Awesome Ankara

In many ways Ankara reminded us of Canberra.  Although it is ten times bigger than Canberra, the locals seem to have the same attitude towards their capital city as Australians.  Turks tend to view their capital city as a bit boring but we found the place charming, full of beautiful parks and fountains.  Unlike Canberra though, walking around Ankara you will stumble upon 3000 year old Roman ruins, but more on that later.

Ankara skyline

Charming Park near the Citadel

One of many fountains

Flower gardens

Fountains at night

More fountains

Sunset near the mosque and Roman ruins

Wonderful scultures

Our main reason for coming to Ankara was to get some medical treatment for Bob who never fully recovered from his horrible bout of gastro in Varanassi.  We went to Baskent University Hospital and received fantastic care.  The entire staff were very professional and incredibly helpful.  The facilities were some of the best I have ever seen.  After a thorough investigation Bob was given the all clear – just a recalcitrant bug that has now been treated.

In between visits to the hospital we did get to see some of the sights of Ankara.  We went to the Ataturk mausoleum, founder of modern Turkey, and the attached  museum.  They had a great display of the Gallipoli campaign, which the Turks call Canakkale, and their war of independence against the Greeks in the 1920's.  The dioramas of Canakkale were impressive and had lots of Australian soldiers featured.  It took me back to DVA and the Australian War Memorial.  The changing of the guard ceremony at the Mausoleum was fantastic.

Changing of the guard at Ataturk Mausoleum

We spent hours in the Museum of Anatolia Civilisations, only a short walk from our hotel.  This was fascinating and had tools and artefacts from the Neolithic period to the Assyrians, Hitites and other cultures from thousands of years BC that seemed so advanced.  It struck me that perhaps we have not progressed very far from these ancient civilisations. 

Quite a modern legal system 20 centuries ago

Lovely ancient bronze

A few hundred meters from our hotel was an old citadel.  The structure is from the 7th Century and the local houses are built amongst the ruins (many slated for demolition and redevelopment).  Immediately across from our hotel in what we thought was just a vacant lot was a Roman theatre from the 2^nd Century AD.  In the middle of town are ruins of Roman baths from the same period.

 

The 7th Century Citadel

Roman baths