Sunday, Sep. 11 - Ankara, capital of Turkey

Today we had a city tour of Ankara--amazing city, prosperous, clean, hilly, hot and dry with cool nights (reminds me of Denver).  Population: 6 million.  The govt. has razed much of the older housing units (slums) and moved the residents to modern apartment bldgs--free!  About half of the people here are government workers.  There are 12 universities here; 6 are public and charge $200 per semester of study.

I think I remember that Turkey earns much  of its money from pipelines crossing its territory (gas? oil?).  It seems to be a very prosperous country (especially if coming directly from Bulgaria).  The highway from Istanbul (almost 500 km.) is a 6-lane divided tollway, up to US interstate standards.  One of the service plazas has a Burger King, from which we posted the last blog,  We are very impressed with the country and its people.

We loved Istanbul, despite the horrendous traffic jam when we arrived,  Leaving on a Saturday morning was much  easier--busy highways and bridges but moving along reasonably well.  They are building a tunnel under the Sea of Marmara to improve the traffic situation.  Now they rely on bridges and ferries.

The Hagia Sofia church/mosque/now museum has a mighty dome that has stood unsupported by columns for over 1500 years.  The Blue Mosque is an active mosque (prayers 5 times a day) and is still open for visitation by thousands of tourists (free) between prayers.  Nice job of accommodating everyone,   We also visited the spice bazaar (part of the Grand Bazaar) and Topkapi Palace.

Many fishing boats came and went from the docks near our campground and provided a most delicious dinner of sea bass .

Tomorrow we drive to Cappadocia, a remote area away from major towns.  Don't know what internet access we will find there.  I do know that Flat Stanley wants to make his post, but he needs to get his pictures together.