyed ourselves and had an opportunity to taste most aspects of Turkey.

 We made our way from the Conrad Hotel across the Bosphorous to the Old City for our two nights in the Yasmak Sultan Hotel, right in the middle of everything. Visited the Spice Market this afternoon and a had a great dinner (not Buffet again) in a Turkish restaurant sitting on big pillows on the ground enjoying the 'real deal'.

Here is our group photo, taken after a 1.5 hour cruise on the Bosphorus. The coach tour was full with 40 travelers and a mixed group of ages. We shared good times with Quinn & Renee from New Zealand,  Donna & John from Canada, Maria from the Blue Mountains, Angelina & David from Queensland and Glen & Mary from the United States. 

Ankara - we visited Ataturk Mausoleum, Ankara’s most imposing site with views over the city. We walked around, took some photos and moved on as we had a 450 km drive back to Istanbul. Ankara is just a big capital city - modern, congested with traffic and  not particularly inspiring. The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations and Ataturk's Mausoleum are the only places really worth visiting.

Cappadocia to Ankara  -On our way to Ankara we stopped at Avanos to see a demonstration of beautiful decorative pottery that is produced in the area. We watched a potter make a wine decanter and then were shown how the paint and glaze are applied before being led into the showroom. It is a family run business and attracts a number of tourist buses.Cheap day today - only two tiles for 30 Turkish Lira

Turkish Carpet Demonstration - we saw ladies working on carpets and were explained how the value of a carpet is calculated – all in the number of knots per cm and the material (wool, silk etc). The viewing of the various types of carpets was amazing as they spread them out around us while we had lunch - there are so many types of Turkish carpets. The co-operative markets the carpets on behalf of the local makers and foreign purchasers are offered a discount and free shipping to your door (no customs duty as shipped to a broker in Australia first)

Of course, the whole idea of this is not so much to educate but to sell the tourists a carpet. And yes, we are now the proud owners of a genuine Turkish Carpet